fruit trees and bushes

[KatherineF]

Hello there,
Im about to go out and buy several plants for the garden,and would be very grateful for some advice. I reckon I want to get:

Apples - 3 types, grow as cordons against south facing fence
Cherry - grow in pot fan trained against south facing wall, some shade in morning from house
Pear - 2 types, cordons as above
Plum - 1 type - not sure how as yet

Is the plan for the cherry feasible? - wall is around 2.5 - 3m high

What suggestions would you have for disease resistant cultivars, for small Midlands garden? - would love to grow Bramleys

I would like to grow one beside the patio to provide a little shade, so looking for something bushy rather than treey, but not too massive, maybe around 2.5m high and 2m wide... is there a cultivar of one of the above fruits suitable, or maybe another type of fruit? Will be in full sun

Thanks,
Katherine

[organic]

If you're growing close to the house, I'd suggest both looking for small cultivars and keeping a very careful watch for anything that resembles roots damaging the foundations.

Good luck with the choices though - I'm sure someone with some more helpful advice will come along shortly.

[FB.]

Bramley is a poor choice for a cordon. It doesn't like to form many side branches, it's also a tip bearer (which complicates pruning) and Bramley grows into a larger tree than most other apple varieties would do.
Bramley has an erratic record for disease resistance.
In some parts of the country, it's resistance is good. In other parts, there are sometimes problems with scab - especially if old neglected orchards with Bramleys grow nearby.
To be honest, although Bramley is famous, there are many apple varieties out there that have far more flavour.

The apples, if growing as cordons, would be best as spur-bearers, with low-medium vigour, on M9 rootstock if your soil is fertile, or M26 if your soil is average, or MM106 if your soil is poor.
I would suggest perhaps an early-season eater, plus a late season eater and a late season cooker. There are many to choose from, but it can depend on what's available to you in your area.
I posted a good deal of apple information on this topic:
> link <
In the Midlands, you will probably face a mixture of all the main apple diseases, so that varieties that are in any way susceptible should be avoided.

Pears are usually only available on Quince rootstock. Quince C if your soil is fertile and Quince A if your soil is average to poor.
Varieties such as Conference and Concorde are self-fertile, heavy cropping, easy to grow and fairly reliable.

Your plum will probably be best as either a free-standing bush, or a fan on St.Julien A rootstock. Victoria is self-fertile, heavy cropping, dual-purpose, and one of the most reliable, but is nothing special in terms of flavour or disease resistance.

I don't like the sound of a pot-grown fan of 2-3m. I just don't think that it will be able to draw enough water in hot weather. Simply keeping alive a pot-grown tree of such size will be a challenge - unless the pot is very large.

For the trees to shade the patio, I would go for either apple or pear; they'll be easier to manage.
I'd choose Quince A rootstock for the pear - and I'd choose a compact variety such as Conference or Concorde, so that they won't get out of control.
I'd choose either M26 or MM106 rootstock for the apples. Normally, MM106 would be too vigorous, but it's woolly aphid resistance will be very helpful to keep the trees more attractive looking in a prominent spot such as the patio. However, you would need to grow reasonably compact varieties on MM106 because the average variety will get too large.