Fruit trees

BB15

Hi would anyone have an idea when Al** or Li** have their fruit trees in.? Also is there a supplier of reasonably priced trees that anyone could recommend please.

twopenny

No but they were in Tescos a week or two ago. Sold out like greased lightning.

It's cheaper to buy bare rooted trees from a good nursery than to buy potted ones from a garden centre.

I got mine from a small local nursery. £27 as opposed to the garden centre ones that were in pots at £50+

RAS

Previously, Li used to put out their trees towards the end of February, but last year there were none. In April a few, more expensive, potted trees turned up and disappeared very quickly. Didn't see any at Al at all. Given they come in from Europe mainly......

Wilkis also do bare roots but really struggle. I found an entire box at a larger store with no labels; I know enough to identify a plum without a label but there was no clue as to variety or rootstock. Another store had one unlabelled tree and a dead stick.  Smaller stores seemed not to be selling them. They were only £5 so if you're not bothered...

The reason I keep my eyes open is that I belong to a group that (used to) run identification sessions and a lot of supermarket trees are not what they say on the label. This is particularly true of anything bought as Cox, Discovery or the Pink Lady (it's illegal to sell Pink Lady). Multiple trees bought as desert apples prove to be Bramley Seedling whilst Bramley turn out to be something else.

So you are taking a gamble that what's sold is what you are getting, anyway. We're actively growing some of them to try and identify what they actually are. Some are less common but decent varieties which could be used by their owners if they understood the cropping and usage seasons.

Farway

Morrison's sell bare root & potted,fruit trees, no idea if the are in now, around a tenner, as usual no ID of root stocks but the dwarfed Golden Delicious I bought has stayed short, and is a GD

RAS said:

So you are taking a gamble that what's sold is what you are getting, anyway. We're actively growing some of them to try and identify what they actually are. Some are less common but decent varieties which could be used by their owners if they understood the cropping and usage seasons.

I have an apple like this, bought decades ago, from a nursery, supposed to be Golden Delicious but it's most certainly not.

I have yet to positively identity it but it is a lovely early eating apple which I have now trained sort of espalier fashion

RAS

A lot of Cox's sold by Woolies proved to be Red Belle de Boskoop, and I encountered a couple who bought 2 each of 6 varieties at a supermarket to plant an orchard in a very isolated bungalow and got 12 Bramley's Seedling. No wonder they took years to fruit. 

And there are loads of "Pink Lady" sold as the Pink Lady that are Discovery. 

If and when things calm down, might be worth seeing if you can get it to an identification session although a lot of identifiers are older.

BB15

Thank you very much for your replies. I dont live close to any of the supermarkets that might get them in so it was useful to know that they aren't so plentiful this year or last. I will look around properly and consider buying online maybe.

silverwhistle

RAS said:

 I encountered a couple who bought 2 each of 6 varieties at a supermarket to plant an orchard in a very isolated bungalow and got 12 Bramley's Seedling. No wonder they took years to fruit.

That made I laugh.. I think my Bramley, which cropped well last year has only been in situ for 3 seasons, but I can't remember where I got it but definitely not a specialist grower.

I've not bought apple trees from them but been very happy with other products from the specialist Blackmoor Nurseries near Selborne in Hampshire: worth a look I'd say.

twopenny

I bought a potted dwarf apple tree from a supermarket after the first lockdown. I was desperate for plants with a new garden and knew they'd go quickly.

It turned out to be a relatively rare old Dutch variety and it got every bug in the book. I 'donated' it.

The dwarf cherry bought at the same time and also an unusual variety, it's definitely staying dwarf. Now in a pot just waiting for blossom.

I'm watching this thread carefully as they do full size cherry, Stella on the label.

But even my potted from a nursery aren't doing as well as the bare root from there. And I look longingly at the beautifully formed fruit trees at the garden centre. £20 more but already shaped and flourishing.

I did the same with roses, the ones I bought more expensive from the garden centre got off to a racing start and impressed the neighbours and me. The ones I bought cheap are still struggling.

So although I'm into a bargain sometimes I think it's probably false ecconomy. It's tough to know which

Ganga

I bought a cherry and a plum tree from our local small garden centre ,both have grown BUT both are cherries! the birds love them and i dream that one year i might get to taste them 

twopenny

Ha!Ha! Yes, I bought a Greengage that turned out to be a Damson. Aparantly they'd had someone working there who was enthusiastic but not organised. They changed it over for me, even planting the GG.

I was sorry to see the Damson go because the blossom was just beautiful and very early.

Apodemus

Looks like we've all suffered the "pig-in-a-poke" of supermarket fruit trees!  I'd agree that the varieties are way off what the labels suggest, as testified by my red/orange apples from what was labelled as a golden delicious.  I've also been disappointed to find that the trees all seem to be on extremely dwarfing root-stocks - which would have been good to know before I planted them to naturalise in a hedge!