Amateur Gardening – 24 August 2019

24 AUGUST 2019 AMATEUR GARDENING 27

Fruit trees for small spots

Malusdomestica‘RedSun’

A combination of dwarfing

rootstock and naturally

compact habit bring us a

tree reaching 6ft (1.8m).

Normal-sized red apples

are crisp, juicy and ready

to pick in early September.

Suttons.co.uk

Prunus persica

‘Bonanza’

Often sold as standards,

these potted compact

peaches are easy to move

under glass at Christmas

time, ready to go back

out when the danger of

peach leaf curl and late

frosts are past.

Morus‘CharlotteRusse’

This dwarf mulberry, which

is derived from Morus

rotundiloba, won Chelsea

Flower Show’s Plant of the

Year in 2017. This is ideal

for patio pot work and fruits

from a young age.

Malus domestica

‘Flamenco’

This Ballerina bears apples

of rich, sharp flavour from

October. Ballerina trees

have a naturally vertical,

columnar habit, and they

produce apples on short

side branches with hardly

any need for pruning.

Plantin good,well-cultivated

well-drainedsoilin a sunny,

shelteredpositionawayfrom

competingshrubsandtrees.

Diga generousplanting

hole,positiontherootballto

thecorrectheight(potorfield)

anddrivein a stake.Fillin,

firminggentlyandadda treetie

Usea fruittreefertiliserin sprin

Alternatively,plantintoa pot

half-barrellargeenoughtocomfortablyaddcompost(50:50

JohnInnesNo2andamulti-purpose)aroundtherootball.

Mulchovertherootsin autumn,orapplya topdressing

of soilconditionertopots.

Waternewlyplantedtreesduringdroughtsthroughout

thefirstyear.Waterpottedplantsasrequired,andgive

thema controlled-releasefertiliserin spring.

Pruneappletreesduringwinter(cherries,plumsand

otherstonefruitsin summer)tocreateandmaintainshape.

Choose a pot big enough

to easily add compost

Growing patio performers

TI Media

Suttons.co.uk

Bottom inset: John Swithinbank / TI Media