My three small apple trees??

[cacran]

I have been give three small apple trees, the ones that are meant to be grown in pots. They have not been thriving well so I want to plant them into the soil.  Do you think they will grow very big, I would like to keep them smallish. Will Rhubarb grow at it's feet, do you know or will I need to keep the trees away from it. How close to each other can I plant them ??

[cacran]

[calendula]

if they were meant to be grown in pots or at least they were suitable for pots then they are probably on a dwarf stock but growing in the land will always enable the full growth of a tree but I imagine they won't get too big - pot culture can be a disadvantage imo

I would let them develop some growth and health before you start pruning excessively and too much pruning can end up pruning off the fruiting spurs, so let it recover first and see what happens. I would give them a couple or metres inbetween and not grow anything at their feet until better established, but that's just my opinion  :)

[Melbourne12]

We have rhubarb growing in the shade of a well established tree which is on the border of our plot and the adjoining playing field.   We feed it with manure each year, and it is very productive.  We also have rhubarb near a line of small apple trees, but what we have done is to have a path between the line of trees and the rhubarb, so it's perhaps a metre and a half away.

If your apple trees are the sort designed to grow on patios in pots, then they'll be on the smallest dwarfing rootstocks, and I'd be surprised they ever grew more than about 2 metres high.  I guess you'll want to prune them so they grow as wide as possible to maximise your harvest.

[timeoff]

I have put pot apple trees into my allotment and they are fine. Infact they were failing in pots and this year i had 16 apples from one. Also my rhubarb is about 3 foot away and all is well.

[cacran]

Thankyou for your advice. Much appreciated.