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Cordon apples and pears?

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  • #1

    Cordon apples and pears?

    I have added to my cordon fence at the allotemt yearly so now I have had some of the fruit bushes for 2 years, 3 years and 4 years.
    The apples and pears are planted at 45% along the edge of my allotment with 8 foot canes as supports for there early years.. Each year I have to add extra supports, as the weight of fruit pulls them down.
    Will there come a time when the main stem has thickened and strengthened that I wont have to do this or will I always need to add extra supports?
    My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
    to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

    Diversify & prosper


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  • #2
    They are likely to always need supports. Without supports they may well gradually lean over as a result of ground or root movement, even if not from the bending of fruit-laden branches.

    Some varieties are more solid and rigid than others. Varieties which are widely considered to have an upright growth habit tend to have stiffer branches and therefore less pulling-down of the branches.

    Many ancient varieties were preferred to be upright so that crops could be grown underneath the trees without being too heavily shaded. Modern varieties tend to be preferred to be in-between upright and spreading in habit.
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    • #3
      Thanks FB. I think in the future I may add braced heavy supports at each end (4x4 timber) with possibly a central support as well and tie them in to a strained retaining wire about about 1.5 metres high? Does this sound feasible?
      My neighbour has a pallet fence behind them seperating our allotments and with his permission I could possibly rig up some sort of support from the fence which is another thought.
      The temporary supports I use at present are the large steel pins with a 'shepherds crook' shape on the top used for temporary fencing. I push the pins into the soil with the bough resting in the shepherds crook! These are the really heavy duty version of pins and seem to work well at the mo.
      My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
      to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

      Diversify & prosper


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