Apple Bytes

Apple Trees and Flooding

Andrew Lear Chat Apple Bytes, Appletree Research, Blogs, Fruit Press, Resources Tags: , ,

Many of you will be planting new fruit trees this spring and will be wondering what effect all the rain will have on your trees. At present your trees are dormant and most likely you are planting them as ‘bare root’. It is well known that up to 90% of your trees roots may be killed when they are lifted out of the nursery and replanted, so it is very important you keep the roots moist and frost free to preserve what’s alive.

Tree roots need oxygen, and prolonged wet conditons will create anaerobic conditions and many more roots will suffocate. In spring, your trees will have a hard job growing new roots and getting the nutrients necessary to grow, flower and fruit.

Another worry is a fungus disease called Phytophora or collar rot which can attack your trees in the summer after a very wet winter.  So don’t exacerbate this situation avoid those wet hollows in your garden, don’t pile masses of compost around the roots,  and look forward to a nice dry spring and summer!

Also many beautiful productive fruit trees can blow over due to wet soil, so see to your drainage!

Windblown Tree

Medlars

Andrew Lear Chat Apple Bytes, Appletree Research, Blogs, Fruit Press, Resources Tags: , , ,

Medlars are rather plain looking trees – admittedly they are rosaceae, but the flowers are just white amongst many other better rosaceae, so why are they of interest? They have been cultivated for thousands of years, and its very likely the Romans brought them here.
Well its the fruit, which is not quite like anything else! They are actually pomes, and are brown, earthy tasting and either hard or soft and almost rotten! They are about 5cm across and brown.We tried some at The Harmony garden at Melrose once, and they were definitely an acquired taste. They are in fact a useful late fruit as they aren’t ready until mid- winter.
So what are they used for. Traditionally they need to be ‘bletted’ i.e. until the frost has softened them. Some suggest this isn’t actually necessary.However, the best use of them is to make into jam or jelly.
They will grow almost anywhere, I have seen them at Kellie Castle in the lawn, and in a hedgerow at Broughty Ferry. Remembering where they are and getting the fruit is important if they’re in a hedgerow.

Medlars

Varieties generally available are the Dutch ( largest fruit), Nottingham ( more upright), and the Royal ( better flavour). Also Breda Giant and Russian clones. We sell Nottingham. All are self-fertile.Named varieties can be grown on Pear, Quince or Hawthorn. They come from the Caucasus, so cold winters and hot dry summers are a clue to their requirements. The dry warm soils of Broughty Ferry is probably about right. Bob Flowerdew suggests only remedial pruning as they fruit on the ends of shoots.

The RHS suggest the following: ‘’pick when the stalk parts from the tree in late Autumn, and dip the ends in in strong salt solution to prevent rotting…..store with calyces downward, on slatted trays. Use when the flesh is brown and soft’’.

Ooh I almost forgot to mention, they have lovely autumn colour!

Refs:
Flowerdew, Bob, Complete Fruit Book, 1997, page 169.
RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening, Ed. C. Brickell, 1992, page 387.
Tree Fruit Growing, Raymond Bush, 1962, pages 288-289.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mespilus_germanica

What is grafting?

Andrew Lear Apple Bytes, Resources

What is grafting? It is the way in which gardeners have propagated their favourite fruit trees for centuries. There are many different ways of grafting, but they all involve joining up of the cambium which lies just under the bark of the twigs.

Side Veneer Grafting
Side Veneer Grafting

There is an easy amateur method called side veneer grafting, and for the more capable, saddle grafting. Using containerised trees you can relax in the warm, inside. Professional work would be done outside on field grown stock.

The principle is the same with all grafting and budding, that is to match up scion and rootstock as accurately as possible. Just fit one to the other and tie in with a few wraps of polythene – or biodegradeable tape. Do it in February, and remove the tape by July. The tree can be planted out the following year as a maiden.

Budding is a type of graft which uses a tiny bud of your tree which is inserted into a slot on a new rootstock. Chip Budding or T-budding are types of budding graft, which are usually done in August on trees growing outside.

Example of a T-bud
Example of a T-bud

If you want to graft a tree of your own, or learn a new technique, sign up for one of Appletreeman‘s grafting courses – check our events page for the next one.