Growing fruit trees - a forword for beginners.....

To the uninitiated at first glance, the subject can appear confusing! As a basic starting point:

FIRST Read the paragraph on pollination, so you can make sure that when you choose your varieties they will cross pollinate.

SECOND Choose the rootstock you require. This determines how big the trees will grow. There are different rootstocks for apple, pear, plum and cherry, each described at the beginning of each section.

THIRD Choose the varieties of each fruit you want, ordering them on the selected rootstock.

NOTE It is not necessary to choose a rootstock if you want supercolumns, cordons, fans, espaliers or any other trained tree as these are automatically sent out on the rootstock best suited to them.