fruit and vegetables

[antonia macaroMember]

I’m going to put some dwarf apples and a pear on my fairly new allotment. Should I aim for any particular distance between the trees and the vegetables beds? Would it make a difference if the trees were a) bushes on M9 rootstock, b) bushes on M27 rootstock, or c) espaliers probably on M9? Are any of these more advisable than the others? Grateful for any advice, thank you.

[charlesModerator]

 Choices abound. Trees on M27 are the least vigorous, M9 are somewhat larger and longer lived, both come into fruit in their second year after removing blossom in the first spring. Space at about a metre for M27 and 1.5m for M9. Training to espalier means more time needed and more light for vegetables nearby.

I grow vegetables almost up to the trunks of apple trees and they are good, although slightly lower yielding and smaller in dry summers. The fruit chapter in my Organic Gardening book has more advice on all this.

I would order trees soon as the choice diminishes when nurseries sell out.

[antonia macaroMember]

Thank you Charles. But would you grow almost up to the trunk even things like potatoes or roots? Is there a danger of damaging the roots of the tree? And when you said 1 m or 1.5 m, did you mean between the trunk and the beds? Thanks again.

[charlesModerator]

With apple trees I grow most veg, and strawberries too, right up to their trunks, though not carrot and parsnip as they would be hard to remove without hurting tree roots. Potatoes is possible if you grow themn in surface compost, with tubers develkoping in that, and first earlies will grow to maturity before trees are themselves growing too much. Winter squash trail happily under apple trees.

My espalier tree rows are at the centre of three foot (one metre) beds where I grow the veg. See here

and there is 4.5 metres between each row of apple trees.

Sorry it is tricky to photograph in a clear way.

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