Just a thought.. planting fruit trees near a road..

[chris]

I've a garden that borders a road - not really busy, it's a road into our estate... I've a 6' fence around that garden, and was planning on growing 3-5 trees along the fence (in the garden) - but just thought about the fumes.. would this be ill advised?

[Edilith]

If it's not a very busy road I don't see the harm so long as you wash your fruit before consumption. I'm no expert though!

[Alison]

Wouldn't worry in the slightest, they'll have far less chemical contamination than ones you buy in the supermarket. Would be more worried about people walking past and nicking the fruit though

[FB.]

I doubt that fumes would be a problem.

A couple of things that I'd look into more carefully......

Will overhanging branches obstruct pedestrians, or might they get hit by passing vans/lorries/buses.

Will the roots cause damage to pavements or roads - and might you (or your household insurance) be liable for any future cost of repairs?

For what it's worth, when it comes to "full size" rootstocks, apples are generally less destructive to paths, roads and buildings than pears or cherries.
Roots of full-size apple trees tend to spread about as far as the branches.
Roots from full-size cherries and pears tend to spread about twice as far as the branch spread.

[chris]

Thanks FB.. I'm planning on M9's - I don't want them to overhang too much, as I don't want any thieving kids nicking my fruit!

I've taken out 3 large trees already, so any pavement damage would have already been done (but there isn't any). The diameter of the trunks were between 40cm -> 80cm.. so they were quite large... I doubt m9's (+ equiv on a plum - pixie?) unless they override the rootstock will have roots as strong as those trees? (no idea what they were - they dropped catkins, pain in the backside. Plus they blocked out too much light. Have one more huge one to get rid of, but that'll be in a year or two. My garden is higher than the pavement, so it has that advantage too in terms of people walking past - there hasn't been a problem of branches hitting vans etc yet.

Hadn't thought about the shop bought stuff either Alison, good point

Also, out of Plum, Pear, and Apple - which one prefer being in the sun the most - depending on how many I plant, from about 4/5pm one could be partly shaded by my house... (in summer)

[FB.]

Do you realise that M9 needs permanent staking?
The roots of M9 are very small and brittle, prone to woolly aphid and rather prone to suckering.
M9 is usually used for cordons (which are supported). An M9 tree will easily be uprooted in a strong wind, needs good soil and has no tolerance to drought.
I would recommend M26 for most purposes instead of M9 - M26 is only slightly more vigorous than M9 but much more robust.

How large do you want them to get - and will they be cordons, fans, espaliers, bushes or trees?