It is possible to grass down in between cordon trees and much of the mowing can, of course, be done mechanically. The grass underneath the cordons themselves has to be cut from time to time by hand, but can be allowed to lie there as a mulch. I often uses the excess from in between the cordon rows as a mulch in the rows themselves, and this does discourage the growth of grass underneath the cordons to reduce the amount of handwork, in consequence, to a minimum. For the very small garden there is a lot to be said for the Family tree.
By means of the arching, the trees are brought into fruiting early, and by means of the training we get the maximum branch coverage in the minimum of space.
Strong one-year-old trees are planted, grafted on to the M. IX or M. VII stock-they should not be less than 4 feet tall. The trees are arched so that the leader is attached to a wire stretched tightly at 18 inches above soil level.
Family trees can be bought bearing (a) three cooking apples, i.e. early, mid-seascn and late; (b) three eating apples for mid-season; and (c) one cooking and two eating apples; or (d) three late varieties of dessert apples. Choice varieties of apples are is Arthur Turner. It is a regular and abundant cropper, grows fairly upright and will pollinate Bramley's Seedling. A nice dark green round apple with slight orange-red flush on one side. Season Aug.-Oct. Resistant to scab.
When the trees are three years of age, the area may be grassed down as advised for pillar trees. Once the number of arches have been formed, the laterals are pruned back regularly in summer, when they reach a length of 9 inches; and in the winter, if the spurs get too long and there are too many fruit buds on each one, then these spurs may be reduced in length.
Some French growers adopt what they call L'Arcure Libre method and then they allow the laterals to develop at will once the general shape of the trees has been formed, hence the word Libre.
By means of the arching, the trees are brought into fruiting early, and by means of the training we get the maximum branch coverage in the minimum of space.
Strong one-year-old trees are planted, grafted on to the M. IX or M. VII stock-they should not be less than 4 feet tall. The trees are arched so that the leader is attached to a wire stretched tightly at 18 inches above soil level.
Family trees can be bought bearing (a) three cooking apples, i.e. early, mid-seascn and late; (b) three eating apples for mid-season; and (c) one cooking and two eating apples; or (d) three late varieties of dessert apples. Choice varieties of apples are is Arthur Turner. It is a regular and abundant cropper, grows fairly upright and will pollinate Bramley's Seedling. A nice dark green round apple with slight orange-red flush on one side. Season Aug.-Oct. Resistant to scab.
When the trees are three years of age, the area may be grassed down as advised for pillar trees. Once the number of arches have been formed, the laterals are pruned back regularly in summer, when they reach a length of 9 inches; and in the winter, if the spurs get too long and there are too many fruit buds on each one, then these spurs may be reduced in length.
Some French growers adopt what they call L'Arcure Libre method and then they allow the laterals to develop at will once the general shape of the trees has been formed, hence the word Libre.
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Should your fruit tree garden be subject to frost, choose varieties which flower late.
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