Kitchen Garden Forum

I have had on order for a couple of months 3 bareroot apple and 2 bareroot pear trees.

It has been so wet in Kent that I have dared not go and collect them since planting them in waterlogged soil at the top of a sheltered hill would doubtless have left them rotting in the ground.

The new allotment is former farm land that hasn't been worked for 20 years and is full of every type of evil perennial weed known to man. About a month ago, I dug down into the VERY heavy clay and broke up the soil to a depth of about 2.5 feet, backfilling with a bag of sharp sand and a barrow load of well rotted manure; otherwise, the trees were going to have to compete in an absolutely horrible environment!

Now, some questions.

We are told not to plant trees when there is a danger of frost. Suppose there is no frost on the night of the day I plant, but there is the following day, is that too close to the frost? It is January, so there is going to be on and off frost. So how long do I need to leave between frosts - and why?

Should I add more sharp sand to the planting hole to help with drainage?

Wax protection is recommended. I have found lots of tubes that have been used on local trees by the council and then discarded in a ditch. Will these do? They're about 18 inches long.

The stake to support the tree is supposed to be planted behind the tree in the direction of the prevailing wind. Well, in the UK, we mostly get westerly winds, don't we? So should I plant my stake to the west of the tree?

Do any of you use mychorrizal fungi? Some people do (mainly Americans), other don't. I'm buying mine from Keepers Nursery in Maidstone, which is one of the country's best, so the quality of the trees should be good.

Finally, do you think January is a good month in which to plant? The trees are going to be very dormant, aren't they? I could hang on until February, but that is getting close to the time trees wake up in this part of the UK.

Thanks for any comments.

Wow, what a lot of questions!
This is a difficult area (probably why you have asked) as historical custom and practice is very different from modern advice.
I, like you and countless others, have always prepared a deep hole (Geoffrey Smith, don't put a ten bob tree in a half crown hole, or something similar) when planting trees and improved it with organic matter and bone meal. My trees have usually lived and thrived. We have lots of rain even in a normal year so I dig deep hoping to get the water below the tree and sometimes even put a little channel away, the danger is creating a water logged sump the tree sits in. This practice is now frowned on and you should just plant with the minimum disturbance with no organic matter or fertiliser. I haven't planted in heavy clay but again old practice would suggest opening it up but modern advice says sand gives pathways for water so the clay sets even harder in dry spells. You pays your money and takes your choice! Old and new advice both agree keep a metre circle grass free for several years.
Staking has changed too. Depending on what trunk type you've gone for, I prefer a decent trunk to make it easier to keep the grass down as I have a mown orchard, I like a decent stake with a good quality tie quite high up. Modern advice is a low stake allowing the trunk to sway but not blow over. I don't think direction is that important but I usually put it to the South West.
Mychorrizal is the modern advice, I think RHS get royalties on it, it is a bit expensive but not compared to the lifetime of a tree, the experts say it is worth it. Chris Beardshaw says leafmould has the same effect, I added leafmould to the organic matter for the three I planted in their big holes last month.
When to plant is difficult. I decided mine had been heeled in in the greenhouse border for too long so planted them while it was still a bit wet, since then it has been more than a bit wet so I may have trouble. They need to be in before there is any sign of new growth and that could be any time with our silly seasons but if yours are not lifted from the nursery I'd just look for a week with a reasonable forecast.
As they are not lifted and the nursery is not too far away I would see what advice they can offer for all your questions.

Hi Geoff,

Many thanks for all that interesting feedback.

Next week looks as though the temperatures will be better and we haven't had any rain for a while so I might put the trees in then. I will, as per your advice, see what Keepers says about planting locally.

I was fascinated to hear that advice on how to plant trees changes over time. One of the reasons prompting my post was because I'd seen contradictory advice on the Web and wondered why this was. I think I might take a more traditional approach and see what happens.

I had to dig down 2.5 feet originally to remove perennial weeds, many of whose roots were down deep enough to be en route to Australia! Had I not disturbed the soil, the weeds would have killed the trees...

On my old allotment, I had three apple trees that I planted myself. Two Laxtons (Superb and Pearmain) and a James Grieve polinator. I never staked them and they kept getting blown over at odd angles, forcing me to correct them as and how I could. I also don't prune that well, either, so the trees have had to look after themselves. But I always got a brilliant crop of apples, which bent branches into incredible shapes given the weight. Left alone, they thrived, in spite of everything!!!

I am sad having to leave the Laxtons, especially the Pearmain, which was a special graft from Brogdale. Being from Bedfordshire originally, I wanted to rediscover some of the tastes of my youth and there is nothing like a good Laxton! On the new plot, I'm trying a Laxton Fortune.

Wish me luck!

Regards

Barry

We were given a tree that was taken out by some friends for a house extension but they had no idea what it was. It took some time to recover from the move but eventually it bore lovely apples. We took some to an apple day to be identified and the first year they gave up and asked for more information. The next year we took some again with photographs of the blossom and this time they got back to us and said it was probably Laxton's Epicure which fitted with what you read about it. I have planted a Superb as well but so fat that hasn't prospered, not all varieties like our 600' wet Northern climate and that might be one. Good luck with your trees, there is something particularly satisfying about eating your own apples, my current lunches are Blenheim Orange one of my favourites.

PS: A reminder: just been down to spread lime on the orchard and found one of my new trees rabbit (?) nibbled, forgot the guards!

Hi Geoff,

I'm going to get my trees on Wednesday morning and I am curious about the warning not to plant them if there is a frost about.

Why is that?

For example, if I plant them during the day and there is a frost that night, is that bad? What will happen? Or is the frost warning there to stop you trying to plant in frozen ground?

Also, in terms of pruning, I know some commercial orchards will cut the leader down to no more than a couple of feet above ground level, which seems ruthless. What do you do?

Regards

Barry

I think they say not to plant if it's frosty if the ground is frozen, which might damage the roots. I can't see a bit of frost harming your newly planted tree.

Most new trees will have been given an initial pruning so you'll have time to assess the shape and read up on future pruning by the time it needs doing.

I agree, the sort of frost they are talking about is nothing to worry about. Ground solid for days on end is what would cause trouble. Pruning depends on the state of what you are supplied with (one year old, two year old, whips or pruned) and what form you are aiming for so quite difficult to suggest. You would normally cut the leader if it hasn't been cut already but at what height is the decision you have to make.

Well, I picked up the trees and planted them one day after frost was forecast. They stayed in the shed in the meantime.

I watched lots of videos on line about how to do it, but nothing quite went according to plan Nevertheless, they look quite happy, are staked, but yet to be pruned, which I shall do in the coming week.

After having carried a middle ear infection for a month, I finally got to see a doctor and was prescribed antibiotics, which have worked! The reason I am telling you this is that the planting of the trees practically killed me, so bad was the subsequent vertigo attack, so I couldn't face the prospect of the pruning.

Now on the mend, I can't wait to go back and see how things are progressing!

Barry, that really is a horrible feeling when you think you are going to keel over, combined with nausea.

We planted our two year old Apple and Pear tree purchases in late 2012, last year we had a little fruit stay on the trees, apples suffered drop and pear only had few fruits form in the first place again. Most success was with the plum.

Hoping for better results this year