Planting my 5 fruit tree from Groupon

[hearts151]

Mine arrived yesterday. The wee letter with it says to dig a hole 30cm deep (straight down) and 60cm wide. And tells you various other things to do with regards to forking holes for air/help roots spread and care.

Then mentions that if using a patio planter just follow steps above but with special compost and of course feed and water more regularly.

Basically, I moved into this house 8 months ago and theres a few tree stumps from before we want to get rid of first and decide where we want to have our vegetable patch before I plant into ground.

So wondering whats the best size planter to get. The trees should only be in them for a year at most, most likely only 4 months. I was thinking this, although it doesn't state how deep it is.

Stewart 50cm Patio Tub - Gun Metal: Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors

[FB.]

If it's only for one season, any pot will do as long as you can fit the roots in without too much bending - and preferably without cutting off any roots!

When planting-out fruit trees it is a good idea to dig a hole twice as deep and twice as wide as the spread of the roots. Then use a fork to make sure the sides aren't smooth/compacted (smooth/compacted edges of the hole makes it difficult for roots to grow).
It's generally best not to add too much enrichment to the planting hole - just put the soil back (maybe a sprinkling of bonemeal or fish-blood-and-bone), but definitely layer a good thick mulch of compost over the planting area after the tree is planted.
If the tree is on a vigorous rootstock it can cope with grass, weeds or other plants nearby. On dwarf or medium rootstocks the planting area/rooting zone needs to be kept free of competing plants for the first few years - maybe permanently in the case of dwarfs.
Consider staking depending on how big the tree is, how big it will get and what rootstock - put in the stake before the tree, and have the tree on the side opposite from the prevailing wind to prevent the tree banging against the stake every time the wind blows.
When planting on dwarf or semi-dwarf rootstocks, make sure the graft is above the ground level or there is a risk that the grafted part will root itself, reject the dwarf rootstock and become a full-size tree powered by its own roots rather than restricted by dwarf roots.

Do you know which varieties and rootstocks you have?
Have you considered their suitability for your soil and climate?

[darcyvuqua]

I planted mine yesterday

Hopefully next year will reward me with fruit

[hearts151]

If it's only for one season, any pot will do as long as you can fit the roots in without too much bending - and preferably without cutting off any roots!

When planting-out fruit trees it is a good idea to dig a hole twice as deep and twice as wide as the spread of the roots. Then use a fork to make sure the sides aren't smooth/compacted (smooth/compacted edges of the hole makes it difficult for roots to grow).
It's generally best not to add too much enrichment to the planting hole - just put the soil back (maybe a sprinkling of bonemeal or fish-blood-and-bone), but definitely layer a good thick mulch of compost over the planting area after the tree is planted.
If the tree is on a vigorous rootstock it can cope with grass, weeds or other plants nearby. On dwarf or medium rootstocks the planting area/rooting zone needs to be kept free of competing plants for the first few years - maybe permanently in the case of dwarfs.
Consider staking depending on how big the tree is, how big it will get and what rootstock - put in the stake before the tree, and have the tree on the side opposite from the prevailing wind to prevent the tree banging against the stake every time the wind blows.
When planting on dwarf or semi-dwarf rootstocks, make sure the graft is above the ground level or there is a risk that the grafted part will root itself, reject the dwarf rootstock and become a full-size tree powered by its own roots rather than restricted by dwarf roots.

Do you know which varieties and rootstocks you have?
Have you considered their suitability for your soil and climate?

They came as you can see in darcyvuqua's pic above, they were apparently field grown for replanting to around 5 foot, with there roots trimed, the instructions state to keep weed free and water very regularly until tree is established.

here is the trees in question,

Grow your own Fruit Trees Offer - 5 Different Trees

Concorde Pear

Stella Compact Cherry

Plum Tree Stanley

Apple Trees - Gala & Golden Delicious

[FB.]

No specific mention of rootstock that I can see.

Knowing the rootstock is useful to decide how closely or how far apart to plant them.

However, the website says, for their Golden Delicious and Concorde:

"...All of our full size fruit trees are grafted on strong, vigorous root stocks to provide high yeilds and an ultimate (un-pruned height) height of 8-12 feet...."

Which would lead me to assume apple MM106, plum St.Julien A, pear Quince A and cherry Colt. These are among the most common rootstocks used, so no surprise there.

[FB.]

Which would lead me to assume apple MM106, plum St.Julien A, pear Quince A and cherry Colt. These are among the most common rootstocks used, so no surprise there.

If you use the link to the tree size estimator in my signature and enter "normal" "average" etc in the drop-down lists you'll get figures in the size range given.
More often than not garden soils are below average quality and usually no better than average.
Surprisingly, quite a lot of parts of the UK (especially coastal and Eastern regions) classify as "slightly dry"; many places may get a lot of annoying showers but not so much heavy persistent rain which gets deep into the soil to benefit plants.

[hearts151]

I live in Edinburgh, lots of rain haha. Also got yellow loosestrife growing in a patch of the garden which apparently likes damp marshy habitats.

The instruction for the trees says "we suggest a planting distance of up to 8ft or more apart for trees. They can be planted closer, but you will need to prune more regularly to keep them in hand so they don't become too large once they start growing away well."