A friend of ours lives in Exeter, they have an Avocado they have grown
for about 5 years in their conservatory, and it has now reached the
roof.

It has been suggested that they try it outside - but I reckon Exeter
will be too cold in the winter. I think it would need to be somewhere
very mild with no real frosts to have a chance of making it. Though I'm
not sure how bothered they are about it surviving.

any experience with this?

My though is to just cut it back and hopefully it will re-sprout
--
Chris French

On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:45:42 +0100, chris French
wrote:

A friend of ours lives in Exeter, they have an Avocado they have grown
for about 5 years in their conservatory, and it has now reached the
roof.

It has been suggested that they try it outside - but I reckon Exeter
will be too cold in the winter. I think it would need to be somewhere
very mild with no real frosts to have a chance of making it. Though I'm
not sure how bothered they are about it surviving.

any experience with this?

My though is to just cut it back and hopefully it will re-sprout

I had an Avocado that reached the roof and then started to grow at a
angle along the roof. It was a major job to move it so I just let it
grow. Eventually three of us managed to move it out to the garden. It
did very well until Winter when it died which wasn't surprising for a
warm climate tree.

Steve

--
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. www.justnn.com

Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/npsl1

"chris French" wrote in message
A friend of ours lives in Exeter, they have an Avocado they have grown for
about 5 years in their conservatory, and it has now reached the roof.

It has been suggested that they try it outside - but I reckon Exeter will
be too cold in the winter. I think it would need to be somewhere very mild
with no real frosts to have a chance of making it. Though I'm not sure how
bothered they are about it surviving.

Avocado can grow in frosty areas but they need good frost protection when
young. They grow in to quite large trees eventually so need space so
sacrifical trees as protection is worth thinking about. The following cite
may help. It is about one of Australia's gardening experts (but of the
alternative variety so what she tries, and can manage to grow, often goes
against conventional wisdom). She lives in an area where it can get down
to -9C at worst but would regularly get to -4C:
http://www.jackiefrench.com/groves.html

In article , newspost-c-
says...
A friend of ours lives in Exeter, they have an Avocado they have grown
for about 5 years in their conservatory, and it has now reached the
roof.

It has been suggested that they try it outside - but I reckon Exeter
will be too cold in the winter. I think it would need to be somewhere
very mild with no real frosts to have a chance of making it. Though I'm
not sure how bothered they are about it surviving.

any experience with this?

My though is to just cut it back and hopefully it will re-sprout

Clive at Hardy Exotics tells me that several of his customers in London
are cropping theirs!, you really need an extreme coastal or city garden
but it can be done
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
Avocado can grow in frosty areas but they need good frost protection when
young. They grow in to quite large trees eventually so need space so
sacrifical trees as protection is worth thinking about. The following
cite may help. It is about one of Australia's gardening experts (but of
the alternative variety so what she tries, and can manage to grow, often
goes against conventional wisdom). She lives in an area where it can get
down to -9C at worst but would regularly get to -4C:
http://www.jackiefrench.com/groves.html

Here is a series of pics of the garden of the author I mentioned above with
a pic of an avocado with fruit. I do know that the area she lives in gets
as cold as she claims it does.
http://www.jackiefrench.com/garden.html

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
u...
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
Avocado can grow in frosty areas but they need good frost protection when
young. They grow in to quite large trees eventually so need space so
sacrifical trees as protection is worth thinking about. The following
cite may help. It is about one of Australia's gardening experts (but of
the alternative variety so what she tries, and can manage to grow, often
goes against conventional wisdom). She lives in an area where it can get
down to -9C at worst but would regularly get to -4C:
http://www.jackiefrench.com/groves.html

Here is a series of pics of the garden of the author I mentioned above
with a pic of an avocado with fruit. I do know that the area she lives in
gets as cold as she claims it does.

So what? She knows nothing of growing plants in a cold climate. She grows
plants in a warm temperate climate with occasional frosts. This is a quote
from her "The Magic Grove" page:

How To Start a Grove
Step 1.
Start your grove with a single, very hardy tree that you will survive severe
frost, hellish winds, summers over 45C and drought...a bunya, loquat,
macadamia...

