Do I buy fruit trees in England or France?

[Vienne_Billygoats]

My wife had chosen a large quantity of specific apple, pear and soft fruit trees, on specific root stocks, all from an excellent fruit tree nursery in the UK.  Which we really need to order now for the autumn availability.

Should we go through with our order & collect in our covered trailer, or can we make a similar order through French channels?

Does anybody have any websites showing French fruit tree dealers etc - as we want to buy either specific known varieties and or root stocks or reliable serious fruit trees, not just the types sold in supermarkets etc.

We are supplementing & replacing our elderly/defunct orchards, so your advice is most welcome.  We are in dept. 86, and close to the border of 16.

Many thanks

Mark

 

 

[Chauffour]

it should be ok, but only if you will eat the fruit fresh...

 

if you plan to dry the fruit, be carefull, as British trees are

right hand dry and French trees are left hand dry 

(italian joke)

 

 

[Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie]

You could have a look on the Plantes & Jardins website:

http://www.plantes-et-jardins.com/index.asp?bc=1

[andyh4]

Looking for Bramley I came across these companies.  Not yet had a chance to try them out - but maybe a useful start

 

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pepinieresdumont/production.htm#LES%20POMMIERS

 

http://www.pommiers.com/

[Millymollymandy]

Buy them in England. It is hard here to find much choice of specific varieties unless you order from a large garden centre, or know of a fruit nursery near you. We also had great problems trying to "translate" the root stock codes - they are not the same here and the supposedly dwarf rootstocks for the espaliered apples we ordered were far too vigorous.

[Iceni]

Our French fruit trees have done really well - in very dry summers and horrible wet winters BUT our UK trees have been killed by rabbits - they only go for the UK ones. You will need to protect the trees from rabbits (even if like us you had had no problems before you planted the trees) and realise that summers and winters in anything but the North of France are very different.

All the best but from now on we are buying French only - cannot afford to waste any more money on foreign imports that the bunnies seem to regard as caviar.

 

[saddie]

Buy in France and buy locally if you can. Conditions are not the same as in England.

For example - pears grow better in France especially in your area as the summer nights are warmer. Many common varieties of pear are French if you think about it. Apples prefer a cooler night I believe. Here (in Limousin) they have an AOC on a specific apple golden d'altitude but they cant grow cox's according to a local dutch apple grower as it is still too warm at night. Cherries do well but the flowering season is earlier so you will have to buy those with compatible flowering periods. I suggest you buy or borrow a French book on fruit growing.

 

[pinkfluff<P>Big Wet Drops and Lots of Them, Are a Sure Sign of Rain!<P>]

I have ordered 100 m27 malling rootstocks in the UK for spring cost one pound each I could not find any decent dwarfing rootstock  here in France. but I know they use it if anyone knows of any within 3 euros I would be happy to use some .Most of the french rootstock originates from malling in the UK. I intend to espallier them with some nice different old french stock grafted on the year after

[Porth]

[quote]Our French fruit trees have done really well - in very dry summers and horrible wet winters BUT our UK trees have been killed by rabbits - they only go for the UK ones. You will need to protect the tr...[/quote]

Here may I say that in my experience there are a number of producers in France but after say five generations amongst the top is Eric Dumont.  If you look in any of the gardening magazines he appears.

 

I have bought from him espaliers fan and lots of other forms.  You could not imagine what he does with fruit trees.

 

Only my experience but he is the best I have dealt with.

 

Again if you look at some of the UK suppliers (not the specialists) you will find that (not Dumont) he has such a following but others in France supply to their English cousins.  Thus you could buy in England and find that the fruit trees are grown in France and you are taking them back to their country of origin.

 

Just look at Dumonts web site.

 

There are only a small number of producers in England but mainly all buy in save of course for the specialists such as the guy on the Isle of Wight and Reids of Norfolk those sorts of people.

 

kind regards

 

 

[stevemaison]

In the "impressions" magazine there is a advert from a English pepinere(spelling?) who sellhere in France  could be the best of both worlds I know he has bramleys etc