fruit trees in the cold

[scottie]

Can anyone tell me of any fruit trees that will grow in the very far north of Scotland, we don't get frost but it is a short growing season though two months is daylight for almost 24 hrs, it rarely gets above 70 but could grow them inside,rarely get snow, so not cold winters but not hot summers.

[sewer rat]

Scottie
I'm in Easter Ross, and my local GC sells apple,pear and plum trees, all of which he swears will be fine in our climate - varieties currently stocked are Spartan (apple) Conference (pear) and Victoria (plum). However, if you want to or are interested in growingtem inside, then maybe you should considera minarette - have a look at Ken Muir's website forfull infoon these.
Cheers
Rat

[Birdie Wife]

Hi Scottie,
I'm just down the road from you - I've got a couple of victoria plums and a couple of comice pears on semi-dwarf stock. I thought this would be more sensible with the strong winds we get up here. They are apparently hardy (down to -15 anyway) for this part of the world, but I think if you read the label and it says 'self-fertile', don't believe it and get two to be on the safe side.

Hope this helps

[JennieAtkinson]

Friends of mine have a couple of apple trees here in a relatively sheltered garden, but all they get is blossom, no fruit. Consequently I have not bothered with fruit. Could the lack of fruit be a result of colder temperatures early in the summer around blossom time?

Would really like to grow fruit and had wondered about goosberries and blackcurrant (flowering blackcurrant does well here but not sure if it is the same species as the fuit version). Scottie if you are planning to grow inside, is that in a greenhouse, conservatory or polytunnel?

[andrewo]

The reason they won't have fruit is because of the cold there will be no pollinating insects (I have a cambridge gage and I am working under the same principle), so no fruit. They will have to pollinate by hand, this is incredibly simple, an artists brush and sweep it over a spur flower and put the pollne into another and so on - it is time consuming but they will get fruit!

[Birdie Wife]

My raspberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants all do well outside even up here and seem to be very tolerant of wind and cold.

When I was working in Orkney, rhubarb was everywhere like a weed - is it the same in Shetland?

[Lesley Jay]

You just need to watch out for late frosts. Cover gooseberries and red, white or black currants if a late frost is forecast when they are in flower.

[JennieAtkinson]

Rhubarb ......... tons of it! BW look for the recipe elsewhere on the grapevine for rhubarb snapps, we'll be making it this year!

Lesley - do you think I could grow berries (raspberries/blackcurrants) in the polytunnel? Was reading my GYO this morning (travelling to Aberdeen!) and the photograph p.39 This month in the Orchard seems to look like fruit growing in a poly tunnel. Difficult to tell what type of fruit it is though. (Seriously thinking I need another polytunnel!)

[andrewo]

I'm glad the rhubarb schnapps recipe has such a following! You can grow fruit bushes under cover, just make sure that you can ventilate well in the event of the polytunnel overheating and keep them well spaced and away from the plastic (strawberries do well undercover and so do raspberries).

[Lesley Jay]

There you go Jennie Andrewo has answered your query. The fruit growing in the magazine would appear to be a peach tree. That does sound like something nice to grow and eat.

[JennieAtkinson]

Thanks Andrewo and Lesley - think I might try and get some raspberries to start. We are on the Scottish Mainland in two weeks time, so hopefully should be able to pick canes up then. Might try a sheltered spot outside and in the polytunnel, although my tunnel plan is already tight! I did have strawberries in the tunnel last year, but they were first years, so hopefully will have a good crop this year.

I think it would be just a dream to pick fruit

[sewer rat]

Polytunnel Strawbs

Jennie
A friend of mine has a polytunnel and he grows masses of strawbs in his. He has a steel tube frame hanging from one side of the roof, the full length of the tunnel, and this supports a heap of growbags in which he grows his strawbs. Admittedly he has a powered self watering system, but doesn't have to worry about mulching or keeping the berries clean as they are picked at eye level. Leaves the ground clear for other crops

[Lesley Jay]

Rat that sounds just like what the man on the Gardener's World allotment special did with his strawberry plants.

[sewer rat]

Very similar - only difference as far as I could see were that his were in troughs held off the ground, so still little room to plant or crop underneath. My mates strawbs are about 5' from the ground, so still easy to crop under.

[andrewo]

Strawberries do better off the ground (maybe because they came from an alpine and high locations?) because the bloody slugs can't get at them!