So Bunya (Araucaria bidwillii) is "very hardy", is it?! It may grow on
Tresco (I can't remember if there is one there) but is there a plant
surviving anywhere on the UK mainland? I doubt it. To quote from the
Wikipedia entry "Once established Bunyas are quite hardy and can be grown as
far south as Hobart in Australia (42° S) and Christchurch in New Zealand
(43° S) and (at least) as far north as Sacramento in California (38° N) and
Lisbon (in the botanical garden)." Even the extreme south of the British
mainland (50°N) is 10° north of these areas.

And as for macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia of tetraphylla), no chance!
Another quote from Wikipedia "Macadamias prefer ... temperatures not falling
below 10 °C (although once established they can withstand light frosts)...".

She has got a loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) right. That will withstand heavy
frosts. But if you are waiting for a good crop of fruit in the UK, you'd be
better off looking in your local supermarket.

--

Jeff

"Sacha" wrote in message
On 2010-08-26 14:31:50 +0100, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given said:

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
Avocado can grow in frosty areas but they need good frost protection
when
young. They grow in to quite large trees eventually so need space so
sacrifical trees as protection is worth thinking about. The following
cite may help. It is about one of Australia's gardening experts (but of
the alternative variety so what she tries, and can manage to grow, often
goes against conventional wisdom). She lives in an area where it can
get
down to -9C at worst but would regularly get to -4C:
http://www.jackiefrench.com/groves.html

Here is a series of pics of the garden of the author I mentioned above
with
a pic of an avocado with fruit. I do know that the area she lives in
gets
as cold as she claims it does.
http://www.jackiefrench.com/garden.html

In Australia? This is UK.rec.gardening!

Plants don't know the difference between the UK and a cold climate area of
Oz. There are many plants that grow in the UK that I can't grow because
it's too cold here.

In Cornwall last year it went
to -11C in some areas and that's the balmy south west. ;-( We can grow
stuff here that will take down to -5C but not for prolonged periods of icy
days *and* nights.

Yes and you were complaining about the weather because it was worse than
normal. The max and min winter temps in Exeter are about the same as where
that Author lives if Wikipedia can be relied upon.

There are bunyas at Bussaco in inland central Portugal. Enormous ones, they've been there about 100 years. It's also up quite a big hill, but Wikipedia won't tell me how high, but I'm guessing round about 500m/1500ft, as the highest point in the range of hills it sits on is 600m. But you get a hot summer there and that makes a big difference to winter survivability.

But "some areas" of Cornwall, which can be inland and a frost pocket, are not at all the same as locations at sea-level on south-facing inlets of the sea. I know someone living in Cornwall inland and he expects -6C frosts in a normal year. It is hilly around Exeter, and it makes quite a difference to your microclimate whether you are up a hill in the north of the city or facing the estuary to the south. It also makes an important difference whether you are in a location affected by cold air draining out of inland valley systems.

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
Avocado can grow in frosty areas but they need good frost protection
when young. They grow in to quite large trees eventually so need space
so sacrifical trees as protection is worth thinking about. The
following cite may help. It is about one of Australia's gardening
experts (but of the alternative variety so what she tries, and can
manage to grow, often goes against conventional wisdom). She lives in
an area where it can get down to -9C at worst but would regularly get
to -4C:
http://www.jackiefrench.com/groves.html

Here is a series of pics of the garden of the author I mentioned above
with a pic of an avocado with fruit. I do know that the area she lives
in gets as cold as she claims it does.

So what? She knows nothing of growing plants in a cold climate. She grows
plants in a warm temperate climate with occasional frosts. This is a
quote from her "The Magic Grove" page:

How To Start a Grove
Step 1.
Start your grove with a single, very hardy tree that you will survive
severe frost, hellish winds, summers over 45C and drought...a bunya,
loquat, macadamia...

