Fruit trees and clay soil
Posted: Thu May 03, 2018 10:46 pm
I apologise now as a high percentage of my posts are likely to mention clay. This time, it's fruit trees and clay.
Alongside all the splendid vegetables I'm hoping to grow, I also want to establish a number of fruit trees. I bought a few trees from Wilkos last year and have been nursing them along in pots and they are turning into fine specimens. So far, I have 2 pear trees (concorde and a butter pear), 1 cherry (sunburst), 2 plum (Victoria and president), 1 apple (discovery) and a couple of blackcurrant bushes. I would like to have a few more apple trees, at least 1 more cherry and plenty of soft fruit including raspberries and tayberries.
My thinking is that no matter how big a hole I dig and how much non-clay stuff I fill it with, at some point the roots of the trees will go beyond this and into the natural clay soil surrounding them. Is this an issue? Are there particular measures that I should take to ensure that they thrive? Also, how best should I treat the soft fruit bushes? I plan to have the soft fruit in a fruit cage to protect the crop.
Thanks again. All advice is much appreciated.
Alongside all the splendid vegetables I'm hoping to grow, I also want to establish a number of fruit trees. I bought a few trees from Wilkos last year and have been nursing them along in pots and they are turning into fine specimens. So far, I have 2 pear trees (concorde and a butter pear), 1 cherry (sunburst), 2 plum (Victoria and president), 1 apple (discovery) and a couple of blackcurrant bushes. I would like to have a few more apple trees, at least 1 more cherry and plenty of soft fruit including raspberries and tayberries.
My thinking is that no matter how big a hole I dig and how much non-clay stuff I fill it with, at some point the roots of the trees will go beyond this and into the natural clay soil surrounding them. Is this an issue? Are there particular measures that I should take to ensure that they thrive? Also, how best should I treat the soft fruit bushes? I plan to have the soft fruit in a fruit cage to protect the crop.
Thanks again. All advice is much appreciated.