Looking for fruit tree ideas

uck51js9zml2yt

I'm buying a house with a bit of land and want to plant various fruit and nut trees....I asked cadburys but they said they didn't have chocolate bar trees

Anyway I need some ideas on what types to get.

Thanks for your help.

magicbastarder

i'd swing by irish seed savers (they're down in clare though) and see what they suggest. main questions i can think of would be what's your intended use of the harvest? making your own cider?
what will you do with a glut of apples, pears, plums, whatever you decide to grow? we've a single victoria plum tree, and when the fruit is ripening, we usually end up giving a good bit away lest we drown in plums or plum jam.
nuts will obviously store much more easily.

New Home

Hazelnuts, walnuts, apples, pears, perhaps even plums. If you're going to put up a greenhouse or a polytunnel, you could try dwarf varieties of apricots and peaches, but it'd be quite difficult to get the fruits to ripen (might work if the polytunnel/greenhouse is in a in a sheltered spot). A friend of mine has a large polytunnel, and he has successfully grown grapes in it. Some hardy varieties of cherries (esp. sour ones/maraschino ones) might work, too.

EDIT: Persimmon might withstand the Irish weather, too, but you'd have to pick the fruit and allow it to finish ripening indoors.

magicbastarder

walnuts are very much a long term investment compared to hazelnuts, i'd say. still, go for it if you have the space - they're big trees.

Supercell

Depends where the house is to an extent. My sister in Sligo can just about grow apples (by just about I mean some varieties she tried there that i recommended just won't set fruit whilst other more hardy ones did fine.

If its the South East of the country then no problems with apples, plums, cherries, pears, figs (not sure if that's strictly a bush?). I also have apricots, pluots and mirabelles as well as a damson (best jam of them all in my opinion!).
I dont have much space but have packed a lot in and keep the tree's small for variety.
If I had a bit of space I'd start an orchard and brew cider, which is my plan for retirement, hic!

uck51js9zml2yt

Thanks for the feedback.
I'll have 4 acres so won't be stuck for space.

We'll probably conserve/ freeze the fruits where possible. My other half is well experienced with it..or we can get the MIL over.

I remember a few years ago being over for a few weeks with the in-laws and myself and a friend who was with us cleared the crop of apricots straight off the tree!

What varieties of the above should I be looking at?

magicbastarder

again, irish seed savers would have a good bit of knowledge about what does well in the irish climate - they rescue old irish apple varieties in danger of being lost.
for example, we have a cooking apple tree, a variety called belvedere house which they sell - they took grafts off an apple tree in belvedere house near mullingar. it's a good cropper, and has fantastically pinkish/purple flesh - the juice looks like ribena straight out of the apple.

what they sell may do better than some common varieties (such as granny smiths, which i believe don't do well in an irish climate).
they have quite a catalogue:
http://www.irishseedsavers.ie/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014_AppleVarieties_Universal_sml.pdf

you can see the belvedere house apple on page 24 there.

Lumen

I planted a load of stuff from fruitandnut.ie this spring.

Walnuts, cobnuts, aronia, plum, cherry, cornelian cherry, medlar, pine nut, blueberry.

The birds and squirrels were delighted with my investment.

Get stuff low enough to net.

Of all these walnuts and aronia are my favourites. Attractive and happy in my soil.

BarryD2

Depends where you are and aspect of land etc - e.g. we're in the SE but exposed to cold easterly winds, so more or less given up on plums and pears etc. Apples are mostly fine, not great this year though. Berries mostly do well here - tayberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackcurrants etc. You might just end up trying several and some will thrive whilst others just wither/ struggle.

Lumen

A neighbour of mine has a mini vineyard growing on a south facing slope! Outdoors, in Ireland! Grapes look fantastic this year.

uck51js9zml2yt

magicbastarder wrote: »

again, irish seed savers would have a good bit of knowledge about what does well in the irish climate - they rescue old irish apple varieties in danger of being lost.
for example, we have a cooking apple tree, a variety called belvedere house which they sell - they took grafts off an apple tree in belvedere house near mullingar. it's a good cropper, and has fantastically pinkish/purple flesh - the juice looks like ribena straight out of the apple.

what they sell may do better than some common varieties (such as granny smiths, which i believe don't do well in an irish climate).
they have quite a catalogue:
http://www.irishseedsavers.ie/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014_AppleVarieties_Universal_sml.pdf

you can see the belvedere house apple on page 24 there.