So Bunya (Araucaria bidwillii) is "very hardy", is it?! It may grow on
Tresco (I can't remember if there is one there) but is there a plant
surviving anywhere on the UK mainland? I doubt it. To quote from the
Wikipedia entry "Once established Bunyas are quite hardy and can be grown
as far south as Hobart in Australia (42° S) and Christchurch in New
Zealand (43° S) and (at least) as far north as Sacramento in California
(38° N) and Lisbon (in the botanical garden)." Even the extreme south of
the British mainland (50°N) is 10° north of these areas.

And as for macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia of tetraphylla), no chance!
Another quote from Wikipedia "Macadamias prefer ... temperatures not
falling below 10 °C (although once established they can withstand light
frosts)...".

She has got a loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) right. That will withstand
heavy frosts. But if you are waiting for a good crop of fruit in the UK,
you'd be better off looking in your local supermarket.

You've raised some interesting questions. She's a top grower of all sorts
of things weird and wonderful and she does things that most people say just
can't be done and that no mere mortal should be able to do in her climate.
Growing coffee and many of the other things she does should be absolutley
impossible where she lives but apparently she does it.

I wouldn't even consider a A. bidwillii or a macadamia if I wanted to plant
a hardy tree, I'd use a radiata pine Or failign that, a realy big rose.

However, since the question was about growing an avocado in Exeter which
must be one of the mildest climes in the UK that is what we should
concentrate on and since Charlie Pridham says that avacodo can grow in
London and I can't see why it wouldn't be worth a try.

But yougot me interested about A. bidwilliii so I did a quick google.
Apparently they have been grown in Cornwall at places called Glendurgan,
Penjarrick and Mount Edgecumbe. Never heard of any of these place, but I
imagine that they'd have to be quite big gardens. No-one with less than 3
or 4 acres should consider growing an A. Bidwillii if they were smart (and
even then I'd wonder why). The are as ugly as sin, have bark like an
elephant's bottom once mature, grow way too big on anything less than major
acreage and the nuts on those things are lethal.

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
Avocado can grow in frosty areas but they need good frost protection
when young. They grow in to quite large trees eventually so need space
so sacrifical trees as protection is worth thinking about. The
following cite may help. It is about one of Australia's gardening
experts (but of the alternative variety so what she tries, and can
manage to grow, often goes against conventional wisdom). She lives in
an area where it can get down to -9C at worst but would regularly get
to -4C:
http://www.jackiefrench.com/groves.html

Here is a series of pics of the garden of the author I mentioned above
with a pic of an avocado with fruit. I do know that the area she lives
in gets as cold as she claims it does.

So what? She knows nothing of growing plants in a cold climate. She
grows plants in a warm temperate climate with occasional frosts. This is
a quote from her "The Magic Grove" page:

How To Start a Grove
Step 1.
Start your grove with a single, very hardy tree that you will survive
severe frost, hellish winds, summers over 45C and drought...a bunya,
loquat, macadamia...

So Bunya (Araucaria bidwillii) is "very hardy", is it?! It may grow on
Tresco (I can't remember if there is one there) but is there a plant
surviving anywhere on the UK mainland? I doubt it. To quote from the
Wikipedia entry "Once established Bunyas are quite hardy and can be grown
as far south as Hobart in Australia (42° S) and Christchurch in New
Zealand (43° S) and (at least) as far north as Sacramento in California
(38° N) and Lisbon (in the botanical garden)." Even the extreme south of
the British mainland (50°N) is 10° north of these areas.

And as for macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia of tetraphylla), no chance!
Another quote from Wikipedia "Macadamias prefer ... temperatures not
falling below 10 °C (although once established they can withstand light
frosts)...".

She has got a loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) right. That will withstand
heavy frosts. But if you are waiting for a good crop of fruit in the UK,
you'd be better off looking in your local supermarket.

You've raised some interesting questions. She's a top grower of all sorts
of things weird and wonderful and she does things that most people say
just can't be done and that no mere mortal should be able to do in her
climate. Growing coffee and many of the other things she does should be
absolutley impossible where she lives but apparently she does it.

