Lidl fruit trees advice please

evie451

i am still finding my way with the whole gardening thing and although i was quite successful with the veg last year i have no fruit experience!!

i went down to Lidl today and got a cox's apple tree and a pear tree too the ones that were £3.99......now what do i do!!

i live in a rented house and might be moving within the next 6-9mths so i don't want to plant them in the ground, i am hoping that maybe a really big Trug each might do them for this year (they are 4.5-5ft tall)? with all the snow and the fact they have obviously been kept inside i am not sure how to go about taking care of them? i have a greenhouse and a shed would they be ok in there in water maybe? they were not expensive i know but i would like to give the trees the best chance, any advice gratefully accepted :A

Farway

Use the greenhouse as it has daylight, stand them in a bucket of water [assuming it will not freeze] until the snow etc clears, then plant in your pots or what have you

They need to be outside, they are hardy so do not need cosseting, perhaps shelter near a wall to stop them blowing over?

kazwookie

Plant in large pot when the weather is better.

Then when you move they can go with you.

susieb

I bought some as well, only the confernce pear they where selling is self fertile, if you got one of the different pears you will need to get another pear as well.

evie451

oh now i am a bit hazy on the whole pollination thing, I have got one of the apples as well do i need another one?

SEE

evie451 wrote: »

oh now i am a bit hazy on the whole pollination thing, I have got one of the apples as well do i need another one?

A Bramley Apple should do the trick.

daska

aren't bramleys triploid? in which case you'd need a third tree to ensure they both got pollinated.

Rosabella

My partner went to Lidl today and came back with EIGHT trees!! I think we'll be establishing an orchard - not really sure where though!

evie451

well it was a very tempting offer Rosabella! looks like i will need to get another one of the apples......oh dear what a shame!:T

Mojisola

evie451 wrote: »

i went down to Lidl today and got a cox's apple tree and a pear tree too the ones that were £3.99......now what do i do!!

Unless you're in south of England you will probably be disappointed with the Cox. It doesn't perform well in most parts of the country.

Does it say what rootstock it is on? Or does it give an ultimate height? That will affect where you can plant it.

If you have any crabapples in the area, they will help to pollinate your tree. If not, do any of your neighbours have apples - the bees will travel around the gardens pollinating as they go.

If not, you will need another tree but I would forget the Cox and buy two new ones that will pollinate each other.

shopaholic2006

I'm on my way to lidl very shortly, but can i double check the trees i am thinking of getting are ok for pollination. I was going to buy 1 conference pear, 1 stella cherry, and 1 of the plums (preferably victoria), will i be ok with these? Also i did want one of the apples, either jonagold or coxs, but these confused me with pollinatin partners, so i may just leave the apple tree out.
I have tried to reseach, but i just wanted to confirm before i buy, cheers :beer: