DescriptionDelivery & Guarantee
Coe's Golden Drop Plum Trees
When you bite into a really delicious yellow plum from the market, there is a good chance that it is a Coe's Golden Drop. The large, oval fruit are radiant yellow inside and out with a gorgeous flavour that has a hint of apricot. They are a venerable English plum and have been sold commercially here for two hundred years. They have lovely firm flesh and are equally good right off the branch or preserved as a jam or prune.
Golden Drop's History and Parentage
In the early 1720's, Sir William Gage of Bury St Edmunds received a shipment of plum trees with very sweet green fruit from France. Somewhere along the line, these acquired the now famous name, Green Gages. Jervaise Coe became the estate's gardener and during the late 1700's used the Green Gage to create his Golden Drop and other varieties. In this case he crossed it with Dame Aubert or White Magnum Bonum, a good-sized, juicy yellow plum that lacks much flavour. The Golden Drop proved to have the best of both fruits and is grown by farmers to this day.
plum Tree Pollination guide for Coe's Golden Drop
Coes Golden Drop is not self fertile and requires the pollen from another plum tree that is in flower at the same time, from mid-April. plum trees flower for a short time, typically 10-14 days, so the match has to be precise. We recommend the especially tasty Dennistons Superb which is in bloom at the same time. You can get picking by late September.
Care must be taken when planting plum trees, they are quite particular with regards to positioning and require summer pruning to reduce the risk of their contracting silver leaf fungus.
Please note that our bushes and half standards are on St Julien A rootstocks while our maidens are on Pixy rootstocks which we believe is a better rootstock for this variety if you want to train a fan or espalier.
Read our full terms and conditions here.
Delivery:
The basic delivery charge for all orders containing fruit trees of any size (bareroot or pot-grown) is £12.55 + VAT.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
You can choose the delivery week that suits you during checkout and we will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.
Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.
Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.
Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted fruit trees must be watered in dry weather while they are establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.
Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot fruit trees to gardeners and orchard owners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying fruit trees online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.
Your 12 Month Guarantee
If any of the plants that you buy from our nursery die within a year of delivery, we will replace them.
You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.
We do ask for clear photos of the plants in the soil, both taking in the planting area and close up. These will help us to work out what went wrong so we can give you the right advice for looking after your replacements.
The most important thing to do with establishing plants is to water them in dry weather. Water very thoroughly, but not too frequently: allow the top 2 inches of soil to dry out before you water again. In hot summer weather, this should mean that you are watering 1 to 3 times per week, depending on your site's drainage and exposure to wind and sun.
If there is heavy rain, that counts as a watering for your plants. If there is only very light rain during hot weather, this probably won't be of much use to your plants and they will still need watering.
Weeding is also very important; we strongly recommend using a mulch mat (for trees) or mulch fabric (for hedges) if weeding your new plants will be impractical.
Outside your 1 Year Guarantee period?
If your plants die or get sick after their first year, you are still welcome to take some photos and send them in: we will still be happy to give you what advice we can.
We can't make any promises, but if you want to buy replacements from us, give us a call and we'll see if we can arrange a discount for you.
Place an order for £250 excluding VAT and delivery and we deliver it for FREE!
Bare-root Plants are only delivered in the winter season, from November to April. Pot grown plants can be delivered all year round
Advantages of Bare-root plants:
You pay less for the same size plants.
You can carry and plan them easily.
You only plant them in winter, so they need less maintenance after
planting. The rain will water them for their first few months.
You get the biggest selection: Many trees are not sold pot-grown.
They are "asleep" in winter - this is the best time to transplant any tree.
They use fewer fertilisers & fungicides, less water and fuel in their production & delivery.
Advantages of Pot Grown plants:
Pot grown plants can be delivered & planted all year round.
Plants with tender roots & larger specimens must be delivered in pots.
Plants in pots can be kept for months longer if there is a delay in planting.
Our Advice to You:
If you can't wait to get planting, order Pot grown plants now.
If you are not in a hurry, order bare-root plants for delivery this winter. Simply add them to your basket and choose a winter delivery date that suits you during checkout.
This will reserve your plants before they sell out.
We won't charge you until the day before delivery, so cancelling your order is always easy.
If you are only ordering chemicals and other small items, delivery is £3.50
Our delivery charge for all other orders is £6.50 + VAT.
If you live in the Scottish Highlands or the Isle of Wight, there will be an extra charge of £15 + VAT on top of the appropriate basic charge, as listed above.
If your order is over £250 exc. VAT, there will be no delivery charge.
If you are uncertain, just add items to your basket which will calculate the basic shipping charge for you.
