PowerSwitch

I think I may have asked this before so apologies if I have. I have planted apple, pear, plum and cherry trees and they are all taking nicely now. I want to plant some more, that will be productive in the North UK climate. Can anybody suggest what other edible fruit/nut trees I should put in to my little mini-orchard? Thanks.

snow hope wrote:I think I may have asked this before so apologies if I have. I have planted apple, pear, plum and cherry trees and they are all taking nicely now. I want to plant some more, that will be productive in the North UK climate. Can anybody suggest what other edible fruit/nut trees I should put in to my little mini-orchard? Thanks.

I would speak to nurseries close by you; they should know what will do well, and they should have the varieties most suited to the locality,


Peter.

Try this place...
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/BEECHWOOD-NURSERIES

He is N.Ireland based (near Greyabbey) and I got some nut trees from him.

I realised after bidding on an ebay auction that he was local and so drove over and collected my purchase (and bought a few more trees too).

I got bareroot hazel nuts and sweet chestnuts.

There are probably other places too, but these trees have now taken well. Although it might be worth waiting until the autumn now.....

[edit - his shop has a reduced selection now - I bought in Feb]

snow hope wrote:I think I may have asked this before so apologies if I have. I have planted apple, pear, plum and cherry trees and they are all taking nicely now. I want to plant some more, that will be productive in the North UK climate. Can anybody suggest what other edible fruit/nut trees I should put in to my little mini-orchard? Thanks.

I've got apple plum and cherry, but what I did was add a second apple tree that fuits in late Sep as the other one fruits in Aug, so maybe early and late varieties that will prevent gluts.

On the nut front, both almond and chestnut are hugely versatile. You can make flour from the nuts, the shells go in the fire, the husks make good mulch, the wood of both is good. They both attract bees and they'll do well in the frozen north.

Now Almond.... hmmm ponders another "must have" ???

No.... I've been told NO MORE TREES! (Well I'm sure he'll have forgotten by autumn... )

Sally wrote:Now Almond.... hmmm ponders another "must have" ???

No.... I've been told NO MORE TREES! (Well I'm sure he'll have forgotten by autumn... )

We have 2 almond trees (Ingrid and Robijn) in containers: no-one can object to containers, can they ?

If I tell you that an almond tree in blossom will make your garden smell of honey, would that swing it? Or that they're a great rootstock for other fruits? Or that you can make amaretto? Or almond milk?

Sounds like I need an almond in the autumn..

contadino wrote:On the nut front, both almond and chestnut are hugely versatile. You can make flour from the nuts, the shells go in the fire, the husks make good mulch, the wood of both is good. They both attract bees and they'll do well in the frozen north.

Though I've been told chestnut needs a warm summer to give good nuts. Ours certainly bore this out last summer, when it wasn't very warm - we had plenty of nuts but they were all small.

We planted a walnut tree last year but I reckon we will probably have to wait a few years before we see any nuts. I remember harvesting walnuts from a tree in the Dordorgne about 10 years ago. Very versatile nut.

Whilst the Chestnut is a great tree (long, straight, fast growing, strong timber) you might have to wait for 25 years before you get any nuts from it.

Once they are producing nuts they produce a LOT of nuts, even in the UK climate, and you can eat them in many ways.

The following are fairly reliable disease resistant fruits and nuts:

Mulberry

Elder - jews ear fungus / flowers - champagne, cordials, eat straight off the branch, fritters, tea / berries - wine, jellies, james, pies etc. Can affect cabbage if grown nearby - best to collect leaves and dispose as allelopathic.

Hazel

Black Walnut (lovely trees but might wait a while for the nuts)

Rowan - very ornamental - berries good for rowan jelly and as a decoy for birds.

Hawthorn - native, berries make excellent jelly, can be eaten raw although not very flavoursome. Can eat leaves in salads and make meals with buds and flowers. Can tolerate a lot of exposure. Good variety if you can get hold of it is Crataegus arnoldiana, which has fruits 2cm across.

White Mulberry tree - or hybrid between red-white. Reds don't crop well in UK or Ireland. Fruit is a bit like raspberries but awkward to pick. Flowers are frost hardy - can take the odd late frost. In NI will need a south facing wall and shelter.

Birch tree - you can make wine and drinks from the sap.

Gooseberry bushes (June-Aug)

Eleagnus shrubs - can use berries - April to May when other things aren't fruiting - good hedging and pretty hardy

Worcesterberry bushes - similar to gooseberry but larger, hardiers and more vigorous, although less fruit and it is very tart raw. Good in edible hedge or for no maintenance.

Blackcurrant bushes - easy to grow and good croppers.

Red currants - similar to blackcurrant but red. Birds very keen on them.

I've planted apple trees, then lost 2 to hungry sheep. I planted
raspberries, and a pomegranate and a fig and lost them all
to the worst souther US drought in a hundred years.

This year I planted 2 elderberries, 4 blueberries, more
raspberries, and a kiwi vine in need of a mate.

Hi Michelle and welcome!

I too have planted Elderberry - there are some great rumours that it is wonderful for counteracting 'flu...... So I hope to make some Elderberry juice or wine (or both) this autumn.

These bushes are transplanted from my parent's place, where I know they gave a good crop - so here's hoping. My dad used to make wine so strong that he called it Elderberry Sherry!

I have 3 blueberries in an old fishbox filled with lime free compost - I gather they like to be very wet too.

And on the topic of drought - it's been REALLY dry here and I've been out with the hose pipe most nights trying to ensure the trees I planted earlier this year will survive. But the surrounding soil just seems to suck it up and everywhere is still dry looking. Established trees are happy but not the new ones......