Greenhouses for orchards

Not as many people grow trees as they should because they are scared that the tree will either take over their garden – which is not likely if they have chosen sensibly – or they find the cost of a nursery tree too expensive.

If you have a greenhouse you can get around both these problems. The first is that by growing your own trees from seed you can both restrict and shape their growth to suit your needs. If a tall thin tree is what you want, you can begin to pinch out side shoots from the time the tree is twelve or fourteen inches tall, alternatively a low bushy tree can be shaped by having its crown taken out with nail scissors from about sixteen to twenty inches in height. You can also restrict the root growth of your tree by potting it into only marginally larger pots each time, so that when you come to put it in the ground, you can plant it – surrounded by a ‘wall’ of corrugated iron which acts like an underground pot to stop the roots spreading. Limited root growth means restrained top growth!

And seeds, of course, cost less than a thousandth the price of a specimen tree of six to eight feet tall, so as long as you have a greenhouse, you are well on the way to growing your own orchard or forest.

Most tree seedlings do well outside in the summer, in a shady area, but in winter they can be prone to frost because they are sappy and while smaller trees appeal to rabbits (and even squirrels will take out a sapling tree by eating the skinny top branches) the larger ones make a lovely winter snack for deer, so until your trees are robust enough to survive such depredations, bring them into the unheated greenhouse for the winter.