Cordon apples and pears...

[Prince of Durham]

After years of dabbling with fruit in the form of currants and strawberries, I want to branch (pun intended) out into apples and pears. I want to grow them in cordons, in two rows (one of each).

Question is can anyone recommend varieties of apple for eating and pears for eating that are good for growing in a cordon? Also (if you're allowed on here) can anyone recommend a good either North-east supplier or on-line supplier of maiden trees?...

[orangepippin]

Pears are generally a bit more difficult to grow in the north-east than apples, so if you have the option I would dedicate the sunniest and most sheltered area for the pear row, and give the apples the secondary position.

In the case of apples, I would choose primarily early and mid-season varieties, as these will do best in the shorter growing season of the north-east. Having said that, in some parts of Durham you get a lot of good light and so it might be worth trying some later varieties too.

Can you say what length of space you have for each row, and also how much height. Suppliers will typically offer either bare-root or pot-grown cordons on various rootstocks, but most often M9 for apples and Quince C for pears - but other rootstocks are possible if you want larger ones, and of course you can grow your own using 1-year bare-root maiden trees, which may give you more choice of varieties.

As an alternative, in the case of apples, have you considered growing dwarf trees on the M27 rootstock? These won't be much bigger than about 1.75m, and we have a trial plot with 10 of them in a space 7m x 3m. They don't look quite as formal as cordons, but they are very productive.

It sounds like an interesting project.

[Prince of Durham]

Thanks for that.

I have an area 4m x 4m and really wanted to use maidens so I can learn the ins and outs of creating and maintaining cordons. Its so often written so eloquently about in my old gardening books that i must have a go.