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locating a medlar
neilbradburn
Posts: 142
in Fruit & veg
Hi all,
I have been hankering after a medlar tree for some time now and I finally bit the bullet and bought one the other day. I now need to find a suitable location for it. I know where I would really like to put it, but there isn't the 4m wide by 3m height amount of free space that the fully developed tree can apparently get it (it's on a Quince A rootstock). I gather it can be kept quite a bit small by judicious training and pruning, but I'm concerned that this would impact on the naturally pleasing form of the tree.
I could be worrying over nothing, as we have shallow topsoil on chalk, so I imagine it will never reach the expected maximum size. I will, of course, be applying lots of organic matter to the planting hole and mulching regularly, but this will never be equivalent to a deep fertile soil.
Does anyone else have any experience growing a medlar tree and trying to keep it smaller than the quoted 4x3m? - especially in a chalky soil.
I thought about fan training it behind where I ideally want it, but I'd rather have a natural looking bush and leave the south facing fan-suitable location for a more sun-loving tree.
Any input would be most appreciated!
Thanks for your time!
kind regards.
I have been hankering after a medlar tree for some time now and I finally bit the bullet and bought one the other day. I now need to find a suitable location for it. I know where I would really like to put it, but there isn't the 4m wide by 3m height amount of free space that the fully developed tree can apparently get it (it's on a Quince A rootstock). I gather it can be kept quite a bit small by judicious training and pruning, but I'm concerned that this would impact on the naturally pleasing form of the tree.
I could be worrying over nothing, as we have shallow topsoil on chalk, so I imagine it will never reach the expected maximum size. I will, of course, be applying lots of organic matter to the planting hole and mulching regularly, but this will never be equivalent to a deep fertile soil.
Does anyone else have any experience growing a medlar tree and trying to keep it smaller than the quoted 4x3m? - especially in a chalky soil.
I thought about fan training it behind where I ideally want it, but I'd rather have a natural looking bush and leave the south facing fan-suitable location for a more sun-loving tree.
Any input would be most appreciated!
Thanks for your time!
kind regards.
0
Posts
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
My current dilemma is where to site a Parrotia persica in my new garden. It prefers acid soil, which I haven't got... currently it's only a seedling 6" tall, so I've got time to think...
I hold my hand up and plead guilty. However.... :-) in my defence, my philosophy nowadays when it comes to gardening is that if you don't try, you definitely won't get. I think there are so many variables that it's difficult to know precisely what will and what won't work in your environment. Plus, I do enjoy the process of watching things grow and understanding the workings of nature. And I can always give it a good pruning when the time comes - which will no doubt be years down the line. Finally, if it does get unmanageably overgrown, then a small-ish tree like this can be pulled out and replaced.
kind regards.
ps. our pet whippet is called George, so I have an instant liking of you :-)
Apologies for misleading you. It's more the lateral spread that is likely to be the problem. I have my greenhouse about 2.5m to the north-east of where I plan to plant the tree. I don't want to move the former due to all the effort of relaying base slabs it would entail, and because of the "fat" nature of the tree, I'm concerned that left to grow unhindered, it would block the precious late afternoon/evening sun through the westerly side of the greenhouse.
kind regards.