BUYING FRUIT TREES

[PLUMPUDDING]

In March Kitchen Garden there is a question about whether it is too late to plant fruit trees and the reply is that it is getting a bit late for bare rooted, but containerised ones would be OK.

I would be very careful whether they are containerised or container grown as some containerised ones are just bare rooted ones that have had most of their roots chopped off and put in a pot. You can check this by carefully lifting the tree by its stem and it will come straight out of the pot (careful if you are in a garden centre you might have to shove it all back in the pot!) Container grown plants will have good root growth within the pot and won't pull out and are worth buying - so long as they haven't been in the pot for years.

I thought I would pass this on as I bought a "containerised" apple tree and was horrified when I saw how little root was left on it and despite being carefully planted in good soil and staked it never got going and died over the next winter.

So preferably buy bare rooted while they are dormant, or second best, a well rooted container-grown plant.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Plumpudding, may i just thank you for sharing that very useful piece of imformation with us all.

[Tigger]

I know I've said this before, but I must recommend Matthews. They used to be trade only, but now include the likes of us.

Yet again this year, we've received our order. Anything they can't provide, they offer suitable alternatives. Costs are more than fair. Quality excellent.

Wonderful for fruit trees, fruit bushes, and more.