Planting fruit trees

katiel

I've just taken delivery of two bare-rooted fruits trees - a greengage and a Red Windsor apple. I know it's really late to be planting them, but they were free!! Any tips on giving them the best chance of survival please?

Orange_King

John Innes No 3 compost is the best bet - I took delivery of 4 trees in February and they all appear to be thriving in this stuff in their big tubs. Then regular feeding with tomato feed might also help them.

markandkate

I would put them in some water for a couple of days before planting then when they are planted put some dry granular feed in with them and keep them moist until we get some rain

grrmich

My RHS book says part John Innes and part soil, as using compost only will leave it prone to drying out quickly. I planted mine in a big tub a couple of weeks ago with this mix and it's flowering already.

Soak the roots in a big bucket of water for at least an hour.

RAS

Soak them for at least an hour, in half strength feed.

katiel

Thank you for your help everyone. I have them currently soaking in the pond. I suspect they're going to be too big for pots - M26 and Julien A rootstocks?

Farway

There is some stuff you can buy, some sort of fungus I think, that promotes root growth, the GW folk seem to love, but as centuries have gone by without this magic ingredient I suspect just a good soak and plant them in ASAP

Root stocks are too big for pots, and if space allows in the ground is far better anyway

M26 gives about 8 feet wide by 6 feet tall, or more, similar for Julien A

katiel

Farway wrote: »

M26 gives about 8 feet wide by 6 feet tall, or more, similar for Julien A

That is going to be an interesting challenge! I wonder if anyone will notice some lawn missing

ds1980

http://www.gardenbargains.com/c-trefruit-fruits/plants/fruits/tree-fruit.htm

follow videos on there.......i only used multi purpose compost on mine and all are doing well coming up to second summer. i am away a lot up to 3 weeks at a time and had no problems so far.

katiel

Thank you everyone. They are now in the ground and we shall see how they fare! And a quick name check to http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/ who were giving away the trees (for the cost of carriage) as it was end of season. They seem to have regular offers on their site as well.

Farway

katiel wrote: »

That is going to be an interesting challenge! I wonder if anyone will notice some lawn missing

Once they have settled in, maybe next year, you can have grass up to the trunk if you want, that is what happens in orchards, and my back garden