Grow Your Own Tree Fruit
After a summer of wet and warm weather one of the crops that have really performed this year are tree fruit. A warm spring nurtured the blossom, enticing the bees out early to perform their magical pollination ritual and then a summer deluge watered the trees, swelling the fruit to perfection. What a crop. Trees are completely laden with fruit bursting with flavour and goodness.
Imagine next year plucking your own home grown apples, pears, cherries and plums straight from the tree. It’s like having a living larder in the back garden and a fantastic way to keep the kids enthralled. Once the trees are established you’ll save £££’s every year and have plenty of fresh fruit for the table.
Tree fruit are one of the easiest crops to grow in small garden. They are relatively low maintenance and once established they keep on producing fruit year after year. If you’ve never grown any, this year, more than ever before is the best time to plant them.
Under control
Apple trees don’t need to be monsters. Today’s growers utilise what are called ‘dwarfing rootstocks’ to control the ultimate size of the tree. These make fruit trees ideal for domestic gardens and still produce a generous crop of fruit. Look out for the M27 rootstock that keeps trees to an ideal size for growing in containers and small gardens, or if you’ve got a bit more room go for the M26 that allows the trees to get a bit bigger. Simply check the labels or ask for assistance.
Remember that unless there are plenty of apple trees nearby you will need two or more trees that flower at the same time to ensure a good crop. Bees need to be able to transfer fresh pollen between the same kinds of fruit trees to facilitate pollination. Crab apples make excellent pollinating trees for apple varieties.
Pears tend to be grafted onto an M106 rootstock, but also require other trees to flower correspondingly for pollination. Look out for self-fertile varieties that can be grown on their own, however even these will fruit better if they have a partner-pollinating tree nearby.
