Telegraph fruit tree offer

[stupot]

Hello,

The Telegraph has an offer of 1 apple braeburn, 1 plum victoria and 1 pear conference, dwarfing rootstock, for £39.90.

Fruit trees for the patio | Telegraph Shop

I don't know much about fruit but would like to grow more on my allotment. (fruit trees are allowed). Could I have some help with the following questions please?

1. Are these varities self-fertile or would I have to buy a partner (or at least check that someone else has a compatible tree on the allotment). Had a look on the net but can't find a compatability guide.

2. How much space would I give over to these three trees. I would be planting them in the ground, not pot-planted as suggested on the web page.

3. Is this a good deal? If not any suggestions where else to look would be appreciated!

Thanks for any help!

[solway cropper]

They are all self-fertile so will give you a crop but you'll get a bigger crop if there are others planted nearby. If the trees are a reasonable size then it's not a bad buy. You should give at least 10 - 12 foot between them unless you are going to deliberately restrict growth.

[WrexTheDragon]

The price is poor.

[sarraceniac]

The price is poor.

I agree it is certainly not a real bargain. It is possible to get 5-6 foot trees at the end of the planting season in supermarkets (I have seen them in Morrison's, Tesco and Wilko) for between £5 (Morrison and Wilko) and £7 (Tesco) each. Having said that, we are just coming up to the beginning of the season when they are more expensive.

Also and most importantly, these are patio trees which means they are on a dwarfing root-stock so are not really suitable for 'serious' growing on a lottie.

[FB.]

As the others have said;

The price is certainly not as cheap as you might be able to find them late in the winter. But it's not a rip-off either - especially if postage is included.
I consider £15 to be about fair price. £10 is cheap. £20 is expensive.
The more expensive ones are at garden centres. But they are often the best shaped and healthiest - and you can choose the exact one that you want, so are sometimes not as overpriced as you might think.
The "bargain" trees that cost a fiver are all too often the last remains at the nurseries that are sold off cheap to bulk buyers. They are sometimes mislabelled (wrong variety - as several people on here will testify), or the packaging doesn't list the rootstock. It is therefore quite possible that the rootstock effect on tree size will be anything from the 6ft M9 to the 20ft M25, or any of the size-controlling rootstocks in between.

Conference and Victoria are average-flavour but self fertile and reliable, regular croppers. I have both and would recommend them for their reliability.

Braeburn is also self-fertile, but prefers a warmer climate than the UK - in most areas, the fruit can't be relied upon to ripen properly. I understand that the "Hillwell" strain of Braeburn ripens a couple of weeks earlier, so has a better chance of ripening in the warmer and sunnier parts of UK.
I also believe that it's disease resistance is only average at best.
I would caution against choosing Braeburn.

As also mentioned; the trees will be on dwarfing rootstock.
But which one? M27 needs a lot of care just to stay alive and will quickly be starved by competition from weeds.
M26 or MM106 (apple), Quince A (pear) and St Julien A (plum) would, in my experience, be the smallest that have much chance of a healthy life on an allotment.

And as also mentioned; although some fruit trees are self-fertile, you will get bigger, tastier and more attractive fruits when pollinated by a different variety (rather than fruits containing in-bred pips).
Plums, however, are prone to over-crop, break branches under fruit load and go into biennial bearing when self-fertile varieties are planted with a pollinator.

The ultimate would be 2-4 apple trees, 2 pear trees and one plum. Choose varieties that ripen at different times, so as to give a steady supply of fruit from August through until Christmas or later.

[Snadger]

You will always pay more for a potted fruit tree as opposed to bare rooted.
I tend to go for the cheaper bare rooted trees myself and up til now have had no problems.
The beauty of a potted plant though is that it can be purchased any time of the year and still grow well, whereas a bare rooted needs to be in it's dormant stage.

[stupot]

Really helpfull advice. Thanks all. I think I need to have a mooch at some settled trees on other plots and quiz the holders.

I will won't take up this offer and see what comes along in the next few months.