How to plant and care for Medlar (Nottingham)

Mespilus germanica

🌳 Tree 🍓 Fruit 🔁 Perennial

A small, characterful tree with big white flowers, golden autumn leaves and russet fruit that you "blet" (soften) indoors until it tastes of spiced apple purée.

At a glance: harvest in November.

When to plant and care for it

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Flowers

Harvest

Prune

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Growing Medlar (Nottingham): what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Water weekly in dry spells for the first two summers
Soil: Fertile, well-drained soil · pH 6.0–7.0
Spacing: 4 m
Height: 4–6 m
In pots: Best in the ground
Feeding: General fruit feed in late winter; mulch in spring
Hardiness: USDA zones 5–8

Step by step

On planting day
Plant the Tree
Plant at the same depth it grew in its pot, in a hole twice as wide as the root ball, 4 m from other trees. Firm and water well.
0–1 days after “Plant the Tree”
Stake and Tie
Drive a short stake in on the windward side and fix it with a soft tree tie. Loosen the tie each spring so it never cuts into the bark.
0–2 days after “Stake and Tie”
Water In Deeply
Soak the root area with a full can, then keep the soil moist (not wet) for the first few weeks.
7–21 days after “Water In Deeply”
Mulch the Base
Spread 5–8 cm of compost or bark mulch in a 1 m circle, keeping it clear of the trunk.

Every year

January
Winter Pruning
While dormant, remove dead, crossing and crowded branches to keep an open shape.
May
In Flower
Large single white flowers — a lovely photo.
November
Pick Medlars
Pick in late autumn and spread them out, eye down, somewhere cool for 2–3 weeks until brown and soft inside.
Starts from year 3.