Morrisons fruit trees

[MillieBee2]

Wasn't going to put any fruit trees in on my (now looking rather tiny) plot, but how could I say no when they're £5 at Morrisons!? I bought a pear with a French name, now known as Jerry for some reason, and a plum (Opal), who I think I shall name Miranda.

I've got this random idea of sticking one of them in the handy gap in the paving stones alongside the polylesstunnel, to make it more attractive, would this work, if I train it to keep it low so as not to cast much shade? The other I want as a step over but since I understand not a word of what the RHS speak when it comes to training, I'll probably end up ramming it in a corner near the fence.

But, five pounds!!!!

[ameno]

You won't be able to train either as a step-over.
Cheap fruit trees like that will without a doubt be on Quince A rootstock for pears and St Julian A for plums, neither of which are dwarfing enough for step-over (in fact, only really apples come in dwarfing enough rootstocks for step-over).
The plum, especially, will grow fairly large, as they don't respond favourably to hard pruning. Hard pruning just makes them grow even more vigorous, non-fruiting growth.

I have some plums on St Julian A that I manage to keep at about 8 feet, or maybe just over. I think that's the best you can hope for with that rootstock.

[Jungle Jane]

You could train them against a fence as espalier trained trees,using wires or bamboo sticks while it’s small,are they small? It’s a bit late to prune plums,plant them somewhere sunny,does the pear need another pear to help pollination,if you know the variety it could be self fertile but I don’t know of any pears that are (I’ve never researched it at all though). You might need another pear that flowers at the same time as your pear.

[ameno]

You could train them against a fence as espalier trained trees,using wires or bamboo sticks while it’s small,are they small? It’s a bit late to prune plums,plant them somewhere sunny,does the pear need another pear to help pollination,if you know the variety it could be self fertile but I don’t know of any pears that are (I’ve never researched it at all though). You might need another pear that flowers at the same time as your pear.

Conference is the only truly self-fertile pear.
Some others, like Concorde and Williams, are partially self-fertile, and will produce a small crop on their own, but wil do much better with a pollination partner.
There doesn't necessarily need to be another pear on the same plot, though. One nearby, in someone else's, will work fine.

[MillieBee2]

Thanks guys. There's plenty of other pears on site so hopefully I'll be ok for pollination. I'll train the trees as espaliered ones I think. Just bought a random cherry too, so rather a lot to think about! (It was a pound from b&q. Like I was going to leave that there!)

[mcdood]

I bought one of these fruit trees on impulse last year too. It's labelled as height of 3-4m so Ameno's view of Quince A rootstock sounds about right. Mine is Conference so happy to read that this is as self-fertile as a pear gets, stroke of luck there. My problem is finding space for it to live.
I have a bed which has a good metal frame (fence) on it about 7ft high and about 8-9 foot wide and there is a mature blackberry growing in there that is trained against the frame. My question is would the pear be happy in there too if I keep the blackberry in check? My plan is to espalier the pear against the frame. If this would work when is a good time to plant, do I wait for Spring or stick it in now?

[nickdub]

I bought one of these fruit trees on impulse last year too. It's labelled as height of 3-4m so Ameno's view of Quince A rootstock sounds about right. Mine is Conference so happy to read that this is as self-fertile as a pear gets, stroke of luck there. My problem is finding space for it to live.
I have a bed which has a good metal frame (fence) on it about 7ft high and about 8-9 foot wide and there is a mature blackberry growing in there that is trained against the frame. My question is would the pear be happy in there too if I keep the blackberry in check? My plan is to espalier the pear against the frame. If this would work when is a good time to plant, do I wait for Spring or stick it in now?

Answering your last question - I'd advise planting asap - normally I'd say wait until Spring, but as the weather has been so warm this winter and you never know what we'll get later in the year I'd definitely get it in the ground now - in fact I have a couple of cherries in containers which, if the weather stays sunny, I'm planning on planting today.

[mcdood]

Thanks Nick, do you foresee any problems with the blackberry there too relating to disease or nutrients or anything. Here's a picture of where I plan to plant, but I'll control the blackberry more to give the pear some space and plenty of light.

[nickdub]

Thanks Nick, do you foresee any problems with the blackberry there too relating to disease or nutrients or anything. Here's a picture of where I plan to plant, but I'll control the blackberry more to give the pear some space and plenty of light.

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I think they'll both grow and as long as you put on some feed/manure nutrients won't be a problem - light and air on the other hand could definitely be an issue - only you can say if the extra use of your available space is worth the faff associated with growing them in "cramped" conditions - personally I'm a lazy gardener and have quite a lot of space for fruit, so I'd never bother with trained trees because whatever their merits, they do require more attention for pruning etc.