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what do i do with these trees?

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  • what do i do with these trees?

    Hi all this is my first time posting but i am stuck for advise, so i hope some one can help me.
    I brought a pack of three dwarf trees 2 apple ( malus gold spur & malus red spur) and 1 pear ( pyrus doyenne de commice) online and they arrived 2 days ago and it said full instuctions and advice sheet supplied but it leaves more than a lot to be desired!
    I have brought 3 big pots and dont now have a clue about what to fill them with lol. They are for up the allotment so the have to be potted as we are not allowed trees in the ground.
    Any straightforward advise and tips would be more than welcome
    many thanks bana x

    P.S i am a complete newbie at most stuff only got the allotment last june so if you use technical terms could you please explain thanx
    Last edited by bana; 23-06-2009, 02:08 PM.

  • #2
    In the first instance, get a 10-12" pot and use an equal mixture of general-purpose compost and soil. If the compost is home-made, it is much richer, so only use one part compost to two or three parts soil.
    I don't bother putting stones in the bottom of the pot, but some people prefer it for extra drainage. If you live in a wet area, perhaps drainage will be useful, but I don't bother if the pots aren't sitting in puddles of water. It's standing water that's damaging to the roots.

    Don't prune the trees just yet, except for branches that have been irreparably damaged in transit, in which case just remove the damaged parts.

    It is not unusual for newly-transplanted trees to do nothing for the first year, due to the shock of moving and possibly a new climate. If they don't grow much this year (less than six inches), I suggest not pruning them this winter.

    If you knew the rootstock it would help with managing them. I'd guess that it's M27 (extremely dwarf) for the apples and Quince C (dwarf) for the pear.
    Quince C is somewhat more vigorous than M27 and Comice is a fairly vigorous variety of pear. You may need to watch that combination in future years in case it trys to run for the heavens, in which case, hard pruning of new shoots in July each year should bring it into line. The same applies to the apples, but M27 rootstock is generally very well-behaved and tends to stop growing after about five years.
    Comice is also self-sterile (needs a different variety of pear for pollination), so poor pollination and low or erratic fruiting is quite likely unless there are pear trees nearby. Fruit production is the main way to control the vigour of a fruit tree, so your Comice is at additional risk of growing larger than desired, if you don't manage it carefully. Reduced watering and reduced feeding will also control vigour (but don't starve and dehydrate the poor tree!).

    You mention not being allowed trees, but it is likely that your trees will only form bush-sized plants when mature. If currant and gooseberry bushes are allowed, then fruit bushes (on dwarf roots) can easily be grown to the same size as currant bushes.
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    • #3
      I would make sure that you soak the roots in water overnight if they are supplied bare root.

      When you plant them, make sure that the compost is below the graft (the area that the root stock and the plant is joined).

      Keep well watered for the next 3 months.

      Good luck.

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      • #4
        Thankyou for some great advice
        am of to pot them up later, i hope they will make a nice addition to the lotti.

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