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2 Apple trees, 1 Tiny Garden - am I crazy?


 
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ljr
Hazel Tree
Hazel Tree


Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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Location: dublin
PostPosted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:01 pm    Post subject: 2 Apple trees, 1 Tiny Garden - am I crazy? Reply with quote
Hi
Total novice here that loves apples. Am I mad to consider planting 2 apple trees in my very small front garden which is approx 15 feet by 12. I have no back garden so this is my only option. The garden already has a few things in it including a palm tree (now at about 10 feet) and a couple of rose bushes and a fuschia but there is 1.5 mtr sq of space at the railing near the pavement and a similar space near the house. I would aim to keep these trees fairly severely pruned to stop them taking over the garden and hopefully to grow tall rather than wide..

I read GPI's excellent "How to plant an apple tree.." http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392 and the front garden is south facing with good drainage etc.

So, if it is possible to plant two trees in this small space - how far from the garden railing / bay window / path do I need to plant them or will the roots just grow underneath the path?

Finally another thought I had was that I plant one apple tree plus a small crab apple tree for polination purposes. There is a crab apple tree about 20 metres away in a neighbours garden but I would presume this is too far away to act as a polinator.

PS what put this in my head is the fact that Aldi on the naas road has a selection of apple trees (bramley, elstar and G. delicious) plus pear and cherry trees for 5.99. I bought a bramley and elstar on a whim and will give them to my brother if ye think I am mad.
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BlackBird
Silver Birch Tree
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Joined: 25 Jan 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 11:56 am    Post subject: Re: 2 Apple trees, 1 Tiny Garden - am I crazy? Reply with quote
ljr wrote:
Hi
Total novice here that loves apples. Am I mad to consider planting 2 apple trees in my very small front garden which is approx 15 feet by 12. I have no back garden so this is my only option. The garden already has a few things in it including a palm tree (now at about 10 feet) and a couple of rose bushes and a fuschia but there is 1.5 mtr sq of space at the railing near the pavement and a similar space near the house. I would aim to keep these trees fairly severely pruned to stop them taking over the garden and hopefully to grow tall rather than wide..


Severely pruning an apple tree will result in poor if any fruiting, so it would not be worth growing a larger one at all in a small space. Go to your local garden centre and ask them to get you a coxs orange pippen eating apple tree which is self fertile, so that you will not need to rely on your neaighbours for pollination. Specify that the tree must be growing on a M27 rootstock, this limits the growth to approx 1 metre in height with a similar spread. Or at a push a M26 rootstock, which gives you a slightly larger tree at 2 metres by 2 metres. Trees grown on these M27 and M26 rootstocks can be expected to produce a reasonable crop of fruit after 3 years.

ljr wrote:

So, if it is possible to plant two trees in this small space - how far from the garden railing / bay window / path do I need to plant them or will the roots just grow underneath the path?


Plant it centrally within the open area of ground and you should have no real problems.


ljr wrote:

PS what put this in my head is the fact that Aldi on the naas road has a selection of apple trees (bramley, elstar and G. delicious) plus pear and cherry trees for 5.99. I bought a bramley and elstar on a whim and will give them to my brother if ye think I am mad.


If these are not self fertile or on miniture rootstocks, then give them to your brother, or else you could try growing them espalier on a wall like in this topic http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=380
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ljr
Hazel Tree
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Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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Location: dublin
PostPosted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
hank you very much for your reply. v. useful advice, knew I had come to the right place... Neither tree is a self pollinator. I like the espalier idea as a relative has a magnificent tree covering a full wall in this manner. hadn't occurred to me. I could do this at the back if I dug into the paving at the back wall. I will investigate further...
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