This is the best time of year to plant fruit trees
THINGS TO DO IN THE GARDEN THIS WEEK
• Store fruit in a dark, cool, dry area
• Autumn fruiting raspberries can be cut to ground level as soon as fruiting is finished
• Perfect time for trimming topiary and hedging
• Time to be looking at spring bulbs
This is the best time of the year to plant fruit trees. Trees planted now will need little care for the rest of the season, no danger of drying out or other concerns.
The ground is still quite warm, so your trees will have settled in ready for spring growth; you should be eating some of your own fruit this time next year.
Last week I covered the choice of tree and rootstocks, which determine the eventual size of the tree.
Now, let me explain another area that can cause problems – that is pollination.
All fruit trees produce fruit. You don’t have male and female in the true sense of the word. All you need is for your fruit to be from the same family and they will pollinate one another.
For this to happen, they must flower at the same time. This is referred to as the flowering group.
In the case of apples, there are five flowering groups.
Flowering group 1 flowers very early and flowering group 5 flowers very late.
In the midlands avoid the very early flowering ones as the weather early in the season can make pollination difficult.
The problem is if the temperature isn’t above 10-12 degrees, insects and bees will not be active and the pollen will not be transferred from one tree to the next.
A lot of the modern varieties are offered for sale as self-fertile. In theory means you only need one tree, but I recommend that you hedge your bets and plant two trees if you can at all.
Remember, you can get miniature trees and you will have no problem putting four or five in a small garden.
To grow pears successfully in the midlands, I recommend that you plant a fan-trained tree on a south facing wall or fence.
The same pollination rules apply.
One of the great joys of gardening is the threefold reward offered by blossom, fruit and autumn colour.
If you have a gardening query and would like the answer shared in this column, contact O’Meara’s Garden Centre: 044 9342088.