I'd like to plant some fruit trees........

[minskey]

I need some advice on planting some fruit trees.

I'm not sure when the right time of year is. I have planted them before and they have done well but can't remember what I did.

I live in the wilds of Lincolnshire, fairly open, the wind comes straight off the nwash in winter. The soil is heavy with lots of clay but it is probably the best area in the UK for growing vege.

i'd like to plant some Apples, Pears and some cob nuts.

All advice is greatfully appriciated

[BFG]

As luck would have, autumn is the best time for planting and the cheapest time for buying.

When I was buying fruit and nut trees last year, I found Deacons and Buckingham Nurseries good and reasonably priced.

Fruit is a bit more complicated than veg with rootstocks, pollination, type and variety to consider. Some time reading up would be worthwhile.

[FB.]

In my experience, the best things is to plant container-grown trees in early September, just before (or around the time) the leaves start to turn yellow. At that time, the whole trees energy goes into root growth before the onset of winter.
It is important to untangle the roots by breaking-up the compost of the outermost inch or two of the rootball. Failure to untangle the encircling roots at planting time can completely prevent establishment of the tree because the compost shrinks in dry weather and leaves the tree sat in an air-pocket - roots will not grow in air pockets.

Although bare-root fruit trees are common (and somtimes cheaper), they are dug up after they're dormant in about November. As a result, the softer new root growth gets ripped off and left behind. Bare-root trees suffer a lot of distress when they're ripped out of the ground (often losing more than half of their roots). They can sometimes sit in shock for a couple of seasons before they start to grow again.

I would caution against pear trees in cool/windy areas; they prefer warm, sheltered spots. Additionally, pears flower early, so are prone to frost damage and lack of pollinating insects. Pollinating insects will be deterred by windy conditions.

Hazels will grow faster than weeds in most places and once established, they can thrive in very poor or dry soils where little else will grow.
Mine grow so strongly (even on poor, dry, sandy soil) that I summer-prune them in august (which enhances nut production for the following year).
Some varieties are more vigorous than others (Cosford and Butler seem strong-growers among mine, Kent and Gunslebert are moderate growers while Gustav Zeller is a slow grower).
Wild hazels will also cross-pollinate other hazels and it's surprising how common wild hazels are, once you start looking for them. Pollination of hazels is by wind-dispersion of the pollen in January. If you have wild hazels within visible distance of your hazels, pollination won't be a problem.
The size, shape and taste of the nuts varies. Kentish Cob is probably the best and slightly sweet-tasting, but some of the modern European varieties (e.g. Gunslebert) give higher yields of more savoury nuts.
Some produce small clusters of large nuts while others produce large clusters of small nuts. Some are especially good pollinators when planted near to others and are grown mainly for pollination of other varieties (e.g. "Cosford" is a very prolific catkin producer - catkins release the pollen).

Regarding apples....there are lots of things to worry about. Have a read of one of my past topics:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ons_32270.html

[minskey]

BFG & FP, cheers for all that info, raring to go now, I'll start by reading. roll on September.

[Alison]

You'll pay a lot more for container grown trees, so long as you get your bare root ones from a reputible supplier then I've found them very good and you can get more for your money.

[sarraceniac]

You'll pay a lot more for container grown trees, so long as you get your bare root ones from a reputible supplier then I've found them very good and you can get more for your money.

I agree Alison. I've also had better results with bare root trees. I've found Victoriana nurseries to be, if not the cheapest supplier, always forthcoming with good advice on which varieties to grow in which conditions. The couple of times I've asked them, they got it spot on.

[FB.]

Interesting about the bare root trees.
I've bought quite a few bare root trees from several of the highly-regarded nurseries and have found them all to be very slow to establish. In some cases, I just gave up waiting for them to grow and replaced them with container grown.

I have a nursery near to me (Simpson's at Fordham; near Newmarket, Suffolk) that sells 2-3 year old container grown apple trees for between £10-£15, which is as cheap - or cheaper - than most mail order. With the advantage that I can hand-pick the best shaped trees.
Every tree from Simpsons that I've tried has been very impressive; a good size and quick to establish and fruit. I've also occasionally bought garden centre "clearance" for about £10 at this time of year. They tend to establish well, too - but special attention must be paid to untangling excess roots.

I think that the problem with bare root is the damage to the roots when the tree is dug up, which can take a few years for the tree to replace the lost roots before it can get started growing again. Container grown trees already have a good root system in place that doesn't get disturbed.

I doubt that I'd ever buy bare-root again when I can buy container-grown for the same price locally. Bare root trees have too much root damage which slows their establishment and because you can't see what you're buying, you can be sent some real rubbish with poor shape or badly bent stems.

[BFG]

All my trees, apart from 1, came bare rooted and they all established fine. I've got loads of of apples on the ones I planted last Autumn now. I did pay £5 more for 2 year old trees though.

Maybe the soil and local conditions affect how they take.

Good point about seeing the tree. If I could find somewhere local at close to web prices I'd do that. All the garden centres round here take the mick with their prices.

How much space do you have minskey? I've went for a few family trees (more than one variety grafted on to one tree) on dwarfish rootstocks for better pollination and variety in a small space.