How to bring fruit trees into your garden this autumn

Ireland’s deciduous woodlands and hedgerows are beautiful at any time of year but it’s now, in early autumn, that they’re laden down with the loveliest of treasure. Keep a watchful eye out and you may spot wild crab apples (Malus sylvestris), the lipstick-pink and orange dangling fruits of the native spindle tree (Euonymus europaeus), wild hazelnuts (Corylus avellana), the scarlet berried Guelder rose (Viburnum opulus), tangles of juicy blackberries (Rubus fruticosus), sloes (Prunus spinosa) and wild damsons (Prunus institia) or bullaces as they’re sometimes also known. It’s the dusky-skinned beauty of the latter that always makes me catch my breath, each soot-purple, succulent fruit dusted with a silver-white, waxy bloom that makes them glimmer in the soft shadows of an autumn day.

This doughty wildling is believed to have made its way to Ireland from Syria in the pre-Christian era, earning it the common name ‘plum of Damascus’ or ‘damascene’. Not only was its small, dark fruit used to make jams and jellies and potent liqueurs, but it was also prized as a natural dye used to give pretty shades of green-grey.

Supremely tough (it’s much hardier and more disease-resistant than its close relative, the plum), this large deciduous shrub/small tree will grow in even exposed sites and makes a wonderful hedgerow plant, producing a dense thicket of branches that are covered with pretty, pollinator-friendly blossom in spring.

Not all of us, of course, have space for this kind of fruiting hedge. But there are other ways to bring this wild autumn fruitfulness into the average-sized urban garden, using some of the myriad cultivated forms of plums, gages, mirabelles and damsons descended from Prunus institia, Prunus spinosa and their close relatives. Many of these are available as young trees grafted on to a selection of different rootstocks that have been chosen by the nursery for their vigour, hardiness, disease resistance and capacity to withstand certain growing conditions as well as to control the eventual size of the plant. Depending on the rootstock that you choose, the resulting tree can be anything between 2.5m-3m and 5m+ tall.

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Just bear in mind that as a rule, the more compact types (for example the dwarfing rootstocks known as Pixy and VVA-1) typically require the best growing conditions (fertile, free-draining soil and a sunny, sheltered spot) if they are to flourish while the larger ones (examples include Brompton, Jaspi and St Julien A) are more vigorous, disease-resistant and tolerant of a wider range of growing conditions.

The choice of rootstock aside, there are other time-honoured ways to restrict the size of these fruit trees to a more manageable scale by carefully pruning and training them. For example, plums, damsons, mirabelles and gages can also be grown as single cordon-type trees (a small tree with a single vertical main stem and a series of very short lateral branches coming off it), either in individual large tubs/containers or in the ground. These cordon fruit trees can also be planted in the ground (spaced just 60-80cm apart) to create a miniature orchard. Or you can grow them against a sunny wall, garden fence or in a line to make a compact, wildlife-friendly hedge that’s both productive and ornamental with many seasons of interest.

Just make sure to plant each tree at a 45-degree angle (this produces even, more rounded growth), positioning the slightly bulging part just above the base of the trunk (this is where the graft between the rootstock and the scion wood was made) about 5cm above the surface and facing upwards.

Plums, damsons, mirabelles and gages can also be grown as fan-trained trees against a tall wall, fence or some form of sturdy vertical support. In this case, the branches are trained to fan out from the trunk (imagine an outstretched hand, its fingers splayed out) and then gently tied flat against the wall or fence. These kinds of fan-trained trees are typically bought as young specimens with the skilled work of initially shaping/ training them already done by the nursery that propagated them, something that makes them a little more expensive than bush or standard trees. A great choice for courtyard gardens or urban gardens that offer plenty of vertical growing space in the shape of walls and fences, they are surprisingly productive and very space-efficient but do require a careful pruning and training regime to keep them in shape.

Which are the best varieties? The late Mayo-based nurseryman Ándi Wilson of Fruit and Nut Nursery, who died suddenly in late 2020, was an amazing fount of knowledge when it came to selecting the plums, damson, gages and mirabelles best suited to Ireland’s typically cool, damp growing conditions. Sadly, his nursery and research centre are now closed but his passion lives on through his website, fruitandnut.ie, which remains a wonderful online resource. Below, in his honour, are just five of the many different varieties that he recommended, based on a lifetime of zealous research, thorough trials and thoughtful experimentation.

Prunus ‘Aylesbury Prune’: Wilson describes this self-fertile damson variety in his online catalogue as a “sweet damson of plum-eating quality, suitable for eating fresh or cooking”.

Prunus ‘Mirabelle Countess’: A partially self-fertile variety of mirabelle with very sweet, juicy golden flesh and dark red skin that Wilson describes as being of excellent eating quality

Prunus ‘Cambridge Gage’: A greengage whose small, yellow, juicy fruits are produced in late August/early September. Partially self-fertile, but does best with a pollinating partner (Group 3). Needs a warm, sunny, sheltered site.

Plum ‘Opal’: Self-fertile, hardy, reliable, flavoursome and early fruiting, this plum has it all.

Prunus ‘Rivers Early Prolific’: Another great, self-fertile, heavy cropping, early-ripening variety of plum, highly recommended by Wilson.

Recommended stockists include Leitrim-based heritagefruittreenursery.com, Cork-based futureforests.ie, Dublin-based mrmiddleton.com and most good garden centres.

This week in the garden

The recent torrential downpours have done a lot to replenish soil moisture levels but have left the ground very vulnerable to damage both as a result of flash flooding and compaction. So to protect and maintain soil health and fertility, avoid walking on lawns or walking on/ digging over flower and vegetable beds until conditions improve.

If you own a polytunnel or glasshouse, then there’s still time (but hurry) to sow seed of carrots, hardy varieties of lettuce including Winter Gem and winter butterheads, rocket, oriental greens, American landcress, Swiss chard, lamb’s lettuce, spinach and herbs including coriander, chervil and parsley. Either direct-sow into the ground or sow into modules for transplanting into the polytunnel or glasshouse later this month.

Dates for your diary

Saturday 10th-Sunday 25th September, Mount Venus Nursery, Mutton Lane, Dublin 13 is holding its annual Autumn Plant Sale with generous discounts on a wide variety of plants discounted, see mountvenusnursery.com

Also Saturday 10th Sept, 9am – 5pm, Hall 6, RDS, Ballsbridge Dublin 4 (Anglesea Road entrance), admission free, Mr Middleton’s annual Flower Bulb Open Day will take place with a huge selection of bulbs available including many new and unusual varieties, see mrmiddleton.com and rds.ie/getting-here for directions.

Sunday, September 18th, Irish Specialist Nursery Plant Fair, Fota House, Fota Island, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork (event was scheduled for September 11th but has been postponed due to poor weather conditions).

Sunday, September 18th, (10am-5pm), Fruitlawn Gardens, Abbeyleix, Co Laois, the garden designer and plantsman Arthur Shackleton is hosting an open day at his beautiful country garden with rare plants for sale, see arthurshackleton.com