Hi,

I want to plant up a small orchard this winter. The ground is clear.

The size of the plot is around 11m x 10m.

The site is south-facing, full sun, 18in of good, neutral topsoil, but quite
exposed from the east, only a few hundred yards from a cliff edge.
Reasonably sheltered from the north and the west with no shade from the
north and none for most of the day from the west.

Very little frost.

We already have two very productive Victoria plums on one side of the
southern edge, fortunately they don't produce enough shade to be a cause for
concern.

Have any list members and suggestions for the most productive fruit trees?

As wide a variety as possible please - and details of rootstock and
pollination requirements would be useful.

Many thanks in advance,

Keith

"Keith (Dorset)" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I want to plant up a small orchard this winter. The ground is clear.

The size of the plot is around 11m x 10m.

The site is south-facing, full sun, 18in of good, neutral topsoil, but
quite
exposed from the east, only a few hundred yards from a cliff edge.
Reasonably sheltered from the north and the west with no shade from the
north and none for most of the day from the west.

Very little frost.

We already have two very productive Victoria plums on one side of the
southern edge, fortunately they don't produce enough shade to be a cause
for
concern.

Have any list members and suggestions for the most productive fruit trees?

As wide a variety as possible please - and details of rootstock and
pollination requirements would be useful.

Many thanks in advance,

Keith

Take local advise on what does well, The National trust usually have local
varieties in their orchards, but there may well be other sources. No point
planting a really good apple that loads of people recommend only to have it
fail because it does not care for your climate/soil.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea

Kieth,
Have you given any thought as to how you would like your orchard
planted -ie) are you looking to have standard trees 20ft tall or small
6-8ft bush trees or grown as oblique cordons? Equally are you looking
to plant old varieies or are you after just good apples whether
recently introduced or not?
The significance is as follows -
Standard trees getting to 20ft will have to be spaced accordingly, as
will the bush trees. The difference in hight is as a result of root
stock selection. The tall trees will be on M25 or M111, whereas the
bush trees could be on M9. If you select the cordon option it allows
trees to be spaced at 1m intervals with 2.5m between rows. This allows
for a wealth of varieties to be planted and thus get a good selection
through out the season. Granted the yield per tree will be less but in
the space, they will be as productive.
The problem with recommending varieties is that one man's meat is
another mans poison. We have our own idividual tastes.
A nursery I can recommend is the Agroforestry Research trust whoa re in
Devon, http://www.agroforestry.co.uk/index.html , I have purchased
plants from them in the past and they have been very efficient.
Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

"Keith (Dorset)" writes
Hi,

I want to plant up a small orchard this winter. The ground is clear.

The size of the plot is around 11m x 10m.

The site is south-facing, full sun, 18in of good, neutral topsoil, but quite
exposed from the east, only a few hundred yards from a cliff edge.
Reasonably sheltered from the north and the west with no shade from the
north and none for most of the day from the west.

Very little frost.

We already have two very productive Victoria plums on one side of the
southern edge, fortunately they don't produce enough shade to be a cause for
concern.

Have any list members and suggestions for the most productive fruit trees?

As wide a variety as possible please - and details of rootstock and
pollination requirements would be useful.

That's a very big question!

It would help if we had a little more idea of what you wanted from your
orchard. Are you asking us 'what are the most productive apples and
pears to plant?' or are you asking 'what sort of other fruits - eg
medlar, mulberry, quince, apricot, fig - could I consider? '

There are far too many apples (many hundreds) to give pollination
requirements, apart from the general comment that you need a pollinator
(and for a few varieties, you need a pollinator for the pollinator), but
the pollination groups will be detailed in the catalogue or on the web
site of any specialist nursery.

Since you're in Dorset, get a catalogue from Scotts Nurseries at
Merriott (Somerset) (unfortunately they don't have a web site, but a web
search will reveal their full address). I haven't ordered from them for
several years, but when I bought my apples from them, they had a list
second to none, and a good variety of other tree fruit.
--
Kay

jane writes
~
I'd give Brogdale a ring.
They can match an area with locally-bred varieties if you want, match
pollinators, and have the biggest range of apple trees in the country.

Agree with praise - except that 61 varieties of apple isn't 'the biggest
range in the country'. Rogers of Pickering have 99, and the Scotts
catalogue in front of me has almost 200 ;-)


--
Kay