Placing an order. I have some questions I'm too embarrassed to ask the nursery and can't find answers on google

[user1471530109]

Finally got round to ordering my trees and plants. Thank you for all your help with my novice gardening!

Does anyone know if amelanchier Autumn Brilliance is less dense than robin hill? They both seems very similar in terms of height and autumn colour.

Also, I can see on sites that half standard and bush mean different things for apple trees. But I'm confused how that relates to the root stock? So if they are both on mm106 (I need to check this) can they still be 'half standard' and 'bush' and what does that actually mean is the difference? Same height eventually, but different height trunks?

Finally, what does it mean if the shrub I am buying us 'caned'? Does that mean it has been trained into a tree ?

Thank you! I hate feeling clueless and I can't really find these answers despite looking on various sites.

Bush and half standard relate to the training, whetehr it's been encouraged to branch out close to the ground, or whether a single main trunk has been kept clear of branches. According to this link, a half standard will be higher at maturity but I haven't looked to see whether this nursery grows them on different rootstocks, which will also have an effect on height.
www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/fruit-trees-sizes-guide

Caned - I would take that to mean that it's been grown fastened to a cane, like this:
newgatedirect.co.uk/product/holly-ilex-lawsoniana-caned/

I would ask the nursery about the Amelanchiers. No need to be embarrassed about your questions, the fact you know about apple rootstocks means you already know more than many people.

Thank you. I've decided I would rather have half standard than bush.

I'll have ordered 4 trees and 6 shrubs! I'm now panicking I'm not up for the digging . I'm only half joking .

You don't have to do it all at once. If they've been container grown, they can hang around till you're ready, and if they're bare rooted you can heel them in

@MereDintofPandiculation I am intrigued! What does heel it in mean? One of them at least is bare root.

Find a bit of moist bare soil in your garden. Put your spade in to full depth and lever it forward to make a slit. It's best to have the spade at a slight angle, so that the blade end is a bit further away from you than the handle end. Put the plant in as if you were planting it, except all the roots are along the slit instead of being spread out. You may have to make the slit several spade widths long. Then firm down the soil with your heel to close the slit over the roots - this is why you had the slit at an angle to the vertical.

This will keep the roots moist. When you come to plant properly, the roots will all be together and no more than a spade deep, so you'll get a lot less disturbance than if you'd temporarily planted it somewhere. It's also a lot quicker!