Looks a super catalogue.

magicbastarder

Lumen wrote: »

I planted a load of stuff from fruitandnut.ie this spring.

Walnuts

how big were they? i always thought walnut took a while (10 years) to start cropping. that's based on a vague notion i had rather than any experience.

New Home

It takes a few years for them to start "bolting", but when they do they can reach the height of a lime (linden) tree, easily. The leaves and the bark smell heavenly, too, there's a hint of laurel in them.

magicbastarder

i grew one from seed a good few years ago. it's sitting in a pot in a corner in my father in law's garden. only about 5 foot tall, but it's not been well treated.

Lumen

magicbastarder wrote: »

how big were they? i always thought walnut took a while (10 years) to start cropping. that's based on a vague notion i had rather than any experience.

The ones I got were about 140cm. I expect fruit in a couple of years. They didn't do much this year but nothing did in the drought conditions apart from the eucalyptus planted near my percolation area which grew about 2m.

http://www.fruitandnut.ie/walnutvarieties.html

ronan.h

Have a look here. Won’t be long filling your 4 acres
https://www.treesontheland.com/plant-trees/

magicbastarder

ah, i misread you, i thought they'd already started to fruit.

uck51js9zml2yt

ronan.h wrote: »

Have a look here. Won’t be long filling your 4 acres
https://www.treesontheland.com/plant-trees/

Super idea

@lumen.. what varieties did you get?

JustAThought

+1 for Irish seed savers and they do saplings too so could could browse the catalogue and take a sample of the soil to a garden centre and get a soil PH tester kit and have a good idea what different parts of it is like before you start ordering! They also can give advice - well worth a trip to clare to chat to them and have a weekend away talking shop! There is also the native woodland trust who have a lovely section on their website that talks about the different types of trees and their meaning and folklore - might be another interesting spin to put to the garden. I had an allotment a few years back and wanted to do it all organic and good for the bees and have fruits & fruit trees and all kinds of wierd and unusual vegetables and continental vegetables and gourds and beans that you just dont ever see in shops in Ireland. One of the best finds was blueberry bushes which up til then I'd considered bland and boring - the first taste off those bushes was incredible -it was like God had invented another exotic zingy amazing fruit and hidden it in the most boring fruit shape he could find. Also thiugh it was a chore it was incredible how cost effective growing from seed was - a bit of a bore but I ended up King of the salad -I could have sold hundreds of heads of different varieties of lettuce to every organic restaurant around if Id been organised or canny! They grow quick those feckers and if things go wrong its only the price of a packet of seeds! Also flowering rotations to help the bees polinate the veg - many fun years ahead -Im quite jealous!! Allotments are buzzy places ful of creative and inventive people - maybe take a trip to one and walk around and you will see how clever and ingenious people can be with small *and larger) spaces and just how much you can get in!! Golden beetroots and artichokes alongside net cages of rows of different types of berries overhung by different varieties of pears and plums. Yum. Rubarb and apricot. And lavendar shortbread. Mmmmmm.

New Home

I just thought of something else, but it'd be a big tree: sweet chestnut (not to be confused with horse chestnut)! Oh, and elder and mulberry (if you want to go for "alternative" fruit).

JustAThought

New Home wrote: »

I just thought of something else, but it'd be a big tree: sweet chestnut (not to be confused with horse chestnut)! Oh, and elder and mulberry (if you want to go for "alternative" fruit).

Oo-I have an elderberry 'bush' -TREE -I thought it was a sunflower plant it shot up so straight and fast but it just kept growing & growing. Its now about 1 1/2 storeys high and covered in juicy black bunches of berries. Madness.

