Growing Apples

Sounds like this year we’re being exhorted to plant fruit trees (Gardener’s World Magazine March ’08) – easier said than done. It’s simple to imagine when you possess a sweeping vista empty and just crying out for a spot of mellow fruitfulness, but what about the rest of us, those who only possess plots of 50ft x 50ft (in old money) or even less, which is more often the case. Currently, newly built homes, even the bigger ones, laughingly referred to as “family houses”, are given no more than a scrap of land, much of which is taken up by the garage and the parking. Returning to the fruit trees…I have two espaliers, bought at approximately three years, one Charles Ross and one Bramley (I bought three but one died). It was only a few years later, when the Bramley didn’t blossom, that I discovered that it should not have been trained as an espalier, but should have remained a free standing tree – Bramleys are tip bearers not spur – so I was, literally, pruning away the fruit – you live and learn. Notwithstanding, I kept it, but allowed it its freedom, or as much as I could give it given the position by the boundary, and, better late than never, it does produce a few good sized apples on a regular basis.

Ballerina – I have one of these apples too, it makes a pretty pillar of apple blossom, requires no pruning and fruits well most years, but is occasionally subject to frost and, I think, a lack of bees at the vital time, but that’s just anecdotal, not scientific. The apples don’t keep, so they’re great for kids who always want everything right away.

Cox’s Orange Pippin – I have this on a dwarf stock in my front garden and it struggles but produces intermittently. In addition there are two tiny trees (dwarf stock) in large pots – a young Russet and a slightly older James Grieve, an all time favourite…an Orchard it ain’t, but I do my best.

Spiraea x Bumalda “Gold Flame”
In spring this little shrub always reminds me of autumn. It is worth its weight in gold, at least to me. All I do is trim it lightly when it becomes untidy and cut out the blank green when it tries to revert, which isn’t often. There are those who disapprove of the flowers, considering pink inappropriate amongst the foliage but I love the fluffy pink heads and the bees, who aren’t so fussy, well, make a beeline for it.

Frogspawn.
The frogspawn cometh – a bit late this year, first noticed on 9th March ’08 to be precise, but the frogs have been thinking about it for a while now, and talking about it too, especially at night! One of them stayed behind to guard it all apparently – bless!

The Prunus Kojo No Mai is now in bloom – wonderful!