"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

Katie wrote
We have just had our garden done. Well, when I say "garden", I
actually mean "small, Northern style yard". It used to have all
concrete that sloped and we had Pools, nay, Lakes of water in one
corner. Now it is level, has nice terracotta tiles, and a new bed plus
an enlarged one.

The new bed is on the only south-facing wall, which gets a little shade
from a tree in someone else's garden also, unfortunately. It's about a
6 foot isosceles triangle and I want to use it as my kitchen garden
(aww, how sweet!).

So, I was thinking of planting an espaliered apple tree against the
south-facing wall. Ideally I'd like to plant a vine with edible fruit,
but we live in the Morecambe Bay area, let's be realistic here. An
apple tree is probably about my speed. At least we hardly ever get
frost...

Would this be a good idea? What kinds of apple trees would be best?
When do you plant apple trees?


Yes, it's always a good idea to use a S. facing wall for fruit growing,
but why apples? They aren't that expensive in the shops,


Trouble is many of the shop apples taste more like cotton wool than apple.
They have mostly sacrificed flavour in favour of cosmetic looks / shape. In
my opinion, nothing has a better flavour than a real (pre-supermarket)
russet apple, if your area is suitable for growing them. If available, buy
on a dwarf root-stock so that it won't grow too high for a small garden.

Bevan