How to grow fruit trees in containers?

jbbonce

I have spent the day toiling in the garden, and I am a bit peeved that the 11ish year old child that has recently moved in next door has spent the day spying on me.

I want to buy an apple tree and a cherry tree and possibly also a plum tree that I can grow in large containers,to use for privacy reasons as well as eating, but I haven't a clue where to get them from.

I've had a look online and the prices seem to vary a lot, and I don't really know what i'm looking for. I would be very grateful if anyone could offer some advice

thanks
jbbonce

louise_1981

unless you have a huge garden you will be looking at trees on a root stock, which from my understanding will keep them small but fruitful.

for apple and pear trees you will need to have two compatable species, eg two apple trees or pear trees to allow cross pollenation the same area so if a neighbour has a tree you might be ok with just getting one.

as to where to buy, try local private businesses. there is a farm near us how sells them for about 20 quid, which is rather cheap, but they are not guaranteed like the ones from the bigger places.

nodwah

We've ordered tree online from Ken Muir. Not that cheap but v good quality and wide range of varieties. We've also have trees from Lidl and Woolies and perfectly happy with them too.

Lord_Gardener

I've always found Blackmoor good to deal with and producing reliable products! NB have also picked up a few good plants (apple) from Lidl!!

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

Nikki

We get ours from Deacons Nursery on the Isle of Wight, We have a triple apple, plum and peach, apricot and nectarine and we had a triple pear but a combination of moving it and late frost killed it off!! We will get another though. Having more than one variety on a tree solves the pollination problem and saves having to buy 2 trees.

greentomato

I got a fig tree from Ken Muir and am very pleased with it, it was well packaged and good quality and already producing fruit in a large pot.

never_enough

There are several companies online that sell minerette trees which would be fine in pots, although not provide much of a screen.

RAS

If you are up north then try RV Rogers at Pickering. Good selection sold bare root at £12 for a maiden. That means you can train it as you want.

Just to note that you need trees on dwarf root stock; for an explanation on apples see
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/suttonelms/apple40.html.

Lots of plums and cherries are self fertile but you need another apple or crab apple within 400 metres to get a crop off an apple tree, closer if possible.

Otherwise, you could look at some of the family tree that are advertised, onto which 2 or three compatible apple or pear grafts are made on a single stock.

melou

Hi,

I received three fruit trees yesterday for my roof terrace to be grown in pots (a gift from the lovely boyfriend!) but this is my first year gardening and I am in Amsterdam so I am a little lost with local information. They were bought from our local flower shop so are designed for balcony/roof terrace living as gardens here are very hard to come by.

My trees are:

Pinova Apple (About 6ft root stock, long bendy branches with apples on the end, slightly self pollinating)
Glorie Van Holland/Glory of Holland Apple (Same height, branches curve upwards with fruit along the branches, not self pollinating)
Madame Blanchett Nectarine (about 5ft, branches curve up, fruit everywhere, self pollinating)

At the moment they are in the 10 litre containers they came in. Do I need to put them in bigger containers? If so, how big?

Can anyone give me any general advice on them? They are fab looking at the moment and I want to keep them that way.

TIA

Melou

warmstrong

I bought four bare rooted fruit trees recentlly. Planted in tubs of 30cmx30cmx30cm (Approx 27litre pots) using John Innes Compost Number 3.
Make sure plent of drainage in bottom of pot and bury roots to just below the root stock. Leave a gap of approx 5cm to top of container to allow for watering. Cover with a mulch to reduce water loss. Will need feeding next year with a standard tomatoe type feed once fruits are starting to set.

More information here http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/publications/pubs/garden_98-00/pubs_journals_garden_0499_containers.asp

Good luck

Ross

warmstrong

I bought four bare rooted fruit trees recentlly. All are dwarf stock that should not grow more than 2 metre. Planted in tubs of 30cmx30cmx30cm (Approx 27litre pots) using John Innes Compost Number 3.
Make sure plent of drainage in bottom of pot and bury roots to just below the root stock. Leave a gap of approx 5cm to top of container to allow for watering. Cover with a mulch to reduce water loss. Will need feeding next year with a standard tomatoe type feed once fruits are starting to set.

More information here http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/publications/pubs/garden_98-00/pubs_journals_garden_0499_containers.asp

Good luck

Ross