[doganjo]

I tried a search but got bogged down, so I need help

When I moved here 7 years ago I came to half an acre of mowed town grass, with a  lovely neat border of shrubs and some ornamental conifers.  I've managed to roughen it up a bit, let the bushes do their 'thing', chopped a few conifers down and planted a selection of apple trees from Morrisons.
They've been a resounding failure.  They don't taste nice, I didn't keep the labels so I have no idea what they are.  I want to get rid of them and my son has offered to do the deed.  I have a lovely red plum tree - none this year but great last year so I'm keeping that.  I think I'd like another plum, and a few decent apple trees, but at 71 I don't want to wait another 7 years to eat the fruit.  So you lot can advise me ............

Questions -

1. What varieties of apple for Central Scotland bearing in mind I like Braeburns
2.  I don't really want cookers
3.  What varieties of apple and plum that I can eat from the tree
4.  Where do I get mature trees that will fruit next year
5. How much should i expect to pay for them
6. Am I asking too much? 

Also,
My back garden sports a non fruiting (well not so far) pear tree, and three more scruffy apples trees that fruit very sparsely and are scabby or mouldy, mainly because the water table is high (low lying garden with fairly recently built railway line adjacent)

Question
Any ideas?

[pgkevet]

I don;t think i can answer any of that well.. so suggest a call to adam's apples and speak to adam.. he may well have some more mature trees about? Fruit next year would be optimistic but the year after shoud work.
http://www.evergreenext.co.uk/ is near where I used to live.. I never saw apple trees there but some amazing stuff including mature citrus trees pruned back to a mere 15-20 foot high, 30 foot poplars and the like. I got my first bluberries from there (I'd done the manager a favour and got a deal)... in pots so huge I could only get two into the car with all the seats down etc. the cost of shifting trees like that, though...

My espaliers were the usual 1 year whips and this is their 4th year and half are covered in apples. You can certainly buy partially trained espaliers (as in 2-3 years old) but expect at least another 2years to get fruit that way too.
On the other hand i have three varieties of pear here and zero fruit on any of them so far.

2 other options:
You could try seeing if anyone locally is developing buildings on old gardens where they may be planning on destroying apple trees..or look for a local orchard or farmer who would sell a mature tree...then the gamble of lifting and moving it (prune it right back 'cos you'll be cutting lots of roots)..
Or at 71 say 'sod it' buy a  rocking chair and a basket of apples in the autumn and sit and pretend

[clydesdaleclopper]

I got fantastic advice from the Scottish Plants and Apples place in Perthshire http://plantsandapples.co.uk

[doganjo]

Or at 71 say 'sod it' buy a  rocking chair and a basket of apples in the autumn and sit and pretend

  I like to do things the hard way    I love the idea of going out and picking fruit to eat there and then.  I'm only looking for say 3 apple trees and a plum.

[Dans]

We just moved and there's a Beauty of Bath apple tree here. They don't store well at all but the apples are the best we've ever tasted.

No idea on any of your other needs as I'm completely new to fruit trees.

Dans

[pgkevet]

Or at 71 say 'sod it' buy a  rocking chair and a basket of apples in the autumn and sit and pretend

  I like to do things the hard way    I love the idea of going out and picking fruit to eat there and then.  I'm only looking for say 3 apple trees and a plum.

I know i keep banging on about my espaliers but.. Those that are bearing fruit this year have between 20 and 40 apples each, were 1 year whips when planted feb 2012. Easy care, easy reach, small footprint and will be trained onto their 4th and final tier this autumn. How many apples can you eat in a day? I've had to cut back my attemtps to eat all these 'cos there's a limit to how much time i want to spend on the loo. Last year they had 4/5 apples each. I have seen 2 and 3 year old pot grow partially trained espaliers but they are going t get setback anyway and you only gain 1 year at best.

I have also seen pot grown famiily apple ballerina trees produce in their first year of ownership just moved to a bigger pot. A few of those on the patio and you don't even have to move the rocking chair much...

[cloddopper]

Perhaps instead of chopping the apple trees down and starting all over again thus losing several years of production whilst the new tree root systems acclimatize and get big enough to support harvests you think about leaving some of sourer apples for pies & sauce and graft on some sweet apple sicons.

 It used to be a very common thing to have four or five grafted apples on a single tree .

"  The RHS " website has  some very good info on how to do these grafts .

[Dan]

I got fantastic advice from the Scottish Plants and Apples place in Perthshire http://plantsandapples.co.uk

I second this. Andrew Lear (AppleTreeMan) came out to our place for a half day to advise when we were planning our orchard and he was great - he'll be able to answer all your questions Annie. We've also bought trees from him and they are top quality.

[honeyend]

If the trees are growing how about going round your neighbours gardens find out what does well and tastes great and as for some cuttings and have a go at grafting on to your trees and interplant with new ones.
  We have a five old apple tress at the back of the house, everyone assumed they were for the chop but they are some of the tastiest apples I have ever eaten, but I have no idea what they are so I am going to have ago at air cuttings.

[Lesley Silvester]

Today I picked four trugs of apples from my Braeburn and there's probably another couple of trugfuls left to pick. The tree is only about four years old and on dwarf rooting stock. The apples are huge and so juicy. I need to check to see if they are keepers. I hope so as there's only me eating them (apart from goats and dogs) so they will go off soon.

[doganjo]

They must be keepers as you can get Braeburns in Morrisons almost all year round

[waterbuffalofarmer]

There is an apple which originates on the island of Bardsey, which is right in the middle of Cardigan bay on the Lleyn peninsula in Wales. It is a very hardy apple which has a really good flavour. You can buy youngstock from certain suppliers in wales, also possibly England, it is one of the rarest breeds of apple in Britain. The original tree still sits on the top of Bardsey island, once there were many and the monks who lived there used to tend to them, but they all but one died out since the monks left and the rootstock has been taken from that.
http://www.iansturrockandsons.co.uk/shop/bardseyapple.html Here is a link for it.
There are many on this list to choose from if you like the unusual option for fruit trees
Hope this helps

[Lesley Silvester]

They must be keepers as you can get Braeburns in Morrisons almost all year round

Yes, they are. They should keep for around four months according to Thompson and Morgan.

[doganjo]

Back to my original questions-

1.What varieties of apple and plum that I can eat from the tree
4.  Where do I get mature trees that will fruit next year
5. How much should i expect to pay for them

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Do you mean dwarf trees or fully grown ones? I would give fruit trees a year just to settle in plus growing time. For a mature tree anything from 50-100£ etc. Depends on type. Buying a mature tree is risky it may not even fruit next year as it needs to settle in. Pink lady are nice, Cox apples, russet. What about traditional breeds instead of hybrids, with traditional its flavour all the way. As for buying them am not entirely sure who would sell them, I would try tree producers, i would look em up on google there is bound to be someone near you who sells them.