Help with new apple tree

[Hedgehoggy]

Hope somebody can advise me here please A few weeks ago I bought a Bramley apple tree to plant in my garden. It was wrapped in one of those large plastic bags to keep the tree dormant, along with a root bag intact. The instructions for planting were very basic:

Avoid planting in wet or frozen conditions. Leave the tree in the plastic root bag and put in a frost-free place until soil conditions are right. When planting, remove green root bag, soak the roots thoroughly, dig a hole etc., etc.,

So, while waiting for the right soil conditions, I removed the outer plastic covering and left the tree (in its root bag) in my dining room. A few days ago the tree started blossoming (lovely scent too!). I’m now wondering what I should do. I thought all plants needed regular watering/feeding when in flower. It’s far too cold and windy to plant into my garden just yet (we had snow here yesterday!). I’m assuming I can’t leave the tree as it is in its root bag without any water now that it's flowering, so should I remove the root bag and immerse the tree into a bucket of water until I can plant outside, or should I pot the tree into a large container for now?

[Lance Morgan]

Soak in water and plant in a larger pot. Personally I would put the pot in an unheated room for now and plant out as soon as possible.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Lance Morgan

plant out as soon as possible.

I'd do the same as above. Forget the blossom - the tree won't fruit this year. If fact it shouldn't be allowed to fruit, to give it the strength to establish itself.

Jim

[Hedgehoggy]

Thank you both The tree is now in a bucket of water in my bedroom awaiting potting into a container tonight

Jim, I wasn't expecting the tree to fruit for a couple of years yet; I was surprised to see it blossoming whilst just being stored in its unwatered plastic root bag and was worried it might shrivel up and die if I didn't act fast. On hindsight, perhaps I shouldn't have removed the outer plastic bag while storing it indoors because all the trees in the shop I bought it from were being stored in similar warm conditions inside the shop and none of those were showing signs of blossoming

[Jim Ford]

Bramley's are interesting - they're all clones from the original tree grown 200 years ago, which is still fruiting. See here:

History

Be aware that they'll grow into a full size standard tree. It's also well worth while getting up to speed with regards to pruning techniques to manage its size and fruiting.

Jim

[Hedgehoggy]

What an interesting little nugget of the Bramley’s 200 year old history on that link Jim, thanks. It’s incredible that the original Bramley tree blew down during violent storms at the turn of the 20th century, but somehow survived and is still bearing fruit more than 100 years later – quite a hardy tree then!

BTW, I went into this well-known shop (often advertised on this site for their great outdoor bargains) to check out their bird boxes and feeders and came home with said tree as well! I suppose it could still be considered as a bird feeder purchase!

And yes, I will most certainly read up on pruning and maintenance

[Hedera]

I sympathise with you over your new tree. It hasn't had a good start in being kept in the warm which has accelerated blossoming. Enjoy the flowers, but remove them when over before any fruitlets set. Bramleys are tip-bearing trees, there fore you must be careful with the pruning. Might be best to take off about a third from each branch when you plant it, and wait till next year for it to extend new branches and thicken up.. Gradually put it outside to acclimatise, covering if necessary with agrifleece, before finally planting. hope this is useful. It will grow into a large tree, so don't plant it near a wall or next door's fence!!

[nakedgardener]

Sorry to disagree folks!

As long as the ground isn't actually frozen or waterlogged, get it in as soon as poss', if it's flowering then it's ready to start growing now.

Bramleys are tough, but give it plenty of space!

[Hedgehoggy]

Oh my poor tree! I potted it into a container last night

As I'm typing this, the sun is shining, the strong winds have abated, the temp is forecasted to reach 10oc and very spring like, so I'm gonna take a chance and plant it outside..... right now!!!!!!

Thanks Hedera and Nakedgardener for your advice too

[Lance Morgan]

H - It will be fine. Stake it to prevent wind rock and keep it well watered till established.