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James Grieve M9 rootstock

KitMillerKitMiller Posts: 42
in Fruit & veg
I need some advice please - I would like to put a cooking apple tree in my small garden but space is limited. It would go against  wall which just gets full sun in summer - I have clay soil. I have a Malus Laura already in situ which will help to cross fertilise the one I have picked. After some research I think a James Grieve would be best with an M9 rootstock. I don't want it to get too big for me to handle. How far out from the wall would I need to plant the tree? I cant find any info about what its spread would be also? - The space might be a bit tight. 

Many thanks for any advice. 

Posts

  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Are you going to train it against the wall, as an espalier, for example?  Or do you want it as a free-standing tree?
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • KitMillerKitMiller Posts: 42
    I think Pansyface has just converted me to M27.
    I think I am going free standing tree. I did think about cordon or espalier. With cordon I was only going to have one but thought it would be more difficult to cover the expanse of brick wall around it with other plants if it was growing at 45 degrees. I'm beginning to wonder if espalier would be a better idea?
    If I had to put supports in for cordon or espalier I may have a problem. I tried digging down and could only get down just over 2 foot owing to the wall foundations coming out underneath - the wall is the side of a neighbour's garage. The info I found suggested if I could get down 3 ft I could hold the posts in packed down with stones.  I dont really want to put concrete in with the posts in case this whole thing doesn't work and I want to change it.  The other thing is I dont have a clue how to concrete - unless there is literally something readymixed I can just pour into a soggy clay hole?
  • KitMillerKitMiller Posts: 42
    How far out from the wall would I need to plant the tree?  What spread does it need to have? Its going to be partially in front of a passage that leads to a  recessed area behind my garage. 

    Thanks
  • KitMillerKitMiller Posts: 42
    And would I gain anything by doing it espalier?
  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923
    edited March 2019
    an espalier would be perfect for a wall (sunny when in leaf, would be better) you will get the same amount of fruit as a bush tree with it only sticking about a foot out into the garden,
    you would however have to prune it more often and in a specific way in order to get an espalier and you would probably have to water and liquid feed it more as it'll be in a rain shadow next to a wall
  • KitMillerKitMiller Posts: 42

    oohhh that came out bigger than I meant! The plan is its going to the right of the drain pipe at the back. I have a Malus Laura in the left hand side. From this elevated angle the plan is looking ambitious.
  • KitMillerKitMiller Posts: 42
    Its a dead end recess behind the garage wall and gets no sun. The soil has been improved since I took this pic on the left hand side and at the rear. Its had a load of clay dug out and top soil dug in. It is clay underneath where i have improved the soil so that might help it to retain some moisture? I will dig in some manure etc when I put the tree in.
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