Healthy and supremely tasty, fresh-picked fruit from the garden is one of the real luxuries of growing your own. A British climate is perfect for growing so many different types from tart rhubarb in early spring to sweet summer strawberries and crunchy autumn apples. At Ransoms Garden Centre you will find the largest variety of Fruit trees and bushes in Jersey.
We stock a huge fruit range in our garden centre in Jersey: look out for container-grown bushes and trees to buy all year round, or in winter bare-root plants which establish in double-quick time.
Fruit trees to enjoy in your garden include traditional apples, pears and plums – we stock many traditional heritage varieties with outstanding flavour and fascinating histories. Look out for unusual fruits, too, like mulberries, quinces and medlars in our garden centre.
Berries and currants are superb value, producing years of plentiful harvests from just a few plants. Gooseberries are first, fruiting from May, while currants (black, white and red) take over in summer.
Bare-root stock gives you a great choice of varieties. In our garden centre from November onwards, you’ll find bundles of raspberry canes, fruit trees and strawberry crowns sold this way to plant as soon as you get them home.
Please ask the staff in our Jersey garden centre for more information and advice about growing fruit.
Rootstock made simple
Fruit trees are usually grafted – that is, the top, fruiting part of the tree is attached to roots which control the size and other factors like disease resistance. These are known as rootstocks, and it’s important to choose a tree with the right rootstock for what you want to do. Here’s a quick guide to those you’ll find at our Jersey garden centre:
Apples:
M27: very dwarfing, growing to 1.8m: the best choice for decorative ‘stepover’ apples.
M9: dwarfing, to about 2m: the best choice for cordons.
M26: general-purpose dwarf rootstock, to about 3m: great for minarettes, cordons and espaliers.
MM106: grows up to 5m and ideal for full-sized trees.
Pears:
Quince C is usually the only rootstock for pears as it’s suitable for almost anything. Grows to about 5m.
Plums and damsons:
Pixy: dwarf roostock suitable for fans and cordons, with a height of 3m
St Julien ‘A’: the most useful for garden trees, and more vigorous than Pixy at about 5m
Cherries:
Gisela 5 and Tabel: Dwarfing, growing to about 2m, and ideal for fans
Colt: produces a full-sized bush tree to about 5m tall
Container Fruit
You too can grow fruit – even if you don’t have a garden. Almost all fruit trees and bushes can be grown in containers, and more exotic fruits, like peaches and nectarines, do better in a pot as they can be protected more easily. Here are our top tips for growing fruit in pots:
Which container? Choose terracotta or plastic planters about 7cm larger than the plant’s rootball from the range available in our garden centre. Re-pot into larger containers each year.
Which compost? Soil-based composts such as John Innes no 3 are available in our garden centre and are ideal for fruit as they hold on to nutrients for longer. Don’t use garden soil as it doesn’t drain well enough.
Which stake? Most container-grown trees need staking. Sturdy tree stakes and bamboo canes 8cm in diameter are available in our garden centre: sink to the bottom of the pot and tie in loosely.
Which feed? We have specialist feeds for potted fruit, such as citrus feed for lemon trees, in our garden centre, and also slow-release fertilisers such as Osmocote and pelleted chicken manure for other fruit trees.
Fruit trees and bushes for small spaces in Jersey
Squeezing fruit trees into a small garden isn’t as impossible as it seems. Train fruit against fences and you’ll not only fit in one tree – you can choose several from the mouthwatering range in our Jersey garden centre. Here are some great ideas for fitting fruit into the smallest of gardens:
Minarettes: Vertical upright stems laden with fruit on short spurs. Great for growing in containers or for pretty vertical accents in your garden. Use for: apples, pears, plums and cherries.
Cordons: Also single-stemmed, but trained at 45º to encourage more fruit. Spaced 75cm apart you’ll fit four varieties into just 3m. Use for: apples, pears, redcurrants, gooseberries
Espaliers: vertical stems with tiers of horizontal branches trained out at 30cm intervals along wires. A beautiful way to cover walls and fences. Use for: apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches
Fans: branches are splayed out from two arms at the base in an even fan across the wall. Use for: plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots
Stepovers: like cordons but bent at right angles and trained horizontally to a wire at 45cm above the ground. They make wonderful edging. Use for: apples
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in Jersey for more information and advice about growing fruit trees in small spaces.
