Hello! Fruit tree advice would be very welcome for a newbie.

**nickdub** · 27-02-2020, 02:13 PM

Its certainly possible to get a head start on tree fruit growing by planting some now and moving them in 2 or 3 years time - the main advantages being the cost saving on buying maiden trees and the wider choice due to p&p being cheaper if you buy them mail order.

I wouldn't think in terms of getting fruit from these trees before you plant them in their final positions though - if you want fruit from dwarf trees in pots, that's a different question.

In the ideal world you'd find someone with enough space in their garden to foster your new trees for a few years and then dig them up and move them when you do have a garden in two years time. There's no problem doing this from the tree's pov as long as you do it when the leaves are off and you have a vehicle to transport them in.

**TrixC** · 27-02-2020, 08:07 PM

Originally posted by londonvegpatch View Post

Hi all!

I'm pretty new here and have just started a veg patch in a garden in London. The patch is a practice run for our move to the country in the next few years. Ideally, we'd like to be able to harvesting hard fruit in our first year in the country, so we're actively looking for places with fruit orchards but they're quite hard to come by. So, I wonder if it's worth getting some potted trees this year in preparation so that in 2 years they'll produce fruit for when we've moved to the country and they'll give us harvest while the trees we plant in the country are still growing in and unproductive.

My questions are:

1) Is there any point in doing this?

2) How well will they travel?

3) Once grown in the pot, would there be any point in planting them in the ground once we've moved?

Sorry for the long post! Just hoping that some of you talented growers here can give me some advice!

LVP

I don�t think there�s much point doing this to be honest. My experience of growing fruit trees in pots is that the trees need a lot of pampering for even a modest crop. And for pot growing you�d need a dwarfing rootstock, which unless you have optimal soil may not do well when transferred into the ground and also wouldn�t be the rootstock you�d choose for a freestanding tree in an orchard situation. For orchards you really are best to start with maiden (1 year old trees) that can establish a good healthy root system, not an older tree that�s been pot grown. If you want to try growing in pots I�d choose something exotic that really does well in a pot, like a fig or a citrus. Or you could try soft fruit, blueberries for example do very well in pots.

What sorts of fruit are you looking to grow? Most top fruit will yield something in the second season after planting, so you may not be waiting as long as you think.

**Kirk** · 28-02-2020, 11:09 AM

Would need a big pot, although that is not overly hard. Wilko sell some decent sized ones. I picked up 2 "tubs" a few years back that have handles.

So look at things that are not a big flower pot also.

You will have to limit yourslf to the small rootstocks, but that is not a bad idea. The unfortunate thing is that it seems only apples are well controlled by the rootstock.

I bought a "dwarf" cherry years ago, it is 20ft by 20ft. Hardly dwarf.

For apples I like M26 and M9.
M9 will get to around 3m or 10ft in a few years, M26 is 2.5m or 8ft.

As they are a tree then the bigger the container the better, but the bigger the container the heavier it is. Especially filled with damp moist soil.

If they get going you will also have the slight catch of transporting an 8-10ft tree, with the additional height of the container. So 10-12ft total.

As mentioned look for garden tub, cannot recall what mine were originally called. Half suspect they were more for collecting garden waste into rather then growing in. But they were reduced by a lot and I use them for things like potatoes, aubergine and courgettes that spread out.

**londonvegpatch** · 28-02-2020, 11:59 AM

Thank all for the advice! Lots to think about here and I'm very grateful for all your replies!

**veggiechicken** · 28-02-2020, 12:23 PM

I've dug up and moved fruit trees several times - when moving house and, when I changed my mind about where they were growing. They don't seem to mind.
If you're going down the pot route, you could start them in smallish pots and move them into larger pots each year until you've found your new land.
Don't limit your searches to land with existing orchards as you may find its better to devise your own planting scheme with trees of your choice, rather than take on someone else's possibly diseased ones.

**nickdub** · 28-02-2020, 01:16 PM

Originally posted by londonvegpatch View Post

Thank all for the advice! Lots to think about here and I'm very grateful for all your replies!

You're very welcome - if you have any follow-up questions like what varieties of fruit to go for, then by all means ask - Happy gardening :-)

**Kirk** · 28-02-2020, 06:35 PM

As you appear to be London based you may be able to visit Brogdale. They hold the National Fruit Collection and over 2000 varieties of apples, and assorted other fruit trees.

They will graft whatever you want on to a rootstock.

I had previously bought The Apple Book by Rosie Sanders, not to buy apples just to read and reference, went through it and selected about 6 I fancied trying. The book probably "only" lists about 200. But an adaquate selection and description.

**It never rains..it pours** · 29-02-2020, 11:01 AM

You may want to consider what pot to use. I asked how good air pots were on another thread, as want
to keep a hybrid walnut in a pot for a year or two more , it's one year so far in 40l tub, and got positive feedback. So intend to get a 70l airpot or 80l fibre one for it

**Kirk** · 29-02-2020, 11:57 AM

Just as information Wilkinsons have plastic "pots" called half barrels, seem to be 50cm across and are �6.

If you have a B&M they have sort of normal shaped 55cm plastic terracota coloured pots at �4.

Have the idea that the B&M are more use as one person on either side can just hook their fingers under the top lip for carrying.

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