I wouldn't even consider a A. bidwillii or a macadamia if I wanted to
plant a hardy tree, I'd use a radiata pine Or failign that, a realy big
rose.

However, since the question was about growing an avocado in Exeter which
must be one of the mildest climes in the UK that is what we should
concentrate on and since Charlie Pridham says that avacodo can grow in
London and I can't see why it wouldn't be worth a try.

But yougot me interested about A. bidwilliii so I did a quick google.
Apparently they have been grown in Cornwall at places called Glendurgan,
Penjarrick and Mount Edgecumbe. Never heard of any of these place, but I
imagine that they'd have to be quite big gardens. No-one with less than 3
or 4 acres should consider growing an A. Bidwillii if they were smart (and
even then I'd wonder why). The are as ugly as sin, have bark like an
elephant's bottom once mature, grow way too big on anything less than
major acreage and the nuts on those things are lethal.

London has a microclimate all of its own. I doubt there are many true
frosts in central London which are prolonged into the day. There are many
plants which could be grown there which would probably not survive in even
south-west Cornwall, and with the added bonus of a large, south-facing wall
to act as a storage heater, I am sure quite a few "tropical" fruits are in
reach. It would be interesting to see a photo of an Avocado tree fruiting
in Exeter, although I doubt it could be done outside of glass protection!

I remain unconvinced about A. bidwillii. The photo here
http://teegee8.smugmug.com/Nature/Gl...04556979_afj3B
looks very much like A. araucana to me. If you compare it with
http://anpsa.org.au/a-bid.html or
http://www.maltawildplants.com/ARAU/...idwillii_t.jpg
you will se what I mean. I have emailed Glendurgan to see if they have - or
had - A. bidwillii there.

The ref here
http://www.growingontheedge.net/view...e024c 7a8e2ac
to A. bidwillii actually has a photo of A. araucana at Penjerrick! The page
does refer to bidwillii, but growing on Madeira.

--

Jeff

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
...
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message

You've raised some interesting questions. She's a top grower of all
sorts of things weird and wonderful and she does things that most people
say just can't be done and that no mere mortal should be able to do in
her climate. Growing coffee and many of the other things she does should
be absolutley impossible where she lives but apparently she does it.

I wouldn't even consider a A. bidwillii or a macadamia if I wanted to
plant a hardy tree, I'd use a radiata pine Or failign that, a realy big
rose.

However, since the question was about growing an avocado in Exeter which
must be one of the mildest climes in the UK that is what we should
concentrate on and since Charlie Pridham says that avacodo can grow in
London and I can't see why it wouldn't be worth a try.

But yougot me interested about A. bidwilliii so I did a quick google.
Apparently they have been grown in Cornwall at places called Glendurgan,
Penjarrick and Mount Edgecumbe. Never heard of any of these place, but I
imagine that they'd have to be quite big gardens. No-one with less than
3 or 4 acres should consider growing an A. Bidwillii if they were smart
(and even then I'd wonder why). The are as ugly as sin, have bark like
an elephant's bottom once mature, grow way too big on anything less than
major acreage and the nuts on those things are lethal.

London has a microclimate all of its own. I doubt there are many true
frosts in central London which are prolonged into the day. There are many
plants which could be grown there which would probably not survive in even
south-west Cornwall, and with the added bonus of a large, south-facing
wall to act as a storage heater, I am sure quite a few "tropical" fruits
are in reach. It would be interesting to see a photo of an Avocado tree
fruiting in Exeter, although I doubt it could be done outside of glass
protection!

I remain unconvinced about A. bidwillii. The photo here
http://teegee8.smugmug.com/Nature/Gl...04556979_afj3B
looks very much like A. araucana to me. If you compare it with
http://anpsa.org.au/a-bid.html or
http://www.maltawildplants.com/ARAU/...idwillii_t.jpg
you will se what I mean. I have emailed Glendurgan to see if they have -
or had - A. bidwillii there.

