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Best fruit trees for Welly

When on a recent quest to find out which fruit trees can handle Wellington's climate and produce a good supply of bounty, I was referred to Mel at Brooklyn Community Orchard.
Volunteers run the 10-year-old orchard behind Brooklyn shops. The land is sheltered by feijoa and lavender plants at the top, and from northerlies and southerlies by fences on either side.
Winter is pruning time and there's a bit of mahi to do to get the trees in shape to produce the best fruit.

Brooklyn Food Orchard from the top. Fruit trees on both sides of the path.

The orchard has good success with the apple, pear, plum and feijoa varieties listed below. These are good options if you're planting fruit trees in Wellington.

Apples
Bramley
Dual Golden Delicious and Royal Gala
Early Strawberry
Merton Russet
Monty's Surprise
Sturmer
Tydeman's Late.

Tydeman's late apple variety in Brooklyn Community Orchard.

Pears
Bert’s Special
Doyenne de Comice
Stark’s Crimson.

Plums
Billington
Damson
Dual Black Doris and
Hawera
Reine de Claude.

Feijoas
Apollo
Unique
Wiki tu.

Pear tree Doyenne de Comice at the orchard in Brooklyn.

Photo of plum tree with two types on one rootstock

Dual plum tree. Two types on one rootstock: Black Doris and Hawera.

Photo of a bucket of just picked feijoas

Freshly harvested feijoas

Why not get involved with your local community garden. Lend a hand, share your knowledge and learn from others. All while enjoying some fresh kai and connecting with others.

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Winter garden activities

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Winter in the garden is just as busy as other seasons. There’s always something to do to keep plants healthy and weeds under control. For us, it's mainly about pruning and planting right now - and weeding, always weeding.

This month we’re weeding then gathering any fallen leaves and using them as mulch in the garden. Also sowing cover crops in bare areas for all the great reasons mentioned in this blog post.

Photo. We gather fallen leaves and use a mulch.

Gathered fallen leaves as mulch. When we trim the lavender, we put the trimmings on the garden too. It all helps the soil and consequently, the plants.

Winter pruning
On fruit trees we're pruning dead, damaged, diseased branches. Then pruning to have space between branches for air and pollination, to let the sun in for the fruit to ripen and keep the branches reachable for picking. These all help reduce pests and disease. We’re after strong healthy branches with lots of fruit spurs. Check out Kath Irvine’s helpful pruning videos.

We’ve started pruning roses. Lopping off branches that cross and rub as these allow disease to enter the plant through the damaged area. Taking out some of the older branches to encourage new growth and pruning to an outward facing bud on healthy branches.

After pruning, where there have been pest problems, we’re thoroughly spraying the tree with copper to deal with any overwintering pests. Otherwise we’re spraying the neem oil to deter those nasties.
Grapes have also been getting pruned, trained and sprayed.

Photo of espaliered pear tree in Brooklyn Community Garden

Espaliered pear at Brooklyn Community Orchard, Wellington.

Planting
We’re planting shrubs and trees. Whether it’s natives for shelter and food for wildlife, or fruit trees and shrubs for homegrown goodies. Now’s the time to get them in.
This is the best time to plant strawberries. Remember they will need protection from birds.

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Best fruit trees for Welly

Winter garden activities

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