We get hundreds of enquiries a year about growing fruit trees in the UK at altitude and our answers usually start off with something like:
“Unfortunately your location sounds beautiful but (from the perspective of fruit trees) terrible. Your site is high up and almost certainly windy given that you are south facing and prevailing winds are south-westerly, and the lava might be an issue….”
Because we do a good impression of being nice friendly people, we try to explain why this is a problem:
“You will face two problems. The first is that air temperatures will be lower in spring and autumn than on lower ground and so fruit trees will come into flower later and have less time to ripen. The second is that wind and pollinating insects do not go together…. if you do see any insects they tend to be travelling very fast.”
We would love to sell as many orchards as we can, but without hedging or a windbreak they are a waste of time and money at altitudes over 800 feet unless peculiar circumstances apply.
To the would be “alpine” fruit grower, our advice would be:
- Start with soft fruit which have much later flowering times, mature more quickly and so will ripen in time. Also, because they are closer to the ground pollination is less of an issue as well as they provide better shelter for the odd flying friend.
- If you are determined to have a fine stand of apple trees and the odd pear, cherry and what-have-you plant a windbreak and wait at least 4 or 5 years while it establishes before you plant an orchard.
- Or you can try to grow your fruit trees as cordons against a south facing wall where they will be warmer and ripen more quickly.
- And above 900 feet don’t bother.
Good luck
that kind of answers why my fruit trees have had no fruit in 20years i garden in the northwest at 1350 ft !
We have cooking apples in a sheltered south facing location that produce every other year at 800ft. I am tempted to try plums and apricots. Reading this, am i nuts?
If it is sheltered, plum trees might be worth a try. Go for a late flowering variety such as Marjories Seedling to lessen the risk of frost damage to the blossom.
I would be inclined to stay away from almonds. One, they are prone to a range of fungal diseases and two, there is a risk that if they cross pollinate with your plums the latter will be bitter (they are closely related).
Hope this helps – good luck
I plan an orchard in a sheltered location at 850 feet in Exmoor. If I press ahead with apples, can you recommend the varieties of trees that will have the best chance of producing in this location?
Thanks for your query. Have a look at https://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/gardening-advice/fruit-tree-advice/orchard-location based on which we would not really recommend any variety.
I live on Exmoor at 1,000 feet and have laxton superb and bramley reliably producing fruit every year. They are in a fairly sheltered position but we don’t tend to have late frosts up here.
Thank you for your comment. This is great feedback, and we would love a photo of your high altitude laxton superb for our website! As you say, local conditions as well as altitude play a vital role in growth and productivity of any plant. Kind regards Ashridge.