Are patio fruit trees worth it?

dreaming

I have 2 large planters which someone gave to me and have been looking for something to go in them for a few months. I would prefer something useful rather than just ornamental, and have been wondering if it is worth getting a couple of patio fruit trees? The garden is not huge but is south facing in Northamptonshire, and I do successfully grow a few vegetables in raised beds and pots. I'm not expecting to have huge harvests but I do quite fancy the idea of fruit. I know you can often buy these plants at various cheapie shops but I don't mind paying out a little bit more for better plants if there is a reasonable chance of it working.
Any suggestions/advice welcomed.

andrewf75

Don't have any myself but I know they do work in containers. You would have to put more effort in to water and feed them though

martinthebandit

Holidays are usually the problem, as long as you have someone you can trust to water them if you go away in the summer then they are fine.

DaftyDuck

I do grow them - but for the flowers and form, rather than fruit. They do fruit, just not in abundance, and not great quality. The cherry and pear are very pretty trees, and the apricots, peaches and nectarines look good for the blossom (but get terrible blight if I don't keep them in a greenhouse early in the year).

If you want fruit, I would not recommend a patio tree.

(I'll edit and add the varieties I grow in the morning... unless they are on that hard drive there...) They are...

Apple Keelie X2
Apricot Early Moorpark
Cherry Velvet Tassle
Crab Apple Golden Hornet
Nectarine Harco
Peach Red Haven
Peach Red Leaf
Pear Harvest Green
Plum Glory


That's not completely up-to-date, I've collected a few more. If any of those interest you, I might have a photo, and can probably tell you a bit about them... when I'm not so knackered! :rotfl:

dreaming

DaftyDuck wrote: »

If you want fruit, I would not recommend a patio tree.

That's not completely up-to-date, I've collected a few more. If any of those interest you, I might have a photo, and can probably tell you a bit about them... when I'm not so knackered! :rotfl:

Thanks - it's just a sort of musing at the moment. Just in from the pub and someone suggested espalier fruit trees as I have wooden fence at bottom of garden (or top - whichever way you want to look at it). I grow raspberries there but could do with something to hide the fence a bit, and I like the orderly lines of espaliers. Still will need something to fill the large planters though, so bit more musing to be done.

DaftyDuck

Ah, espalier are not patio trees... And can be very productive indeed... Much better idea for getting some fruit. You could still have a patio tree in the pots, pretty and make a pollination partner for the espalier.

dreaming

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Ah, espalier are not patio trees... And can be very productive indeed... Much better idea for getting some fruit. You could still have a patio tree in the pots, pretty and make a pollination partner for the espalier.

When I moved in here 6 years ago it was just lawn (not good though) and nothing else, and I actually wanted stepover apple trees to divide the garden up but couldn't afford the time or money then to sort it out and just dug the grass out to make a border for some shrubs etc. which have been bought/begged over time. Then put in some raised beds which I had brought from previous house and started growing veg. Then dug out the border at the back (by the fence) and put in some raspberries and strawberries but they don't really do that much. On top of that I have made a good wide border down the side of the garden, a gravel garden with lavender, and had a pergola built on an old garage base which takes lots of pots in the summer. Having more time now but limited funds due to retirement a couple of years ago I am trying to be sensible about what I do in the garden. I sort of think this will be my last "major" purchase for the garden. Will have to check the viability of putting wires on the fence posts and read up a bit I think.

jrtfan

I've had huge success growing gooseberry bushes in containers before - admittedly, these are bushes rather than trees and there are pesky prickles to deal with lol! But they've always fruited really heavily for me, both the dessert and the culinary varieties.

Fruittea

Unless it's a huge pot you might not get much bang for your buck. If you have a wall to grow against why not try a trained loganberry - you could do a two-tiered vine shape which would be very productive and look good. Failing that I'd go for blueberries in the patio pots as the fruit is expensive to buy and you'd get a fairly good crop. You would need ericaceuos soil though.

dreaming

Fruittea wrote: »

Unless it's a huge pot you might not get much bang for your buck. If you have a wall to grow against why not try a trained loganberry - you could do a two-tiered vine shape which would be very productive and look good. Failing that I'd go for blueberries in the patio pots as the fruit is expensive to buy and you'd get a fairly good crop. You would need ericaceuos soil though.

Thanks for taking the time to reply but I already grow blueberries in pots. Sadly don't have a wall (i.e. brick or stone) just a bog-standard wooden panel fence. Had a quick look yesterday and not sure if the fence posts are strong enough to take too much weight, and it is a shared boundary so don't want to do too much just in case. I have just replaced the side fence (which is my boundary) and used thicker posts to support wires for the climbers I grow in the ornamental bit. I did think about swapping them to the back fence and putting espaliers onto this one. I think it could still look good with flowers and shrubs in front. The main problem is that the soil is terrible. It seems to be a thin layer of stony, sandy soil over solid clay. That's why I grow veg. in raised beds and pots. I try to improve the soil each year (I have 2 compost bins) but it seems a thankless task.
The pots are reasonably big - approx. 20" high and 17" diameter and have been moved around the garden (empty) for the past couple of years while I got the rest of it sorted. The main thing I lack in my garden is height. I had a pergola built and that is great but like the idea of using the pots with a taller plant to go in the corners at the back to "define" the garden. I don't want to plant actual trees as the garden is not that big and being a bungalow I don't want anything too dominant. I do like things to be productive if possible, even on a small scale, but may just go with ornamental as I have always liked Acers. There's no rush - I'm still at the thinking stage.

jrtfan

How about planting up a few runner bean seeds in your pots this year and giving them a framework of some sort to climb up, just as a temporary measure whilst you're still thinking about what to do in the longer term?