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Happy, Healthy Plants Guaranteed
Expertly Grown in the UK
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Happy, Healthy Plants Guaranteed
Expertly Grown in the UK
Carefully Hand Delivered

'Southampton Selection' Sloe Tree

Grow your own sloe gin!

Grown by John

South Downs National Park

2 Year Old Bare Root Tree

120-150cm inc. roots

St. Julien A rootstock

£45

Pre-order for delivery Late November

Perfectly happy plants, or your money back

Specialist overnight plant delivery

The highlights

  • A tartness that's perfect for jams
  • Brilliant for wildlife and pollinators
  • Essential for sloe gin and hedgerow jelly!
  • Harvest from October
  • Attracts bees and other wildlife

Description

  • Masses of white blossom in spring followed by lots of rounded, blue-black sloes which are perfect for making sloe gin and jellies
  • Much more manageable and prolific than the wild version
  • Crops from October
  • Self fertile and easy to grow
  • Beneficial to pollinating insects and other wildlife
  • Low maintenance - requires only light pruning and no feeding
  • Our trees are professionally pruned before dispatching. This formative pruning can involve cutting the main leader, if the expert tree growers decide this will produce a better shaped tree. This can stop the tree becoming "leggy", and promote stronger, bushier growth.MORE

What To Expect

Supplied as:

Bare Root Tree
Our bare root trees are lifted fresh from the field, wrapped in a moisture retentive covering and packed straight away. You can be sure they will be fresh when they arrive. In winter, you can store for several weeks if kept in a cool, dark spot. Later in spring, when the temperature rises, you will want to plant within a few days of arrival.

Height on arrival:

120-150cm inc. roots
Your tree will arrive at a height between 120-150cm

Eventual height:

4m

Eventual spread:

4m
Spreads approx 4m

Time to first crop:

2 years
You should see your first sloes 2 years after planting, but the best crops will come from the 4th year onwards.

Flower colour:

White
Masses of white blossom in March and April

Habit:

Bushy

Hardiness:

Fully hardy
Requires no winter protection

Self fertile:

Self fertile
Doesn't require a pollination partner to produce fruit but may produce better crops if one is nearby. In most built up areas, it is unlikely there will not be a suitable tree close enough to pollinate, but in rural areas you should consider making sure there is another tree in the same pollination group within a mile.

Uses:

Liqueurs, preserves

Rootstock:

St. Julien A rootstock
Sloes are usually grown by grafting them to rootstocks. This has benefits for pest resistance, genetics and the efficiency of propagation. Importantly, it also limits the height of a tree to a more manageable, specific height. SJA plum trees tend to only reach 4m tall. They can also be trained to a smaller size by pruning or restricting the roots, by keeping in a smaller pot.

Spacing:

4m
Plant 4m apart to allow for spreading

How To Grow

Excellent pest and disease resistance

Generally pest and disease free

Water in well

Water in thoroughly when planting. For bare root trees, you won't need to water regularly, only in dry spells when needed. (You should be able tell because the leaves will start to wilt and droop). If a container grown tree, it will need more watering until its roots are established. It should be watered every other day or so for the first few months, then reduce to twice a week until autumn. In the second year it should have a established enough root system to support itself, just water when required as explained above for bare roots. When watering a tree it is important to give a good soaking. It is better to water heavily and less frequently than little and often, to encourage the roots to grow deeper into the ground.

Full sun

Sloe trees fruit best with at least 6 hours of sunlight per day, but they can also deal with a little light shade, especially in the afternoon.

Any fertile, well-drained soil

Prefers fertile well draining soil. Can also tolerate clay soil but you will need to take some steps to improve drainage, such as mixing in fine horticultural grit or perlite to the surrounding soil when planting.

No feeding required

No need to feed - apple trees get all the nutrients they need from the soil. ?v=1613300929

Planting Calendar

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  • Best time to plant
  • Harvest
  • Flower

South Downs National Park

Meet John

110 years' expertise free with every tree

John’s family have been growing trees in the South Downs National Park for over a century, and it shows. Dug up and sent straight to your garden at between 18-36 months old, their quality rootstocks, expert pruning and natural pest control mean that these traditionally field-grown trees are the hardiest you can get.

What customers say about us

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Growing with Roots

Good to know

Our plants are grown 
in the UK

Specialist UK growers we know and trust grow your plants the traditional way, with organic fertiliser and biological pest control. They pick only the healthiest plants for you, professionally pruning them so that they’ll grow strong and well shaped.

Our plants are delivered overnight

Your plants are sent to you fresh from the field in our plastic free box that’s specially designed to hold them tight, then securely delivered by specialist plant couriers - straight from the grower to your garden within 
24 hours.

We're here to help at every step

We want your plants to have a long and healthy life. Expect easy-to-follow grow guides and videos devised by our team 
of experts.

Perfect plants, guaranteed

We’re confident that you’ll be delighted 
with your new plants. Need help? Alice and her team are here to guarantee you’re 
perfectly happy.

Digging deep to answer your questions

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When will I get my plants?

The delivery timescale for each plant is on the web page (near the 'add to basket's button). You'll receive a dispatch email with an exact delivery date once your plants are on their way, so you can get the garden ready.

How will my plants be packed and delivered?

We send all of our orders through a courier network designed to handle plants. Specialist equipment ensures that no plants will be damaged during the packing process and every order is carefully finished and checked by plant-loving humans. Your plants will arrive in the most sustainable packaging possible with minimal to no plastic used.

Where do you deliver?

We deliver to anywhere in Mainland UK for our standard delivery cost. We are able to deliver most plants to Highlands and non UK mainland however this will be at an additional cost. This will be calculated at the checkout. Please note, deliveries to these locations will take longer. Unfortunately, we are not able to deliver to Northern Ireland at present.

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