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Gordon Castle plum trees

Prunus domestica
Gordon Castle plums
Gordon Castle is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Late
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 4

An excellent choice for a dessert plum for northern areas due to its hardiness.  

Gordon Castle plum trees for sale

Pot-grown

All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.

All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.

  • PG12-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree St. Julien rootstock£60.50
    Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
    Out of stock
    Please try next season

Bare-root

  • BR11-year bare-root treeSt. Julien rootstock£38.75
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
    Out of stock
    Please try next season

Need help? Ask our fruit tree experts

Call us on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.

Tree specification

Photos of trees as supplied | Tree sizes and forms

Delivery charges

Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.

Growing and Training

Slightly later ripening than other plums.

Recommended pollinators for Gordon Castle plum trees

Gordon Castle is not self-fertile, so you will need another different but compatible variety planted nearby in order to produce fruit. The following varieties are good pollinators for Gordon Castle. If you are not sure about pollination requirements don't hesitate to ask us. More pollinators >

  • Pollinator Victoria
    Victoria
    Victoria is the definitive English plum, attractive fruit, good for eating, outstanding flavour for cooking.
  • Pollinator Opal
    Opal
    Opal is an early plum variety with a good flavour, self-fertile and very easy to grow.
  • Pollinator Marjorie's Seedling
    Marjorie's Seedling
    Marjorie's Seedling is an easy to grow, late-season, heavy cropping purple/black plum.
  • Pollinator Hauszwetsche German Prune
    Hauszwetsche German Prune
    Hauszwetsche is a damson-like Quetsche or Zwetsche plum, ideal for German-style cakes and desserts.
  • Pollinator Purple Pershore
    Purple Pershore
    Very similar to Yellow Pershore and with the same excellent culinary qualities.

History

Raised in Scotland around 1864.


Gordon Castle characteristics

Growing

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Flowering group4
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesMild damp climates

Using

  • Picking seasonLate
  • CroppingGood
  • Keeping (of fruit)1 week
  • Food usesEating fresh

Problems

  • Disease resistanceAverage

Identification

  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1850 - 1899
  • Fruit colourGreen / Yellow

British-grown trees Trees grown in the UK.

Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK. Find out more.

In addition, all our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance. Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. The scheme aims to improve UK biosecurity by setting standards for all growers and retailers involved in selling plants in the UK. Find out more

Guaranteed fruit trees

When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden whilst it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund - subject to some conditions. Find out more.

More about plum trees

Eating plums, also known as dessert plums, offer some of the sweetest flavours possible in the temperate garden, rivaling the best of tropical fruits. We particularly rate Avalon, Oullins Gage, Cambridge Gage, Coe's Golden Drop, Old Green Gage, and Opal.

There are several things you can do, as the gardener, to enhance the flavours of these sweet fruits. Firstly, try to plant the tree in full sun - because it is sunlight that ripens the fruits and ensures the maximum sweetness. Secondly, thin the fruitlets in June. To be fair, thinning plum fruitlets is a tedious job, but it is well worth doing because most plum varieties set too many fruits, which leads to poorer fruit size and bland flavours. So if you think your tree has over-set, carefully prune off the developing fruitlets, and don't be surprised if you end up removing half of them or even more - the tree will reward you later on.


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