Patio fruit trees

[almondflake]

Hi , can anyone recommend any patio fruit trees or where to buy from ? I'm after growing apple, pear , cherry and fig.
I've only ever grown veg and salad but fancy having a go at container fruit so I guess I'd need to look at self fertilising and a more stunted growth pattern .
Any advice would be appreciated , I'm in a south facing garden with sun on some parts for most of the day and I'm in the northwest of England if that makes any difference 😁

At this time of year, you would probably need pot grown trees, because the leaves (and often blossom) are already open and the trees aren't dormant. There are loads of online nurseries, and many seed companies also sell potted trees. There are specialist nurseries, of course, but many don't deliver to my area, so I can't tell you anything about them. There are lots of self fertile varieties, but it might be a good idea to ask around and see what other people have found works well in your area.

I have a plum Opal on a dwarfing rootstock (sorry, can't remember which one) in my polytunnel and it's great- it fruits well and it is generally trouble-free. I also have apples Gala and Appletini, but they were only planted last year so I haven't let them fruit yet. Where I live (one of the windier parts of the Western Isles, so a long way north of you), it's too windy to have even dwarf fruit trees outside, but I can't see why it would be a particular problem for you.

The fig might be more tricky. I haven't heard of them being grown outside except in the south of England, but I could be wrong. I have seven fig trees, but they are all under cover. They are lovely trees, and the fruit is delicious, but they are plagued by red spider mite. I grow mine is huge bucket-style pots, to restrict the roots. Otherwise you can get too much leafy growth and not enough fruit. You could also build a fig pit, but I'm too lazy! I have Brown Turkey, Dalmatie and Panachee figs, but if I had to have just one, I would choose Brown Turkey.

The fig might be more tricky. I haven't heard of them being grown outside except in the south of England, but I could be wrong. I have them in Yorkshire. I get about 200 figs a year.

I've had wonderful fruit trees from Blackmoors. Apples, cherry, quince, medlar and plum - all been lovely healthy wee trees with a good shape.

I fancy a Brown Turkey fig next - my neighbour has more fruit than she can eat on hers and I'm quite envious!

That's added another entry to my list of reasons to move to Yorkshire! Is your garden fairly sheltered?

Not too windy, but a bit of a frost poclet. The figs are on the higher part, where they get the sun.

I have a patio cherry and patio plum from Marshalls, they were 2 for £25 2L pots so thought I'd give them a try. They grew lots last year when I planted them and seem to have survived the winter.

Another vote for figs in the north. I'm in North Yorkshire and my fig had two crops of lovely ripe figs last year. I think figs are also the best suited of the trees you mention to being grown on a patio, as they actively like their roots being contained. Brown Turkey is the nicest, IMO.

You might also want to think about support for container-grown fruit trees. Fruit like apples or pears that's grown on a very dwarfing rootstock is inherently unstable, and easily suffers from wind rock.

In the north of England you are still just about in bare root season, so you might be able to get some of this bare root. One of my local nurseries, which is very good, is https://rvroger.co.uk/. I'm picking up the last of my bare root order in a couple of days, but they're still lifting at the moment so might be taking orders. I know they deliver. I've also found Ashridge generally good for trees.

Which varieties had you thought of? There are some lovely ones that are really suited to the north and IMO it's so worth getting things that you know will work in your climate. In general, morello (sour) cherries are great if you're worried about it being cold. I don't know the north west as well as the north east, but over on this side, good pear varieties include Hessle, Cuisse Madame, Beurre Hardy, and almost anything suited to Scotland works well here too (Green Pear of Yare). Obviously you'd need a pollination partner but they're just more hardy than the self-fertile ones. For apples in a frost pocket, maybe Worcester Pearmain or James Grieve?

It will be harder to find these as patio trees - patio trees tend to be the boring supermarket varieties - and I wonder if you'd consider growing something slightly larger, but tolerating the fact you'd eventually need to pot it into a truly huge container (60l or so)? An apple on an semi-dwarfing roostock won't be truly happy in a container, but patio trees are so likely to be short lived that I'm not sure you gain much by choosing the smaller rootstock.

@SarahAndQuack I presume your fig is Brown Turkey? When do you get your two fig crops? I get a small crop (about 200fruit) in August - September, then a much larger crop which doesn’t survive the winter.

Apples I would have thought were less affected by frost than pears as they flower later, but perhaps go for flowering groups 4-6 rather than 1-2?

