fruit tree advice

[chlodonnay]

Hi all,
I am wanting to buy a fruit tree for my garden, but really have no idea what I should get. I want something with fruit that I can eat without cooking, and was thinking that a plum tree of some sort might be good. It is for my garden which is quite long but narrow, so I don't want anything that will take up too much space. I would also like something that is pretty and has nice blossom in the spring. Any advice would be great! Thanks

[chlodonnay]

[Jon Munday]

A Victoria Plum would be a good choice, this variety is self fertile and a very reliable garden variety. You will need the tree on the dwarf rootstock Pixy. Has lovely white blossom in the Spring.
http://www.blackmoor.co.uk/index.php?cPath=123
Regards
Jon

[jennym]

Opal is nice, too, and it's a bit like Victoria. I also grow Oullins Golden gage, very sweet, and Czar is dark purple and reliable too. Mine are on St.Julien A, and they've been festooned. Have managed to keep them to the 7 - 9ft mark by this method, and they crop really very heavily.

[delboy]

I'm with Jennym on rootstock and gages - there's also Cambridge Gage to think about.

[Stevens706]

Hi
If you try the catalogues i.e T&M etc you can get patio fruit trees which can have up to 3 different varieties grafted onto the rootstock, these are quite expensive but will keep quite small. I’ve just bought a Victoria plum and a peach tree for the patio.

[davholla]

Opal is nice, too, and it's a bit like Victoria. I also grow Oullins Golden gage, very sweet, and Czar is dark purple and reliable too. Mine are on St.Julien A, and they've been festooned. Have managed to keep them to the 7 - 9ft mark by this method, and they crop really very heavily.

What does festooned mean ?

[Robert_Brenchley]

You tie the ends of the branches down to bricks or something of the sort, to bend them down. the theory is that they grow more slowly, and more of the tree's energy goes into fruit. I tried it one year, and all I got was strong branches shooting up from the middle. That's fine if you have a tree on a dwarfing rootstock which can conveniently be pruned, but mine's a half-standard and a bit hard to get at!

[jennym]

Here are some pics that show a couple of festooned trees :

First one ever done, this pic taken 2 years ago shows a mature Victoria plum aged about 15 years, planted in a really cramped space.


This shows another mature tree, given to me in a mature state, which was just starting the festooning process 2 years ago.


This pic, taken last summer, shows a branch from a 3 year old tree which was festooned immediately after planting - you can see the strong young shoots which grew last summer. These were pruned down to 2-3 buds to encourage them to become fruiting shoots. Excuse the flowers in background.

[tim]

Very helpful.

Oh, & yes - Plums & Gages - they store/preserve better than most other things.

[davholla]

You tie the ends of the branches down to bricks or something of the sort, to bend them down. the theory is that they grow more slowly, and more of the tree's energy goes into fruit. I tried it one year, and all I got was strong branches shooting up from the middle. That's fine if you have a tree on a dwarfing rootstock which can conveniently be pruned, but mine's a half-standard and a bit hard to get at!

Does it work for all fruit trees ?  Or just plums ?

[star]

Yes I would think it would work for all fruit trees. The idea is as said before the growth slows on the main tied branches, putting energy into the new upright growth. If these are pruned to 2 to 3 buds it encourages flower set and fruiting. But they must be fed as well to compensate for the extra vigour / energy being forced.

Hope this helps ;)

[Robert_Brenchley]

As you say, it needs to be supported by pruning. My mistake was to try it with a tree that's getting too big for that!

[davholla]

Has anyone done it in apple trees ?
I have 2 M26 apple trees one a family tree and one D'Arcy spice.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/2567/darcym26jy9.jpg

*



http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/2347/familytreem26lm7.jpg



(Apologies for the poor quality pictures)

[jennym]

I haven't festooned any apple trees, and don't know any growers that have. Apple tree branches aren't as flexible as plums for one thing. Mostly apples are grown as cordons or espaliers to get fairly good cropping in a very small space with a decorative effect.
In commercial orchards there are lots of different ways used, one that might suit you if you want a more bush shaped tree is to follow pruning as per http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,38453.msg382525.html#msg382525

[davholla]

Jenmyn,

Thanks for that I will probably do that.
I just wondered if festooning was an alternative (I have never heard of it before).

[Amazin]

Me neither - I was searching the photos for a glimpse of bunting!

;D