Btw not to mention the obvious too soon, but either chose male and female trees or ones that are compatible with different fruit species to cross polinate -otherwise no fruits!!

macraignil

Only some types of fruit need to be pollinated by separate plants but it can be important for blueberry and pears. Had good experience with growing blackcurrant, redcurrant, gooseberry, gala and Bramley apple, conference pear, raspberry, thornless blackberry, cherry and elderberry. Also nice plants but not harvested much from so far are feijoa, aronia, amelanchier varieties, pheasant berry, Himalayan strawberry, hazelnut and pine nut. Some plants take years to reach maturity and yield fruit. Make sure to protect young plants from hare and rabbit damage.
Good luck!

magicbastarder

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/get-cracking-and-grow-some-nuts-1.1358453

Lumen

Cannon Spoiled Toothbrush wrote: »

Super idea

@lumen.. what varieties did you get?

Medlar (Nottingham)
Aronia x prunifolia (Viking)
Plum (Opal) on St Julien A rootstock
Cherry (Stella) on Gisela 5 rootstock.
Hazel/Cobnut (Rotblatterige Zellernuss)
Hazel/Cobnut (Cosford)
Hazel/Cobnut (Webbs)
Walnut (Corne du Perigord)
Walnut (Fertignac)
Walnut (Mayette)
Cornelian Cherry/Cornus Mas (Jalico)
Cornelian Cherry/Cornus Mas (Drindl)
Blueberry/Vaccimium corymbosum (Blue Suede)
Blueberry/Vaccimium corymbosum (Patriot)

The cobnut and walnut varieties were chosen based on various factors including pollination compatibility and availability. The walnut varieties were also selected for late leafing to reduce risk of blight.

The cherry and plum rootstocks were selected as a compromise between size and robustness. The smaller rootstocks are more fussy apparently. But after the birdbastards and squirrelbastards ate everything this year I think if I was doing it again I'd pick stuff small enough to net easily.

The blueberries were whatever the garden centre had.

The Medlar I chose because I like its origin story, the idea of Italians bringing it to Britannia and then finding it didn't ripen properly because the weather was crap, so having to eat it half rotted. Go back to where you came from, Romans! Leave us with our clubs and woad!

New Home

What variety of medlar did you get?

Lumen

New Home wrote: »

What variety of medlar did you get?

Nottingham according to the order but I can't find the tag. Have edited post above.

Oh an half a dozen Pinus Pinea (pine nut trees) which are the real long term project. Might get something in a decade or two if I'm still around!

smacl

Firstly, three acres would be amazing, quite jealous! For a native species not already mentioned on borders, sloes (blackthorn) can be useful as fruit bearing natural equivalent to the barbed wire fence. The fruit is exceptionally tart and good for cooking with apples or game, or making sloe gin. At home in my modest suburban garden between front and back I've apples, pears, plums, figs, red, white and black currants, gooseberries and rhubarb that are all very productive. Unproductive I've also got quince, goji berries, blueberries, apricot and kiwis. Apples go to making cider, which while quite labour intensive is good fun and very tasty. We stopped making jam as the household jam mountain grew large enough to feed a small nation. Most of our currants and plums now tend to go to neighbours, birds and a resident hedgehog.

I'd second the idea of a polytunnel as it gives you lots of options and an extended season. Also worth looking at probable fruiting times so you've got something fresh for as long as possible. For me the rhubarb is first and the pears are last.

New Home

+1 for quince!

I didn't think figs and kiwis would survive the Irish weather and temperatures, fair play!

magicbastarder

we have a fig which is surviving but not thriving, in a sheltered spot at the back of the house. i think the variety is brown turkey.

Lumen

magicbastarder wrote: »

we have a fig which is surviving but not thriving, in a sheltered spot at the back of the house. i think the variety is brown turkey.

My same overacheiving neighbour has a mature Brown Turkey fig in a small courtyard. It was absolutely loaded with ripe fruit a couple of weeks ago.

So I guess the secret is shelter.

I have a couple of young ones in pots but they're not happy yet.

New Home

Shelter, and a very hot summer.