"Brian" wrote in
:

I can make no guess yet, but stone-fruits need a neutral to alkaline
soil. You Tamar Valley soil should be suitable and was originally
famed for its stone-fruits.

I'm on the steepest north-facing bit of the valley, not the south-facing
cherry-growing area. It's mostly apples round here, and the soil is
gravelly rather than loamy.

It is definitely not alkaline. Lots of rhodos, camellias and heathers
roundabout, and my test kit says neutral at the top, and v slightly acid at
the bottom of the garden.

Are you sure stone fruits prefer alkaline soils? I can't find anything on
the web saying this, and had not heard it before.

I've got a dratted plum tree further up the garden that has thrown a
thousand suckers and is happily making itself into a small wood: it seems
to like the soil - a bit too much!

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--