Planting fruit trees

[Movingonuppppp]

I have just ordered 4 fruit trees from a garden centre. Apple, cherry, pear and plum. I'm going to plant them in a line down one side of my garden. I have these beautiful visions of packed fruit trees and blossom but obviously it will be some years before I see anything like that!

Any tips on giving young fruit trees the best start?

My dilemma is that we moved here last (late) summer - I'm desperate to get on with stuff but also feeling that I should wait a full year and see what happens in the garden before I start planting anything. We've been busy taking out and cutting back all the dead and overgrown stuff and huge conifers, but there is a derelict orchard area that needs to be resuscitated. Only trees still alive are a couple of apples and a plum; our vendors told us that it was a properly-functioning orchard when they bought.

Am I right in thinking that fruit trees need to have the same spacing as their height? So if you bought dwarf rootstock you could have more of them than if you had semi-dwarf or semi-standard, and you could have more semi-standard than full standard? Or is it better to have a mix of heights if possible, eg a couple of semi-standard, a couple of semi-dwarf and a dwarf or two - and if you have a mix of fruits and sizes, are some fruits better suited to different sizes?

Those of you who have a few fruit trees, how big is the area that you're growing them in?

OP Thanks for linking, I'm now spending a happy evening perusing! What made you go for that collection, out of interest?

Here is a guide to spacing! And yes, you're absolutely right that it depends on the rootstock: a very dwarf apple tree is much, much smaller than one on a vigorous rootstock so needs a bit less space. Air movement is quite important for fruit trees - it helps them resist disease, allows pollinators to get in, and allows light to ripen the fruit.

www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/articles/fruit-tree-spacing-guide

You do see commercial orchards growing considerably more narrowly than this, but as far as I can see they use young trees which they seem to exhaust and then bin. Planting trees that will last for decades and decades involves spacing them a bit more generously. You can mix and match heights as you see fit - it really depends on the look you are going for. Bear in mind that really tall trees can be harder to crop!

Apples vary in terms of the conditions they like - there are some that will crop poorly in cold parts of the country, some that like light soils, and some that like the polar opposite! So do your research. Also, if you're spending a bit on trees, you can buy LOVELY heritage fruit trees that are rare and often quite specific to an area. One of these will give you something truly unique and special and will help keep an old variety going. Supermarket apple varieties tend to be chosen for ease of storage and heaviness of crop - not for taste. If you are growing your own, it seems a shame not to get the best taste you can!

However, you don't necessarily need to spend £££ to get a good tree. I got a row of James Grieve apple trees from Aldi for £2.99 each. It's a variety that really suits the heavy soil and icy weather I get at my allotment.