very early start

[littleexperience]

hello after inspecting my fruit trees today i noticed my conference pear tree is starting to bud and in fact has some new leaves growing my other trees 2 apples and 1 cherry are still all completely dorment i also have a williams pear which is also completely dorment it seems very early for this tree to start to produce leaves all other trees are completely dorment around the area in fact i have had this conference tree for the past 4 years and it doesnt even start to come alive till the end of march so is anyone else having this issue and is it something to worry about thanks

[FB.]

Buds on all my fruit trees have been slowly swelling in the last several weeks, but nothing is anywhere near flowering or leafing out.
At least 3 weeks for my plum/pears, but probably longer.
Being in a mild part of the country, mine are often early flowering and early leafing.

I plan to start a topic when my flowering begins.

[littleexperience]

the only thing i can think whats happened here is because here in scotland we have had such a cold winter this tree has used up all its chill hours and now thinks its time to start growing very strange to see it must have a dozen new leaves growing all my trees are in large whisky barrels and the soil in them has been frozen solid since mid december and no sign of thawing out yet i just hope this is a good sign for a good growing season

would it be possible FB the chill hours are all used

[FB.]

Even after the chill hours have expired, they usually require a period of warmer temperatures.

Something sounds strange with your trees.
Are they in a particularly warm/sunny/sheltered spot during the daytime and that's confusing them?

You may find that if the roots are still frozen yet the above-ground part of the tree is trying to grow, that it won't grow or fruit properly this season.

[BUFFS]

you will find that even if the buds get blasted by the cold the tree will recover easily enough,the buds are trying to burst on my bonsai and thats afterweeks of subzero temps -13/14 degrees and if they can do it in shallow pots you have nothing to worry about with your fruit trees and look forward to your harvest..

[FB.]

It's not so much the buds getting blasted by the cold, but the fact that if the flowers are open but the roots are still dormant, it can considerably impair flower fertility and fruit set, as a result of distorted or inadequate sapflow.
Both the tree and the roots ideally need to be coming to life at the same time.

[sarraceniac]

you will find that even if the buds get blasted by the cold the tree will recover easily enough,the buds are trying to burst on my bonsai and thats afterweeks of subzero temps -13/14 degrees and if they can do it in shallow pots you have nothing to worry about with your fruit trees and look forward to your harvest..

Hmm. Bonsai fruit trees. Very interesting.

[BUFFS]

bonsai crab apple trees,easy,as the fruits are in scale if the tree is 12-18 inches, they never get brought inside, the best coloured one is the john downey,alovely yellow fruit and a great pollinator for the apple trees...but the fruit trees in the ground are better off than you think,some of the roots go down really deep and buds and flowers cannot happen if the roots are not sending up the power supply,dont forget that the temperatures in the winters years ago were a lot lower than they are today,even if we think they are bad...

[FB.]

Hmm. Bonsai fruit trees. Very interesting.

My soil is so poor that everything is bonsai here.
I have a 20-year-old Rowan that was 7ft high when planted and - has managed to reach 14ft high now.
20 years to double the height that took only 2-3 years at a nursery.

Similarly, I find that MM106 rootstock is required simply to manage any growth at all. Anything weaker needs heavy feeding and watering, unless in a very favourable spot or with a very vigorous variety.
Quince A & C simply shrivel and die, as does St.Julien A.

To truly thrive without constant intervention, I need fruits grafted onto rootstocks so strong that the "textbook size guide" would make your eyes water.

To make a point - and for comedy value - I plan to grow some apples as cordons on MM111 (vigorous) and M25 (very vigorous) rootstocks.
In colder parts of the UK, I'd favour MM111's extra hardiness over M25's extra size.

[BUFFS]

i had a similar problem some years ago where i used to live,an old gardener from down the road talked me into digging a hole 18x18" and over 3 ft deep,he filled it with horse manure and packed it down and covered it up,he told me to leave it alone for at least12 months,better 2 years and then plant a fruit tree after the worms had done their work and add two good fistfuls of bonemeal around the roots each year,and up until i left the area it was working fine..if you give it a try what have you lost?

[littleexperience]

the problem we have here is we have to grow hardy type of fruit trees because of the weather conditions alot of rain but colder winters than most which fruit trees benifit from i think. i did let my conference produce alot of fruit last year more than i should half probably. it was also slow at dropping its leaves last year alot slower than the other pear tree a williams some 3 weeks slower. i suspect your right FB it wants a early start to grow and more than likely not produce fruit this year

[FB.]

In my area, penetrating rainfall only really occurs in Oct-Dec. We get about 15-20 inches of rain per year - among the lowest in the UK.
Additionally, my soil is very shallow and sandy, with pure gravel layer at 1ft depth, with gravel down to at least 6ft.
What little penetrating rain does fall, drains away in a matter of hours, quickly washing all nutrients away with it.
We're also quite warm, sunny and breezy. As a result, the soil surface dries very quickly.
It's so bad that even the weeds can't grow - and those that do, usually die from mildew as a result of drought stress.
Every summer, my lawn looks like the colour of an autumn field of straw - brownish-cream colour and completely dried out.

A couple of years ago, I had to dig-out some hawthorns.
The root system was at least thrice the size of the above-ground part.
My raspberries were the same, so I gave them to a friend with rich, heavy, fenland clay soil.

Contrary to regular/conventional wisdom and viewpoints, my fruit trees actually grow faster under grass, because the grass shades the ground slightly and their roots seem to hold moisture in the soil, so that the trees can steal some.

In fact, I have recently bought or self-grafted a few super-giant fruit trees, which I hope to use to eventually heavily shade and shelter my garden - and hopefully their shade will help retain a bit of moisture.
I'll be planting mos of these:

Bramley's Seedling on M25
Howgate Wonder on M25
Belle de Boskoop on M25
Norfolk Beefing on M25
Blenheim Orange on seedling
Catillac on Pyrus
Catillac on seedling
Hessle on Pyrus

The "textbooks" suggest 20-25ft spacing. I'll be planting them at about 10-12ft spacing because that's probably all they'll ever reach - if properly and regularly pruned.

[BUFFS]

to FB,those trees will look great when they settle in ,good luck with it...and OH says that a good summer follows a hard winter(we hope)and wish you all the best,littleexperience as from what you tell us you do get the more severe weather,we just wait for the rain to stop,is it possible to grow windbreaks,hawthorns etc to help your plants cope? if what they keep saying on the telly ,in twenty years time we will be like the med,i wish..

[littleexperience]

no problems here FB with the quality of the soil very fertile infact and with the constant rain we have every grows like mad i planted a wild cherry in my back garden 7-8 years ago it was only 2 feet high now its over 25ft high i will have to cut it down shortly nothing but forestry trees here infact im a tree planter by trade and plant 1000s of trees every year

[FB.]

littleexperience

25ft cherry?
Even the oldest cherry trees (30+ years old) in this area barely manage 25ft - let alone by the age of ten.
Those that manage to get to 25ft tend to be about 50+ years old and planted between buildings, where the ground is partially shaded - and presumably they also draw some water from under the buildings foundations.