Topic: B & Q apple trees

[Sprout]

I was sorely tempted on Sunday to purchase a B & Q Braeburn apple tree for £9.98 from my local store. In fact, I was halfway to checkout when I realised that the label did not contain any pollination info: either that it was self-fertile or needed a pollinator. So I put the tree back.

Does anyone have any experience of growing these trees? Are they self-fertile or, like most others, do they need another to pollinate it?

[Bodolph]

Almost all (perhaps all) apples require a pollinator. This can either be another apple of the same variety or better a different variety in the same or a neighbouring pollination group. Crab apples are often used as pollinators since they have long blossoming periods. Although Braeburn isn't listed the http://www.talatonplants.co.uk/trees.htm site has a list of the apples they supply with all the relevenat groups.

Hope this is of some help

[Sprout]

Thanks for that.

What I was really after, though, was anyone's experience of growing B & Q apple trees.

[Tora]

No experience of apple tree but I got a plum tree and a morello cherry tree from B&Q in the past. The cherry tree is doing fine but the plum tree died quickly. When I took it out of polythene bag I could see few roots. All the thick roots were cut down so that the root ball would fit in the bag. I didn't retain receipt so couldn't get a refund. :(

[jennym]

I don't think it matters where they come from, the principles are the same for a given variety. I've had some reasonable plants from B&Q, also one dodgy one, which I've taken back and got a full refund. I would (and do) do this with any supplier, a plant should be fit to grow. Don't worry about a receipt - make a fuss if necessary, you don't need a receipt if the goods aren't "Fit for purpose"
I agree with Bodolph, even if they say self-fertile, they will always perform better with another pollinator nearby. If you don't get enough info for the variety you have bought, look it up - I tend to use the info on Buckingham Nurseries and Keepers Nurserys website, but the site shown is good and clear in my opinion.

[flowerlady]

One particular piece of information that I would always look for is the kind of root stock these trees are grafted onto. 

How much space do you have to dedicate to trees?