L have recently bought four Aldi's fruit trees (bramley,cherry,plum & pear) & was wondering how far appart they need to be planted.Very little information comes with the trees & perhaps people have had them before & know what size they will grow to.
A lot more than you think because you can't tell the rootstock and they could grow very large. Hope you've got 2 pollinators for your Bramley. When I go for these odds and ends I chose the smallest hoping they've got smaller rootstocks than the others. Depends on what room you've got but I'd spread them as far as feasable from each other. Bees will find them ;D
We planted our apples & pears as an oblique cordon. You can fit more in a smaller place that way ;D.
Agreed, i cordon my pears apples and plums against the fences, they are around 2-3 m apart. If you train the branches on different heighted wires then they can intersect but you will need to give them some good manure and compost in thier planting holes to have them this close.
If you are worried about a pollenator you can always graft a couple onto your tree once it gets going. But There may be some nearby within bee flight distance so see how you get on.
I had pears on my willams bought from Aldi after a year which was very good going.
Its exciting to be planting fruit trees and if all else fails just give it a go and see what happens.
x Sunloving
I agree with green lily, if you assume (dangerous!) that they are on some sort of semi-dwarfing rootstock, then to form bush trees they should be planted between 10 and 15 feet apart both within and between rows. The Bramley is quite vigorous so be generous with its spacing.
It is most likely, but not certain, that a limited amount of shaping has already been carried out on these tree to make them into the bush form. If so it would be difficult but not impossible to shape them in to some other form.
In 10 years or so the trees/bushes will use up their full space, and their roots also. People often grow vegetables under fruit trees but not me. The fruit trees and vegetables compete for light and root room to the benefit of neither so may not crop to their full potential. There can be problems of access to the fruit for pruning picking thinning and pest control. For example you really will not want to spray against codling moth whilst ever salad crops beneath catch the drips of insecticide.
You might consider some type of restricted form of fruit tree such as the cordon for which I am an enthusiast having over 20 in my back garden. To form a cordon (or any other restricted form) it is essential that your varieties are amenable to pruning because you will be doing a lot of it. Some varieties react to pruning by stopping fruiting for a season or two. Sadly for you this includes most cherries, most plums, and Bramleys. Most pears are OK, I have four sorts of pears both as cordons and espaliers, the espaliers being over 40 years old and highly productive.
Thanks for your replies,have no fences to train them against but do have plenty of room as they will replace old,diseased & broken trees they I have cut down & dug out (will not plant in the same place).Luckily there are quite a few trees on adjacent plots to act as pollinators if they are needed.Think I will plant 12' apart to give them a chance.
I think they'll appreciate all of that. They are usually good quality trees but the end of runs/leftovers from decent Dutch nurseries. Hope they do well ;D
They are usually good quality trees but the end of runs/leftovers from decent Dutch nurseries.
I'd be surprised if they were left overs..they are sold by the thousand in UK and not only here but Aldi's and Lidls are in other European countries and they have same offers there too.
Some fruit nurseries/growers are making 'millions' of new trees to fill the market for just those two 'brands'. I doubt 'left overs' would be enough.
All my Lidl trees have done well, but they are not always the variety marked on the packet. ::) They are not showing signs of excessive growth I have had some for four years now. One has the best apples I have ever tasted but I have totally failed to identify the variety. I am hoping to graft a piece onto some root stock.
I've grown several of the aldi apple trees.
The Bramley was getting very big and had two massive chop backs ( now gone to make way for conservatory ). I would guess at 10 years old 20ft- 25 ft..taller if it hadn't been cut.
the other eating apples, tree ( again big chop backs ) now 15ft-18ft but not as vigorous as the Bramley.