The Northern Fruit Group has suggestions for the colder gardens in the north

Yes, my fig is Brown Turkey. I got it from Beningborough as a very small plant that looked very unpromising, four years ago! It has done amazingly, but must be much, much smaller than yours. I think last year we had about 20 fruit the first crop and maybe 10 the second - but they were delicious and I was really pleased.

By contrast, the far more expensive fig I bought from a plant nursery has done absolutely nothing. Lovely leaves; never any figs. Last year my first crop ripened in August, and the second in late October. But it was so mild that they survived - in other years, of course, they get frosted and just fall off.

I'm sure apples are less affected by frost than pears. I am very much hoping that I can get away with one on my very exposed east-facing gable-end (which I know is a gamble as it'll be early sun on frost). But we shall see.

(And thanks for the link - I'll certainly be referring to that!)

Last year my first crop ripened in August, and the second in late October. But it was so mild that they survived - in other years, of course, they get frosted and just fall off. It sounds as if your August crop is my August-September one, and your second crop is the one that for me gets to plum size in December. Are you in the South? Growing season in Yorkshire is well over a month shorter.

Column fruit trees work in pots. Check they are self fertile/don't need a pollinator.

Reading this, I want to add a Brown Turkey fig.

North Yorkshire, but my garden is south facing and sheltered.

@Itstillgoeson - you really do!

@SarahAndQuack Well that's my theory shot! My garden is also south facing, and sheltered from the wind, but also a bit of a frost pocket, and the fig trees are shaded from early morning sun, and one of them from the evening sun too. But it sounds as if I need to give them a talking to, and explain what could be possible if they got moving a bit earlier.

Im a complete novice. Can I go to garden centre and buy trees and keep them in pots or do I need to plant them in the garden?

It very much depends on the tree. If it is grafted onto a dwarfing rootstock, then it can usually be grown on in a pot (but I would always put it in a much larger one, not just leave it in the one it comes in, unless it's a fig). Specialist nurseries are a good bet for expert advice and guidance on the varieties to suit your area.

Some rootstocks are not suitable for growing in pots, so they would need to be planted in the ground.

Reading this, I want to add a Brown Turkey fig.

Everybody should have a fig tree!

You can buy some fruit trees as "dwarf tree" varieties which are better suited to be grown in pots, that you can then place on a patio area or somewhere else in the garden.
This way, you know that the roots won't cause an issue to the ground (pushing up paving from underneath etc) as they are contained within the pot, the trees won't grow overly tall, yet they will still bear a decent amount of fruit, and you can easily move and relocate them as you need to. There's a handy blog here https://www.greenhousereviews.co.uk/blog/are-dwarf-fruit-trees-any-good/ that explains about them in more detail.

I bought 2 apple and 2 pear trees (dwarf ones) from YouGarden https://www.yougarden.com/cat-fru/fruit-trees.htm a few years back. There's a filter on the left to only show "Dwarf/Patio" ones that's really handy to see what one's suit your garden best. One of my pear trees sadly didn't take and died, but the other 3 are doing well. We have a squirrel that has started popping round at winter to steal the remaining apples off the two trees! The little bugger😍

Most fruit trees you can buy are grown on dwarfing or super-dwarfing rootstocks (if it's sold as a 'patio' tree it'll be on super-dwarfing). In theory, patio trees can be grown in pots. You don't just put them into a massive pot; you slowly increase the pot size as they grow - otherwise, the tiny ball of roots sits in a massive amount of wet compost, and it can tend to encourage them to rot and die. You'd also feed a potted tree quite carefully.

What the problem is, is that basically patio apples, pears and cherries are often not very prolific or long-lived - especially pears IMO. They're trees that, on their own roots, would be enormous (pear trees can be as big as a beech), and you're using the rootstock to cram them down tiny, and they struggle.

If you were to grow a small tree in the garden, it might do better, and for this you could definitely go for a dwarfing rather than super-dwarfing rootstock. Or, if you are like me and have a terrible weakness for buying fruit trees, you could choose dwarfing rootstocks, buy a massive pot, and cross your fingers!

This site has a nice guide to apple tree rootstocks if you scroll down (and similar applies to pears and cherries). https://www.chrisbowers.co.uk/guides/apple-trees.php

But don't worry too much! I'm giving picky advice because it's something I worry over myself, and loads of people just nip to the garden centre, pick something up, and end up with lovely fruit without all the over-thinking I'm doing.