The orchard

   

 

THE ORCHARD

Would an orchard grow at 1,200 feet?  I was inclined to be optimistic about Tair-Ffynnon’s fruit-growing potential.  It was only when I consulted the supposedly user-friendly RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening that my heart properly sank at the enormity of the research project ahead. 
 
Forty densely-written pages advised on a bewildering array of technicalities, 
from pollination compatibility to root stocks and grafting.  Hoping a more practical approach might help, after that I’d ordered some nursery catalogues.  They were like spreadsheets, with table after table of dates and codes and jargon.  Was I seriously meant, from a standing start, to be able to pick the most suitable varieties for Tair-Ffynnon from the 3,500 extant alternatives?  And that was just the apples … never mind pears or plums. 
 
Faced with so many decisions, there seemed only one solution: cram in as many as possible. 
 
Chapter 10, The orchard

The orchard plan

UPHILL/NORTH

APPLES

*

Red Falstaff

*

Ellison's Orange

*

Court Pendu Plat

*

Bramley Original

*

Bardsey

*

Scotch Dumpling

*

Ashmead's Kernel
APPLES

*

Red Falstaff

*

Crab-apple John Downie

*

Golden Noble

*

James Grieve

*

King of Pippins  

*

Newton Wonder

*

Tom Putt
PEARS

*

Conference

*

Quince Vranja half-standard

*

Conference

*

Jargonelle

*

Onward

*

Pitmaston Duchess

*

Williams

PLUMS & GAGES 

*

Gage: Jefferson

*

Crab-apple: Malus floribunda

*

Excalibur

*

Opal

*

Victoria

*

Damson: Shropshire Prune

*

Quince: meeches prolific

DOWNHILL/SOUTH