Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi Folks
I purchased 5 fruit trees ( plum,cherry pear and peach) from Aldi last Thursday. Can they be planted in the next couple of days at my allotment?.I am concerned that frost may damage the buds that are present on the trees.It is very cold in Romford at the moment with frost some nights. Any help, suggestion will be welcomed as I know nothinjg about fruit trees.
Thanks
BAL

if its going to be cold where you are you can safley put them in an outhouse for a couple of days until the weather is a touch better. Better still unwrap them and just dig a shallow trench in a sheltered area of your plot and just heel them in until the weather gets better, just stand the trees close together, cover the roots with soil and literally heel the soil down.

When the weather improves, just plant them at the same depth as they were before, not deeper. make sure the hole is plenty wide enough for the tree roots to grow for the first season or two. You can put some grit in the bottom to help drainage and incorporate plenty of organic material in with the soil. Water well in dry spells for the first year.

Dear Pigletwillie
My Aldi apple trees have been in the shed since Wednesday but how long can I leave them there?
The weather forecast for Chester says -2 to -3 over the next few nights so I don't know if heeling them in on my plot would be safe as it's quite exposed.

Jude,

just stop the roots drying out and keep them in a shed until the weather clears, they will be ok for a week or so.

A few of years ago I bought several fruit trees and bushes and due to a sliped disk Ouch - my plants were left in a shed for nearly 3 months. The were well wrapped and kept moist but after planting the red currants were a bit slow but otherwise everything was just fine. When you think that supermarket plants can remain in the warm, light, dry atmosphere of the shelves without any TLC for a couple of months and still survive - not ideal but a week or three in the shed certainly wont kill them.