Apple Trees

[jennyhicks]

I've just moved into a new house and at the end of the garden is a bramley apple tree. I fancied getting another cooking variety so have bought a Arthur Turner apple tree from Garden Nurseries | Gardening Nursery - Hopes Grove Nurseries Kent UK. Where would be the best place to plant it? Shade, full sun, neat the bramley tree?????

[Two_Sheds]

Definitely not in the shade.

Didn't your supplier tell you about planting?

edit: yes, it does: "All our tree fruits are grown on (M106) semi-dwarfing stocks to control growth and make trees of an ideal size for average gardens. Plant 12-15ft apart"

[FB.]

I suspect that the Bramley is old and therefore on a seedling rootstock which has enabled it to reach 15ft or more. Is that correct?

These days, most nurseries supply trees on the dwarfing (M9) or semi-dwarfing rootstocks (M26) which is good for small gardens (and semi-vigorous MM106 for medium gardens), but the shortage of vigorous (MM111) and very vigorous rootstocks (M25, seedling) is a nuisance for those of us wanting a traditional "standard" or "half-standard" tree with a 5-7ft clear trunk.
Rootstock, the grafted variety and the quality of soil makes a very big difference to the growth rate and eventual size. In deep, rich, moist soils, semi-dwarf MM106 rootstocks can make half-standards with average varieties and full standards with vigorous varieities.

So, the planting distance will depend on the rootstock and variety that you choose, plus the quality of your soil.
If the Bramley is producing good crops (possibly biennial if it has been neglected), then pollination isn't an issue in your area, so closeness of planting won't matter.

Cooking apples, Scottish/Scandinavian apples and early-maturing apples are somewhat tolerant of only getting a few hours of sun per day, although more sun means healthier trees (more energy, less damp/disease in the canopy), increased fruit bud production, earlier ripening, better colouration and better flavour of the fruits.

[suzie spud]

I have an old crab apple tree (and a cherry tree next to it) at the bottom of our garden inherited when we moved into our house 4 years ago. With our focus on the new vegbeds, tunnel, renovations, baby..etc the fruit trees have not yet been given much attention except for an attempt at light pruning each year. The crab apple has produced a nice crop of tiny red apples (delicious for crab apple jelly) 2 of the four previous years so I assume that its cycle is a good crop every other year. I went out to harvest it this evening and found the apples scabby with only a few worth collecting and the leaves shrivelled and brown. The scutch grass, buttercup, plantain and nettles had grown up around the base of the tree so I cut a circle down around the base with a shears. I noticed a thick white mold growing on the base of the treetrunk which was wet, naturally enough. I plan to lay a thick layer of newspaper and a thick 6' inches plus of bark chippings (1 year old leylandi) as a mulch but before I do should I treat the mould or just leave it to air out for a few days? Or is it likley this tree has had it and I should just replace it? Any thoughts welcome. Ta.

[FB.]

suzie spud

Look up "woolly aphid" - I suspect that is the "white mould" that you've found.
It's a fairly common problem on apple trees - especially in warmer areas and with certain rootstocks. Most of the time it causes knobbly scarring and splitting of the bark, allowing canker to attack - although some varieties have good resistance to canker.

You will find some pictures of woolly aphid on this thread:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...waa_33838.html