Time for the winter pruning of fruit trees

Lorraine Turnbull says making the effort at the right time will be a fruitful action.

- Lorraine Turnbull

Fruit trees are one of the easiest and most reliable ways to enjoy home-grown produce. Even the smallest balcony can be home to a small apple tree in a large pot, and larger gardens can have their very own orchard. Taking care to choose the correct rootstock of fruit trees makes a big difference to how many trees you can accommodate and also the vigour and overall size of those trees, and the correct choice of rootstocks and varieties means you could be harvesting fruit from May (for cherries) though till December for the last late apples.

If you only have space for one tree, whether it's in the ground or in a large container, you can even have a family tree with two or even three varieties grafted onto it. You'll pay more (unless you graft this yourself), but it will pollinate better and give you a variety of fruits.

WHAT IS A ROOT STOCK?

Most tree fruits are grafted onto particular rootstocks, which control the vigour of the tree. In apples, for instance, M25 rootstocks produce large trees suitable for agriculture and parks; whilst MM106 is a good choice for gardens. Finally, if space really is at a premium, an M9 rootstock will allow you to grow an apple tree in a largish container or in a very small garden. The rootstock is the root-mass and the stem above for around 10 15cm; then the main part of the stem and the crown, flowers and fruit make up the grafted variety. The 'form' of the tree can be a cordon, espalier, half standard and standard.

With very little maintenance and care your investment can repay you year after year, so putting in a little time to take care of any winter pruning is like putting money in the bank.