Planting fruit trees - in frozen ground

[gazh]

Hi, i popped into my local aldi last night and went a bit mad and bought 11 fruit trees. I had planned on buying 2 or 3!
The problem is the ground is frozen and its snowing! the weather forecast is showing temps as low as -11 next week!!

So what should i do? do i plant them deep and protect the base of the tree with something or should i hang on?
if i do hang on, where should i store the trees? they are in my dining room!!! will they be ok in a unheated shed or will it kill the roots.

i know i shouldn't of bought them but any help will be appreciated

thanks gaz

[littleexperience]

GAZH my advice would be depending on how deep of frost there is if its 3-4inch deep and unable to turn the ground over i would put them in buckets say 2-3 in a bucket with soil and keep them in hut or something cold but not freezing till the ground thaws but if you are able to turn the ground over plant them.im a tree planter and plant 1000s of trees every year one thing we cant do is plant in any ground which is to hard to put the spade through the reason you might skin the tree and kill it

[gazh]

thanks for the quick reply, i will get the spade out in the morning and test it. i think it may be a snow day if it carries on outside.

[gazh]

hey people, just an update because im happy - i was worried about my little trees but they all have signs of growth and the cherry trees have little flowers!!!!!!
so thanks again littleexperience

as it is there first year in the new position - am i supposed to pull the flowers off? what will happen if i dont?
thanks

[Jeanied]

Gazh why would you want to pull the flowers off? Sounds like an unneccesary task to me. If you little trees set fruit in their first year, some people advise pulling the fruit off. I'm not like that. I just feed the tree a bit more and eat the fruit!

[gazh]

i just keep reading that u should, but feeding and eating the fruit is a much better idea!!!
thanks

[Nicos]

My apple tree flowered for the firt time last year- 5 flowers!
One set..and promptly dropped off in the June fall.

I think I'd go with your gut feelings...you'll probably lose most of the fruit which does set anyway.

Thinking back a few years- i did allow a youngtree to fruit which had flowered well- and we did get fruit from it- but the branches stayed like a weeping willow- clearly the weight of the fruit had distorted the growth direction of the branches. Just something to be aware of! ( apples are heavy after all)

[FB.]

Young trees should really be putting all their energy into growth and a strong root system. Fruits require enormous amounts of energy and nutrients from the soil. It is said that an apple or pear tree needs draws all the energy from about 10 leaves to provide energy for one fruit (varies according to leaf size and fruit size). Plums need about half that many leaves per fruit. Cherries probably need just one or two leave per fruit.

Varieties on very dwarf rootstocks can become "spur-bound" - a situation where they become unable to grow and progressive turn into sickly and weak plants that are easily overwhelmed by pests or diseases.
In young trees, the fruits often get dropped before they're ripe, which was a waste of the trees energy. Also, fruits from young trees are usually of poor quality and lacking in flavour.

If you have a rich, deep, moist soil, your may be able to let them put some energy into fruiting. But if - like me - you have a poor, shallow, dry soil, you'll need every bit of their strength to get them established.

[gazh]

i think i have good soil (not an expert tho) its deep and very dark. Think i might let the cherries fruit and take the flowers off the apples and pears this year.
thanks for the advice