Tree fruit
How to grow medlars
Mespilus germanica
A medlar is among the easiest fruit trees to grow in the UK. Plant a grafted tree between November and March in sun or light shade, in any reasonable soil that does not lie wet, and give it room for a spreading, weeping crown 4 to 6 m across. It is self-fertile, flowers too late for frost, needs very little pruning and almost no feeding. The work is at the other end: the fruit is picked hard in late October or November and softened indoors before eating.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Full sun to light shade
- Soil
- Most fertile, free-draining soils
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.0
- Water
- Low to moderate
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting medlars
WhenPlant Nov to Mar; blossom May to Jun; harvest Oct to Nov, then blet
Starting off
Plant bare-root Nov to Mar, pot-grown in spring. Nottingham and Royal are grafted onto quince or hawthorn; seed sown fresh in autumn needs 18 months of cold before it germinates and fruits in 5 to 7 years. Self-fertile, so one tree crops alone.
Spacing and planting
Grafted on quince it spreads 4 to 6 m, on hawthorn or seedling 6 m plus, and the branches droop to the ground, so allow room. Hole 60 cm wide, union 10 cm above soil, stake 3 years. Manageable in a 50 cm pot for a few years only.
Varieties worth growing
- Nottingham
- The most widely sold and the best flavoured, with small to medium fruit on a compact, fairly upright tree. The choice for a small garden.
- Royal
- Crops heavily from a young age with medium-sized fruit, on a tree a little more upright than the others.
- Dutch
- Very large fruit on a wide, weeping tree that makes a fine lawn specimen where there is space.
- Large Russian
- Big fruit, large flowers and vigorous growth. Good where the tree is wanted as much for looks as for the crop.
Medlars month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Prune only if needed: dead, crossing or crowded branches. Plant bare-root trees.
- February
Finish any pruning. Plant and stake.
- March
Light feed for trees in their first three years. Mulch young trees.
- April
Leaves open. Water newly planted trees in dry weeks.
- May
Large white flowers open at the shoot tips late in the month.
- June
Flowering finishes. Water young trees in drought. Cut off any suckers from below the graft.
- July
Nothing to do.
- August
Nothing to do. Check the tie on staked trees.
- September
Fruit swells and russets. Leave it alone.
- October
Leaves turn yellow and red-brown. Fit grease bands. Begin picking at the end of the month once the fruit parts easily.
- November
Pick the rest after the first frosts and set out to blet for two to three weeks. Plant bare-root trees.
- December
Use bletted fruit for jelly and medlar cheese. Rake up leaves.
Feeding medlars
One of the least demanding fruit trees. Help a young tree establish, then stop: an established medlar on ordinary garden soil needs no fertiliser at all.
Low, undemanding once established; a light spring feed.
Feeding plan
At planting, once
5 g per litre of root-ball volume, touching the roots: 50 g for a tree from a 10 litre pot, or enough to coat the damp roots of a bare-root tree.
March, first three years only
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m², the low end of the label range: 70 g scattered over a 1 m² circle round the trunk and raked in.
March, young trees and any tree on thin sandy or chalky soil
Garden compost
A 5 cm mulch over the planting circle, kept clear of the trunk.
Established trees
No fertiliser
Nothing. Feed only if the leaves are pale and the year's shoots are under 15 cm long, and then use the 70 g/m² March dose once.
Pot-grown trees, May to July
1 g per litre of water as a drench every 3 weeks: 10 g in a 10 litre can.
Signs to watch
Pale leaves and short growth
Nitrogen short on thin soil
Light balanced feed in March
Yellow young leaves with green veins on chalk
Iron lockout
Sulphur, acidic mulch
Soft leafy growth and no fruit
Nitrogen excess
Stop feeding; this tree wants almost nothing
Pests, diseases and problems
Small dark spots on the leaves in summer, with leaves yellowing and falling early in a wet year
A fungal leaf blight, the same one that affects quince and hawthorn
Rake up and bin the fallen leaves in autumn and thin congested growth lightly in winter so that the crown dries faster. An established tree shrugs it off.
Holes in the young leaves and blossom in April and May, with small green looping caterpillars
Winter moth caterpillars
Fit a sticky grease band round the trunk and stake in late October to stop the wingless females climbing. Blue tits take most of the caterpillars on a garden tree.
Fruit goes soft and brown on the tree in a wet autumn, with buff pustules on the skin
Brown rot
Pick off and bin affected fruit. Do not confuse it with bletting, where the flesh browns evenly and the skin stays clean.
Stored fruit grows grey or blue mould before it has softened
Fruit stored damp, touching or too warm
Pick on a dry day and set the fruit eye-down in a single layer on slatted trays in a cool, airy shed. Check twice a week and remove any that mould.
White powdery coating on shoot tips in a dry summer
Powdery mildew
Water a young tree deeply and mulch it. On an established tree it does no lasting harm.
Pruning and harvest
Pruning and care
Winter-prune Dec to Feb only to shape: remove dead, crossing and crowded growth and establish a clear 1 m stem while young, then leave it, it fruits on the tips of last year's wood and heavy cutting removes the crop. Suckers from hawthorn rootstock must be cut off at source. Established trees need no pruning.
Harvest and storage
Pick late Oct to Nov after the first frost, when the fruit twists off; it is still rock hard. Blet in a cool shed, calyx down on trays, for 2 to 3 weeks until brown and soft, then eat with a spoon or make jelly and medlar cheese. First crop 3 to 4 years; a mature tree gives 10 to 20 kg.
Good to knowSelf-fertile and ornamental; the fruit must be 'bletted' (softened) after picking before it's eaten.
Growing medlars in pots
A medlar will live in a 50 cm pot of loam-based compost for a few years, which is useful if you are waiting for a permanent place for it, but it is not a long-term container tree: the crown wants to spread and weep, and a pot-bound tree crops poorly. Choose Nottingham, the most compact. Water regularly in summer, top-dress with fresh compost each March, and plant it out in the dormant season before the roots circle the pot.
Medlars: common questions
What does bletting a medlar mean?
Bletting is letting the picked fruit soften and turn brown inside until it is sweet enough to eat. Fresh off the tree a medlar is hard, acid and tannic. After two to three weeks in a cool place, set eye-down on a tray, the flesh turns to a soft brown paste and the tannins break down. It is ripening, not rotting.
What do medlars taste like?
A bletted medlar tastes something like stewed apple with dates and a little spice, with the texture of thick apple puree. Most people prefer them cooked into a clear amber jelly or a firm fruit cheese to serve with meat and cheese, where the flavour is closer to a spiced apple jelly.
How big does a medlar tree get?
A grafted medlar reaches 4 to 6 m high and at least as wide over twenty years or so, with branches that arch down towards the ground. Nottingham is the most compact. Growth is slow, and the tree can be kept smaller by light winter thinning, but it should not be hard pruned because it fruits at the tips of the shoots.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.