Almond trees

[NFG]

Hi all,

 

Were thinking of planting a sweet Almond tree, probably two or three for cross pollination a few questions:

 

1. Any recommendations on variety

2. About how old before they crop

3. Any advice on planting & yield

 

Would be grateful for your advice, our climate is a fair bit warmer than the UK & everything grows fairly quickly.

 

We still get frost & it can go quite cold in winter ie: -16 for two weeks, winter tends to be sharp & short but summer is long, usually dry & temperatures of 35 degrees and more in July & August.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Noel

[agg221]

Are there any others growing in the area?

 

Do they do OK?

 

The usual problems in the UK with peaches/almonds etc are late frosts taking out the blossom and damp weather causing peach leaf curl. If you are not prone to either of these problems then you are more likely to have success.

 

Most stone fruits start to crop at around 3-4yrs old and become productive from around 7yrs. You have options as to which rootstock they are grafted on which controls the size. I have no idea exactly what will be available to you locally but in the UK you would use Pixy for a really dwarf tree (6-8ft), St Julien for a modest tree (12-15ft) and Brompton for a big tree (20ft). Almonds aren't that big anyway so reckon on the smaller end of the above.

 

In the UK, Keepers Nursery has a few (not that it helps, but at least it gives some varieties and descriptions, note some are self-fertile):

 

Keepers Nursery UK | Fruit trees for sale | Buy Online | Mail order

 

I would go looking for french nurseries (there are several french varieties of prunus dulcis) and see what shows up.

 

Alec

Edited March 8, 2014 by agg221

[NFG]

Are there any others growing in the area?

 

Do they do OK?

 

The usual problems in the UK with peaches/almonds etc are late frosts taking out the blossom and damp weather causing peach leaf curl. If you are not prone to either of these problems then you are more likely to have success.

 

Most stone fruits start to crop at around 3-4yrs old and become productive from around 7yrs. You have options as to which rootstock they are grafted on which controls the size. I have no idea exactly what will be available to you locally but in the UK you would use Pixy for a really dwarf tree (6-8ft), St Julien for a modest tree (12-15ft) and Brompton for a big tree (20ft). Almonds aren't that big anyway so reckon on the smaller end of the above.

 

In the UK, Keepers Nursery has a few (not that it helps, but at least it gives some varieties and descriptions, note some are self-fertile):

 

Keepers Nursery UK | Fruit trees for sale | Buy Online | Mail order

 

I would go looking for French nurseries (there are several French varieties of prunus dulcis) and see what shows up.

 

Alec

 

Hi Alec,

 

Our neighbour grows Peach, Sharon fruit, Lemons but they go inside for February & a few other exotics so fairly sure climate OK, I think were OK for late frosts, a windy spring did spoil some of the plum blossom last year thus plums were a bit limited.

 

We'll take a look at that link, as Im sure it will help our choice and could get something when were over (would check if OK to take back first) or we have quite a good nursery nearby,

 

Thank you very much for posting, appreciate your contribution.

 

 

N

[agg221]

If peaches do OK then you should be fine.

 

No idea how good your French is, but you might find this useful:

 

Livre SUR L'Amandier | eBay (would have been tempted myself but they only ship to France).

 

Some sources which would overcome the export issue:

 

Amandier-Amande

Amandiers | La Pépinière du Bosc

 

There appears to be a modern French series with names beginning with 'Ferra'. Googling Amandier Ferraduel turns up a lot, some of which may be nearby if you don't fancy ordering by post.

 

Alec

[Lee Winger]

I've yet to see a healthy almond tree in the UK

[GreenGui]

We are further north than you (Brittany/Loire boarder) and we planted a a little nut grove including 3 Almonds about 7 years ago.

 

What Agg221 has said is exactly our experience; year 3 we had a few nuts, this year they are covered in flowers and given the weather is now so mild it should produce a good crop

[campanula]

Rather than prunus dulcis, look instead for prunus x persicoides - the 2 commonest varieties in UK nurseries are Ingrid and Robijn. These are small, precocious (will fruit when young) hybrid almonds with reliable hardiness and some resistance to peach leaf curl. However, you cannot grow them near to peach or nectarine trees because cross pollination will result in bitter almonds. Although they do have resistance to the curl, they will still need spraying with copper at bud break and also at leaf-fall.....but you will be guaranteed a nice harvest of nuts (and as the trees are usually on dwarfing rootstocks, they are easily picked - I eat mine while still green). Frank P Matthews (Trees for Life) sells both varieties, as either bare roots or potted specimens.....along with a number of other fruit nurseries such as Deacons, Keepers, Chris Brown and Ken Muir.

Mine is gloriously in full blossom at the moment, looking wonderful on the allotment.