bought a dormant apple & pear tree....

[pie-gardener]

I bought a dormant apple & pear tree both a couple of months ago. I've got them planted in good composted soil with a bit of fertiliser in the mix. they dont seem to be doing anything and still look like twigs poking out of the ground...

Can anyone tell me if this is right or not? they're about 6ft high(ish)

Thanks

[littleexperience]

a good i dear would be to scrape a small piece of bark away on your trees and if its green below all is well if its not green there more than likely dead sadly.the location of your trees also has a big inpact when it breaks dormancy if they are facing south they tend to break dormancy 2 weeks before trees facing north if your trees are in pots try moving them to the most sunny and warmest place in your garden south just for a short time even to try and help it start of.one other thing digging up dormant trees then transporting them can shock it and it can take a 2-3 months before they start to grow. if possible i try to buy bare rooted trees in late november if the weather allows to give them plenty of time to settle in for spring

[FB.]

Trees that are newly planted have come from a different soil and climate. They may also have been kept in a large refrigeration unit for part of the winter.
This combination of factors can upset their normal leafing-out time by many weeks in the first season or two.
Some varieties are much smarter than others after we've had a cold winter, delaying leafing-out to avoid suffering damage by a late frost. My James Grieve (a hardy old Scottish variety) is very slow out of dormancy this year, whereas it would notmally be one of my first to com out of hibernation.

Some varieties are naturally always very late to leaf out. My Court Pendu Plat trees are only just beginning to show slight enlargement of their buds.

Your local climate will also affect time of leafing or flowering. The North can be a good few weeks later than the South of the UK.
Some of my fruit trees have fruits on them around half-inch in size, while some of my other trees are still asleep.

So, in summary, don't worry too much. If you're concerned, scraping off a small piece of bark, or clipping a small piece off the end of a branch will soon tell you whether the wood is moist and grrenish, or dry, brittle and therefore dead. Often you can tell a dead tree because the bark will be severely wrinkled.

[pie-gardener]

thanks for the advice peeps. I'll give it another few weeks before I start to worry, and go stripping bark of them..

[ginger ninger]

I've just potted a bare root cherry tree, it has a few buds but I'm not hoping for much from it this year. As F.B so eloquently worded it, they take time to adjust to there environment.