cordon productivity question

[Bluemchen]

Hi,

I have a limited bit of plot available, and want to get some fruit trees on there this autumn. I'm planning for 3 apples and three pears, to guarantee pollination and extend my season as much as possible.

I've looked into cordons (single and double-U) and minarettes, and there are plenty available, but I must question how much fruit such a small tree will produce?

Does anyone have any experience of this, and can you recommend any suppliers (online or Warwickshire)?

Thanks

[greenstar]

Hi Bluemchen

We planted two self fertile minarettes last year, one apple one pear (a christmas present from my mum ordered from Ken Muir). We got six apples - not a lot but they were delicious and no pears, but apparently it's unusual for pears to fruit the first year after planting. This year the pear's covered in blossom, so I'm hopeful we'll get some fruit off it.

To be honest, I would go for something other than minarettes - if you can get some sort of small self fertile fruit tree I think that would be better. The minarettes are just a bit of fun and I don't think you'll ever get a decent crop off them. I'm planning on letting our two grow a bit to see how that goes, but I don't think they'll ever get very big because of the rootstock they're grafted onto. Also, I don't think there's much difference in price between a small fruit tree and a minarette.

I'm sure some other grape will be along soon to tell you the best size of rootstock to go for.

All the best.

[SimonCole]

Agreed, they can look a bit out of place. Alan Titchmarsh said that on GW a while back. Far better are step-overs.

[TonyF]

Or higher cordons, ok, it will take a few years - three usually - to become fully productive but using cordons as backdrops looks good and with the right varieties, can be very productive. Agree with the above, I think minarettes look out of place.

But there are no 'quick wins' with fruit trees, it's always slowly and surely and lots of patience.