Well, I stand corrected! I have had a very quick reply from Glendurgan:

"There was an original that grew at Glendurgan many years ago and was
lost in a cold winter once it had reached a reasonable size. The present
tree is young but been planted now for approx 10 years and is growing
well. Although it has not enjoyed the last two winters!"

I hope it survives long enough for me to get down there to see it!

--

Jeff

In message , chris French
writes
A friend of ours lives in Exeter, they have an Avocado they have grown
for about 5 years in their conservatory, and it has now reached the
roof.


Thanks for everyone's comments, they've decided to prune it back, so we
will see how it goes.
--
Chris French

"Sacha" wrote in message
On 2010-08-27 09:14:55 +0100, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given said:
"Sacha" wrote in message
On 2010-08-26 14:31:50 +0100, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given said:
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
Avocado can grow in frosty areas but they need good frost protection
when
young. They grow in to quite large trees eventually so need space so
sacrifical trees as protection is worth thinking about. The following
cite may help. It is about one of Australia's gardening experts (but
of
the alternative variety so what she tries, and can manage to grow,
often
goes against conventional wisdom). She lives in an area where it can
get
down to -9C at worst but would regularly get to -4C:
http://www.jackiefrench.com/groves.html

Here is a series of pics of the garden of the author I mentioned above
with
a pic of an avocado with fruit. I do know that the area she lives in
gets
as cold as she claims it does.
http://www.jackiefrench.com/garden.html

In Australia? This is UK.rec.gardening!

Plants don't know the difference between the UK and a cold climate area
of
Oz. There are many plants that grow in the UK that I can't grow because
it's too cold here.

And there are many plants that we can grow here from Oz and NZ which won't
grow 3 miles away. That doesn't mean an Avocado tree *will* survive
outdoors in UK but it *might* for ever or for 2 years and then get knocked
down by a bad winter. Our problem this winter was not just cold but
*prolonged* cold. Many things will take a brief period of frost but not
several days. Cornwall, one of the very mildest areas of UK normally,
has had two bad winters in succession both in terms of temps and the
length of time those low temps hung around. IIRC some areas went to -11C.
Only yesterday someone asked my husband if a plant would come through the
winter and he said "only if you can tell me what this winter will be
like"!

So how different to your climate is Exeter's?

In Cornwall last year it went
to -11C in some areas and that's the balmy south west. ;-( We can grow
stuff here that will take down to -5C but not for prolonged periods of
icy
days *and* nights.

Yes and you were complaining about the weather because it was worse than
normal. The max and min winter temps in Exeter are about the same as
where
that Author lives if Wikipedia can be relied upon.

Exeter is probably warmer than here, being a city. We're a few miles only
from Dartmoor but rarely get the snow or ice they can get there.
England's climate is just too unpredictable and too varied over small
distances to be absolutely sure of anything with regard to winter or
summer weather. I just talked to someone in Chepstow, two hours drive
from here, who is chasing wasps away while we have a pale grey and boring
cloud cover. About two weeks ago temperatures varied by about 10 degrees
C within two days.

Well recalling the time we drove from Kings Cross station to Betwys-y-Coed
and it took 4 hours, 2 hours from you would halfway across the country.
It'd take me 2 days to get halfway across the country. You can just imagine
what it's like here in Oz. We look at the chart of what's happening in the
Tropics and wonder what the heack we're doing living where it's 6 months of
winter, hard frost for most of that time and where there has been snow on
Christmas day when it should be stinking hot.

Anyway I still think it's worth a try to grow it outside. It certainly
isn't going to do anything in a conservatory except take up space.

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
Avocado can grow in frosty areas but they need good frost protection
when young. They grow in to quite large trees eventually so need
space so sacrifical trees as protection is worth thinking about. The
following cite may help. It is about one of Australia's gardening
experts (but of the alternative variety so what she tries, and can
manage to grow, often goes against conventional wisdom). She lives in
an area where it can get down to -9C at worst but would regularly get
to -4C:
http://www.jackiefrench.com/groves.html

Here is a series of pics of the garden of the author I mentioned above
with a pic of an avocado with fruit. I do know that the area she lives
in gets as cold as she claims it does.

