Green Capital Gardening Blog: Part 4
This is your guide to all things gardening related throughout the Green Capital year. Each month our resident blogger will share tips on how to get started with food growing, and where to find projects and community gardens in your area. You'll discover that gardening isn’t just a summer time hobby but something that can be done 52 weeks of the year!
Bareroot trees need to be planted whilst they are dormant and this is, traditionally, the way trees have been planted since we first began growing trees commercially.
It is only quite recently that the phenomenon of buying trees as containerised plants has become popular and although trees in pots are great, bareroots are fantastic and often far cheaper.
There are some amazing nurseries that you can access online to that sell bare rooted trees but hurry, you need them in by the end of February ideally.
Fruit trees are always exciting to buy as there are so many varieties and lots that hail from different areas of the country.
It’s always wise to do a bit of research before you buy a tree as it is an investment plant and so it’s vital it performs well in the area you live in.
If a variety is from Kent, for example, it’s unlikely to do that well in the south west as our weather and soils are completely different.
Varieties such as Cornish Gillyflower, Beauty of Bath, Cheddar Cross and Bridgewater Pippin are all available if you search hard and are varieties that are traditionally grown in the south west for eating apples.
Of course on top of that there are many varieties that are cider apples, such as Sops In Wine, that would have been found in cider orchards all over the area in times past.
Planting a tree is easy as long as you make sure it is planted to the same level as it was in the field, which is easy to see by the mud line just above the roots.
Put plenty of compost into the planting hole and make sure the hole is well back filled with soil and compost.
When new trees are establishing it’s important to make sure they have plenty of water and are mulched regularly with compost or manure to ensure they are well fed.
Orchards are amazing places, not just for fruit but also for wildlife and for communities and we are very lucky in Bristol to have many community orchards.
One that springs to mind is Southmead Community Orchard, which is an amazing project that has brought a community of fruit enthusiasts together and created a very special place.
They hold a work day once per month and are always welcoming to new volunteers. For more information contact southmead.fruit.garden@gmail.com.
