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family fruit trees
Hi all. Ive orderd a family apple and a family pear tree. I just wondered if anyone else has them if they could offer advice. The dos and donts. And whether youre pleased with them. When mine arrive they will be planted into large pots. Any particular type of compost to use? Thanks in advance
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Hello vic14.
I have a family apple tree planted 4 yrs in the ground. It's now getting on for 10ft high and 4ft wide (despite annual pruning). This is the first year we've had a good crop from one side - an apple called Elstar. The other side, is Golden Delicious which has hardly cropped at all, despite getting slightly more sun. Staking is recommended all its life, which I didn't do and now the two halves are leaning outwards, away from each other and I suspect will pull apart soon and let diseases in. I'm not sure they will do well in a large pot, as apples need an awful lot of water. Do you know what rootstock they are on?
I don't think I would get one again but wish you every success with yours.
Hi Vic,
Rootstock MM106 is a rootstock for making dwarf apple trees - not as small as MM9, but good nevertheless so may be okay in a large pot as long as you keep it well watered (a couple of gallons a day in hot weather) and well fed. I would use a slow release granuler fertiliser pellet such as Miracle Gro, which you can just stick in the compost in the Spring and then forget about it for 6 months. When you plant the trees in the pots, put them in John Innes No.3 or Hillier's Shrub & Tree compost which are a bit beefier than ordinary multi purpose composts. They will need to stand in a sunny spot, but are perfectly hardy and will cope with winter cold/wet, although to be on the safe side, in their first winter, I would be inclined to put them in a sheltered spot if you've got one.
I have a family apple and a family pear, both about 5 years old now. The apple does very well and all 3 varieties crop. The pear doesn't do so well (pear rust is a constant battle) but pears are much slower growing trees anyway. It's very important to prune them properly for the first few years (winter pruning to promote strong growth - prune the weakest growing grafted varieties the hardest) and then you can switch to summer pruning to keep them to your preferred shape and dimensions which will also encourage fruiting side shoots (spurs.)
A colleague of mine is getting married at the end of the month and we are thinking of getting him a family fruit tree as he is a keen gardener. However I am not sure what would be the fruit to get. Was thinking of an apple one but have seen that you can get cherry ones and is tempted to recommend that we get him such a one. What are peoples experience of these trees and what is the best kind of root stock to buy them on? I think a dwarfing one would be good as they might move in the near future.
Any recommendations on verities and suppliers would be very welcome.
Thank you. They currently live in Stroud From memory I think he tends to eat apples in the office so apples would be fine.
The reason I was thinking of cherries was that they are more of an expensive fruit but the vision of Miss Haversham in the garden is not a good one so I think I will suggest we get a nice apple one.
My family pear tree is very large. After one year the two halves started to pull apart but I interwove the lowest branch from each variety which formed a natural tie-bar. It took about three years to fruit well (conference on one half, doyenne du comice on the other) and is now (after 30 years) very proliffic. Remember that pears flower early in the season, sometimes before there are enough bees around, and sometimes the blossom falls victim to late frosts and strong winds, but that said the fruit is far better than anything you can buy.
The other thing to be aware of is that wasps love the ripe fruit so you need to take care when picking. Nothing worse than having a heaving mass of wasps, which have burrowed into a pear, in your hand.
Trouble where you are is the early blossom - but there are other compensations I'm sure.
You don't want to know that my freezer is full of packs of "pears in red wine" then.