Hi!

I live in a very windy part of the country with a prevailing wind that
comes straight up the valley at the end of my garden and carries up
the garden until it hits my house. The wind can be quite persistent
and is often quite strong. Often it can be very blustery.

Ok, that sets the scene. Now, I want to grow 1 or 2 fruit trees in my
garden!!!!

Are there any trees that yield a reasonable crop of 'pick and eat'
fruit that could withstand this sort of wind?

Thanks!

The message

from contains these words:

I live in a very windy part of the country with a prevailing wind that
comes straight up the valley at the end of my garden and carries up
the garden until it hits my house. The wind can be quite persistent
and is often quite strong. Often it can be very blustery.

Ok, that sets the scene. Now, I want to grow 1 or 2 fruit trees in my
garden!!!!

Are there any trees that yield a reasonable crop of 'pick and eat'
fruit that could withstand this sort of wind?

Most of them I should think.

scrabble

Look at http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/lewis/ and see id that looks
bleak enough. Then look in the dry-stone-walled garden of the
crofthouse. The green things are apple trees.

It is reckoned that Lewis is hit on average by two force 12 winds per year...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

Look athttp://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/lewis/and see id that looks
bleak enough. Then look in the dry-stone-walled garden of the
crofthouse. The green things are apple trees.

Yes, that looks pretty bleak :-)
I have been advised that fruit trees don't like wind so I was hoping
there might be some exceptionally resilient varieties.
Do you know what variety of apple the trees are?

Thanks

The message

from contains these words:

Look athttp://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/lewis/and see id that looks
bleak enough. Then look in the dry-stone-walled garden of the
crofthouse. The green things are apple trees.

Yes, that looks pretty bleak :-)
I have been advised that fruit trees don't like wind so I was hoping
there might be some exceptionally resilient varieties.
Do you know what variety of apple the trees are?

One was a Cox - that's Cox's Orange Pippin, not what passes for a Cox
these days, another was a russet of some sort, and I think one might
have been a codlin.

The soil was almost pure peat and the leaves always got wind-burnt, but
the fruit was excellent, though rather small.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

I'm not as optimistic as Rusty. You don't get much fruit when wind-burn takes the flowers off. No doubt they do grow some apples on Lewis, but in sheltered locations. It's like when I went to Easter Island remote in the Pacific ocean - they have a lovely sub-tropical climate, but you can't grow any fruit there (except guavas which are invasive weeds) unless you sink a crater to protect them from the wind. In fact walnuts and avocadoes grow wild, but only in places like on the interior slopes of craters (being a volcanic island with several extinct volcanoes). In other craters, bananas are successfully cultivated.

So I think your first priority must be to provide some wind protection. When I proposed growing some fruit trees in a location in my garden along a wall that is a bit of a wind tunnel, a (sadly prematurely deceased) friend of mine who was a recently qualified horticulturalist said that I should use shade-netting or similar in vertically placed frames sticking out from the wall to provide some wind shelter. (I can't say whether it worked, because the ground proved to be contaminated there and nothing except shallow-rooted weeds will grow there.)

That said, there do seem to be some varieties of apple and pear that will stand up to fairly unpleasant conditions. I visited the Organic Centre at Rossinver in Co Leitrim, which is roughly equidistant from Sligo, Donegal and Enniskillen, in the NW of Ireland near the N Ireland border. http://www.theorganiccentre.ie/ They are in a deep valley oriented to the NW at the east end of Lough Melvin that the wind whistles up, and the rain pours down, but nonetheless grew some apples and pears, and very well they grew too, with the assistance of plenty of fertiliser. They have a large orchard as well as the fruit in the display gardens. But the orchard is well protected in netted cages with shelter belts of willow and poplar, quite unlike how you see orchards in Herefordshire. Maybe they'd tell you what varieties they grow, I think they were very carefully chosen. Keeper's Nursery may also help you, they have the greatest number of varieties of any commercial nursery, and are very reputable.

It sounds like you need a windbreak, regardless what you decide to grow. Here's a thought;-
I may well be talking rubbish, and if so I'll say sorry now before getting deluged with derision, but has anybody tried growing a line of frost hardy Eucalyptus, then laying them into a hedge.
I know it's a trick rarely seen nowadays, but farms used to have layed hedges everywhere, they were solid, stock proof, and self-regererating.
Plus, they look a damn sight better than wire and plastic.

Tim.

One was a Cox - that's Cox's Orange Pippin, not what passes for a Cox
these days, another was a russet of some sort, and I think one might
have been a codlin.

Mmm! Cox nice.

The soil was almost pure peat and the leaves always got wind-burnt, but
thefruitwas excellent, though rather small.

I guess the smaller fruit is to be expected seeing as how the tree is
having to compete with the wind burn.
But I guess I just need to plant a tree and see what happens.

Thanks!

Plus, they look a damn sight better than wire and plastic.

It would look a lot better but sadly not appropriate for me.
A wind break would need to be pretty large to protect an apple tree -
even a small one - and that would remove our view :-(

Thanks for the thought though.

The message
from Tim Perry contains these words:

It sounds like you need a windbreak, regardless what you decide to
grow. Here's a thought;-
I may well be talking rubbish, and if so I'll say sorry now before
getting deluged with derision, but has anybody tried growing a line of
frost hardy Eucalyptus, then laying them into a hedge.
I know it's a trick rarely seen nowadays, but farms used to have layed
hedges everywhere, they were solid, stock proof, and
self-regererating.
Plus, they look a damn sight better than wire and plastic.

Why not lay something useful, like apples, apricots, peaches, etc? You
*MAY* get a bonus of some fruit.

However, a windbreak needs to be fairly high, so a fairly sturdy tree
would need to be allowed to grow straight up for support and laid stems
woven round it.

The upright can be topped so as not to cause too much shade, if necessary.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

Well I was thinking in terms of an espalier or a few cordons, that way they could shelter behind a hedge without blocking your view, and they would
be far less subject to the winds.

Tim.