Growing apricots in NE England – it is possible!
One of the surprise hits of the garden for many years was the self-fertile frost-hardy apricot tree Kioto, from Swiss specialist fruit growers Lubera*.
It has glorious white blossom from almost red buds in late March/April. This is followed by a surprisingly heavy crop of fruit in late July or August. You may note the tense and unfortunately, Kioto’s future hangs in the balance. It has fallen victim to gummosis (see below) and has outgrown its place. The tree is also sending out runners all over the garden!
Due to a planned revamp of that part of the garden to make it safer for me, it looks like Kioto will have to go. I do it with a heavy heart but like every tree I remove, I replace it (at least once). If you want to grow something unusual, read about dotberries!
I was staggered when the apricot arrived – in a 10l pot, it was getting on for 7ft tall and the most solid two-year-old tree I’ve had delivered. Originally, I was told it grows from 2-4m, although mine is well over 5m! Trees can be contained with pruning but I’ve tried to keep that to a minimum. It cost £30.40 – not cheap, but a really sturdy specimen. Apricots do best in the shelter of a south or west-facing wall, which is where mine lives. Avoid easterly-facing positions, where morning sun on frosty mornings will destroy the blossom and ruin your crop.
Thinning apricots
Being a complete novice when it came to growing apricots, I was delighted my Kioto tree had any fruit at all in its first year. A few fruitlets were shed in early summer in a ‘June drop’, the same as apple trees.
Although apricots are less prone to ‘overbearing’ (setting too much fruit that won’t ripen), some thinning is required with a heavy set. This depletes the energy of the plant, often leading to biennial fruiting. Thin to 5-7.5cm apart when the fruits are hazelnut-sized, which is in early June.
Pruning and diseases
Another good thing is that they don’t need complicated pruning like apples and pears. In fact, as a member of the cherry family, DON’T prune them at all in winter, as trees can develop silver leaf, a fungal disease. Spores are released from September to May under damp conditions. If you need to do any formative pruning or remove dead branches, do it in high summer when silver leaf spores are less likely to be around.
You may also see amber-like sap exuding from branches. This is quite common and is a sign of environmental stress. The picture was taken after the extremely cold late winter, combined with the hot, dry summer of 2018 – it’s called gummosis. However, it can also be a sign of more serious issues.
*PLEASE NOTE: Lubera no longer sells plants to the UK after Brexit. It is working on a solution to deliver directly to customers’ homes in the future.