So what? She knows nothing of growing plants in a cold climate. She
grows plants in a warm temperate climate with occasional frosts. This
is a quote from her "The Magic Grove" page:

How To Start a Grove
Step 1.
Start your grove with a single, very hardy tree that you will survive
severe frost, hellish winds, summers over 45C and drought...a bunya,
loquat, macadamia...

So Bunya (Araucaria bidwillii) is "very hardy", is it?! It may grow on
Tresco (I can't remember if there is one there) but is there a plant
surviving anywhere on the UK mainland? I doubt it. To quote from the
Wikipedia entry "Once established Bunyas are quite hardy and can be
grown as far south as Hobart in Australia (42° S) and Christchurch in
New Zealand (43° S) and (at least) as far north as Sacramento in
California (38° N) and Lisbon (in the botanical garden)." Even the
extreme south of the British mainland (50°N) is 10° north of these
areas.

And as for macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia of tetraphylla), no chance!
Another quote from Wikipedia "Macadamias prefer ... temperatures not
falling below 10 °C (although once established they can withstand light
frosts)...".

She has got a loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) right. That will withstand
heavy frosts. But if you are waiting for a good crop of fruit in the
UK, you'd be better off looking in your local supermarket.

You've raised some interesting questions. She's a top grower of all
sorts of things weird and wonderful and she does things that most people
say just can't be done and that no mere mortal should be able to do in
her climate. Growing coffee and many of the other things she does should
be absolutley impossible where she lives but apparently she does it.

I wouldn't even consider a A. bidwillii or a macadamia if I wanted to
plant a hardy tree, I'd use a radiata pine Or failign that, a realy big
rose.

However, since the question was about growing an avocado in Exeter which
must be one of the mildest climes in the UK that is what we should
concentrate on and since Charlie Pridham says that avacodo can grow in
London and I can't see why it wouldn't be worth a try.

But yougot me interested about A. bidwilliii so I did a quick google.
Apparently they have been grown in Cornwall at places called Glendurgan,
Penjarrick and Mount Edgecumbe. Never heard of any of these place, but I
imagine that they'd have to be quite big gardens. No-one with less than
3 or 4 acres should consider growing an A. Bidwillii if they were smart
(and even then I'd wonder why). The are as ugly as sin, have bark like
an elephant's bottom once mature, grow way too big on anything less than
major acreage and the nuts on those things are lethal.

London has a microclimate all of its own. I doubt there are many true
frosts in central London which are prolonged into the day. There are many
plants which could be grown there which would probably not survive in even
south-west Cornwall, and with the added bonus of a large, south-facing
wall to act as a storage heater, I am sure quite a few "tropical" fruits
are in reach. It would be interesting to see a photo of an Avocado tree
fruiting in Exeter, although I doubt it could be done outside of glass
protection!

The OP didn't ask about getting it to fruit so we have no idea if this is
the aim. From the qusetion asked, it seems the OP might jsut want it to
live and is thus worried aobut frosts. IF they've grown it from a seed (and
that would be probalbe) then it would take a long time to fruit anyway. I
know that avocadoes can survive frosts.

I remain unconvinced about A. bidwillii. The photo here
http://teegee8.smugmug.com/Nature/Gl...04556979_afj3B
looks very much like A. araucana to me. If you compare it with
http://anpsa.org.au/a-bid.html or
http://www.maltawildplants.com/ARAU/...idwillii_t.jpg
you will se what I mean. I have emailed Glendurgan to see if they have -
or had - A. bidwillii there.

The ref here
http://www.growingontheedge.net/view...e024c 7a8e2ac
to A. bidwillii actually has a photo of A. araucana at Penjerrick! The
page does refer to bidwillii, but growing on Madeira.

I don't really care if A. bidwillii will grow in the UK or not. It's not a
plant I like and nor is it what the OP asked about. I just did a google to
see if it got a mention as growing in the UK. It did.