Where's Cheapest Place to Buy Peach/Nectarine/Apricot/Almond Trees?

dogstarheaven

they all seem pretty expensive to me, with at least £25 each. As we don't drive, I'm afraid i have to rely on the net to purchase any fruit. We've just got ourselves a lottie 2 weeks ago, and there's so much that we need to purchase but as funds are limited, we're just making do with what we've got (labourious digging for days on end!)

bought myself a Blueberry bush from Wilkos 3 wks or so ago, which is now potted (in acid-loving compost, yes i know) and that is v small atm. I doubt anything will come of it this yr. it's a 'Blue Crop' variety, but I'm not sure whether it needs another plant to pollinate it as it says it's meant to be self-fertile. does anyone know?

is it true for the first year of growing fruit, you're meant to take off all flower buds (or flowers) so as to encourage the plant to divert their energies into establishing itself? presumably, the blueberry plant is still v young at 40cm (base of stem to the top growth). it's root system was v small.

the peach tree will be a 'peregrine' and apricot, 'flavorcot', 'tomcot' or 'moorpark'.

and the blueberry - 'northsky' or some other one that's compact growing (suitable for a pot)

the almond tree is something i'd like to try that's different. my full-sized plot is on a slope and that will give me an advantage in growing the latter in a more sheltered spot.

anyone with advice on where to find these cheaper than the £25+ that i've seen (plus the postage is at least £6 each!)

Farway

Have you looked at Blackmoor nursery? under £25, but not by much at £22

http://www.blackmoor.co.uk/index.php

Where abouts are you?

You should not allow fruit trees to fruit in first year of planting, let them build up a root system

Not sure if this applies to blueberries, but as it is only small I doubt it will fruit yet anyway

No connection to Blackmoor except as very satisfied customer

RAS

These are good but sold out of many things http://www.rvroger.co.uk/index.php?linksource=listgroup&listgroupfile=fruitandnuttrees

alanobrien

Take a look here;

http://www.gardenbargains.com/s-fruits-plants/plants/fruits.htm

I always found there prices to be very good, and have bought a lot from them in the past. Not overly impressed with there service though.

annie123

http://www.buckingham-nurseries.co.uk/acatalog/Index_Fruit_19.html

Always had great service, excellent trees and good prices.
If you phone them staff are very helpful and did indeed call me back when something that I wanted was back in stock.

EDIT;
taken from the above site:
Almonds are very ornamental trees bearing showy, light pink blossom in spring which may need protecting from frost. Hand pollination and planting two different varieties will enhance crop size. Do not plant near peaches as hybridisation may occur resulting in bitter nuts.

Might be worth a call to find out how near is near!

dogstarheaven

Farway wrote: »

Have you looked at Blackmoor nursery? under £25, but not by much at £22

http://www.blackmoor.co.uk/index.php

Where abouts are you?

You should not allow fruit trees to fruit in first year of planting, let them build up a root system

Not sure if this applies to blueberries, but as it is only small I doubt it will fruit yet anyway

No connection to Blackmoor except as very satisfied customer

am in Nott's. the new full-sized lottie i have is NE and is apparently 570sq yards. the intended trees will i think will be fan trained/espaliered or cordoned (not sure which as i'm new to this - anyone help?) and will be sited at the bottom end where it's sunniest and sheltered.

re. not letting the new trees fruit in the first yr - do i take off all the flowers as they bud, or whilst in flower?

the latter two recommended nurseries sadly don't have the varieties i want, tho' their prices are keen:p. blackmoor's seem v reasonable in their approach, with a v. good detailed guide to growing each type of fruit. as money's tight atm, i think i will go for an apricot to begin with, tho' in the long-term, it'll be cheaper to buy both fruits as the postage might be combined. i might scrap the almond tree judging from annie123's post. i might have an ornamental cherry ('beni-chidori' instead? anyone has this? how has this fared for you?)

Farway

dogstarheaven wrote: »

re. not letting the new trees fruit in the first yr - do i take off all the flowers as they bud, or whilst in flower?

Enjoy the blossom, then await developments, some fruit may "set" in which case remove all but 2, then in July [after June drop] remove the smallest / weakest one, and then get to taste your future bumper fruit when ripened

Thus you only have one item of fruit per tree in first year, but do get to see the blossoms and get a foretaste of the fruit

laurel7172

At the I'll-compromise-because-it's-cheap end of the market, both Aldi and Lidl will have their trees in shortly, and at £3.99 per tree it's very hard to argue (and probably worth a taxi or struggling on the bus). I've never seen an almond, though.

Then there's everybody else, and there's Blackmoor. Fantastic plants...I've never bought better.

Thursday: http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_17569.htm

annie123

OP, I was just browsing ebay (as you do) and found the peach tree you were after for £15 delivered and moorpark apricot for £15 too

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Garfys-Gardens/Fruit-Trees-/_i.html?_fsub=7842510&_sid=457520450&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Never bought from them myself but they do have good feedback.
Just a thought:)

dogstarheaven

just waiting to get paid again, and then i'll be buying off blackmoor, i think as their reputation seems highly commended. thanks for all your help folks!:beer::beer:

DaftyDuck

I've just picked up two Peach Red haven from Aldi @£3.99. They weren't listed in the catalogue (although lots of varieties of apple/pear/plum/cherry were). They also reportedly had nectarines... not that I saw/got one... if they had those in my store, they were the first to go. As usual, Aldi trees look good - last year, all six I bought grew beautifully. Can't grumble about the price, either