A TELEPHONE call recently from Photographer Royal, Arthur Edwards, requested help in choosing and planting a tree, so he could be part of Her Majesty The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative. Our conversation revealed the surprising news to me that Arthur in his 80th year had never planted a tree before! He has a modest suburban garden with a couple of aged fruit trees in the back garden down to lawn.
My suggestion was a new cultivar of apple, because the ultimate size of a tree can be controlled by the rootstock onto which it is grafted: Malling 27 and M9 for small trees; Malling Merton 106 (MM106) for medium size; and for vigorous full standards, the choice would be M25.
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