Tim Ingram suggests a novel way of increasing interest in the fruit garden - by planting spring bulbs and other flowers under the trees to give a long season of colour. Tim’s father,  the late Jack Ingram, was a former director of Brogdale in its Ministry Days and had planted a fine collection in the family garden.

We retain a very wide collection of fruit trees in our garden. These were planted by my father and although I do not  share his deep personal interest in fruit, I have been trying to make a greater feature of these for our garden open days as part of the ‘National Garden Scheme’. In particular this has involved under planting with early flowering bulbs and woodland perennials. Starting with snowdrops and hellebores, I am including such plants as hostas, ferns, Brunnera (a perennial forget me not), Pulmonarias (lungwort),  and the woodland anemone (Anemone nemorosa).  I am aiming to get spring colour before the fruit blossom and then extend interest right through to summer with ferns and hostas, when the fruit itself becomes the main interest.

The fruit trees are mulched with compost, not straw, and the bulbs come through with no problem. I find that the relatively deep soil and sparse root system on dwarf rootstocks provides ideal conditions for many of these plants and the season of interest in the orchard can extend right through from February into June and July. Pruning and fruit picking is a little compromised by having other plants underfoot but with care is not a problem.

It seems to be working well in our garden, although it will be some time before we see drifts of snowdrops under the trees. Such planting can not only provide additional interest, but show how fruit trees can be wonderfully integrated with other plants in the garden. 

Tim Ingram