Fruit tree cost UK: bare-root, pot and patio prices

You have a bare-root apricot at £35 in one tab, a patio tree at £61.95 in another, and a marketplace pot at £34.99 that only states a 19 cm pot. Fruit tree cost UK is the gap between those lines. How much is a fruit tree depends on whether you are buying dormant roots, a few litres of compost, or a plant the nursery has already grown on in a container. The thumbnail hides the difference, and the lowest figure is often the smallest plant.

On 16 October 2026 the apricot prices in this check sat under about £35, then from about £35 to £60, then from about £60 to £70. Named apricots at RHS Plants were £39.99 to £59.99. A half-standard price was not recorded, so there is no figure here for a taller clear stem. These shelf prices will move. None of them includes a crop.

In short

Specialist apricot prices checked on 16 October 2026 mostly sat between about £35 and £70, depending on bare root or pot and on whether packing was in the figure. A tree near £12 and a patio tree near £62 are different purchases, because the pounds buy form and size. They do not buy fruit in a cold spring.

Three price bands and what sits in each

The bands are shelf prices from a UK apricot check on 16 October 2026. Entry sits under about £35. The middle runs from about £35 to £60. The upper prices we saw run from about £60 to £70. RHS Plants listed named apricots from £39.99 to £59.99, so a straightforward named tree sits in the middle, and a young patio apricot well above £70 was outside this check.

Roots Plants had a patio apricot at £35 bare root and at £40 in a 4.5 litre pot. That £5 gap is one nursery on one day, useful as an anchor and a poor national rule. Pomona Fruits listed Tomcot from £49.95, and a patio tree at £61.95 with packing included, which sits in the upper band. A from-price is the start of a range. Open the line and see which pot and which delivery charge you would actually pay.

A half-standard is a separate form, and this check has no price for it. Using the patio figure for a taller stem would invent a number, so ask the nursery. This check does not keep a separate apricot comparison, so cultivar notes stay with the nursery label. These bands are a budget frame, and a short promotion can move a tree between them without making it a better plant.

Pear trees from UK nurseries usually follow the same bare-root versus pot pattern. This article does not lend them an apricot price, and it does not keep a separate pear comparison. Take the pear figures from the nursery on the day you look.

Bare root, a small pot, and a nine-litre tree

The bare root fruit tree price is lower because the nursery sends dormant roots rather than a pot of compost watered all summer. You take a planting season, and the roots can dry before they are in the ground. On the Roots patio apricot the two forms were £35 bare root and £40 in 4.5 litres. The saving on that line is modest. The bare-root line is also absent once the dormant season ends.

A potted fruit tree price adds the container, the compost, and the months the nursery has already kept the tree. A 4.5 litre pot is a modest, stated volume, and it is what you can buy when lifting has stopped. amazon.co.uk ASIN B0GDNRK2JZ was £34.99 for a 19 cm pot on the same date, close in pounds to those two apricots and smaller in the pot. The listing was not staged in our apricot comparison, and this note has no review count for it. For the trees we did stage, use the apricot comparison.

This check did not record one national 9 litre fruit tree price. Larger patio trees sat around £60 to £70, and Pomona's patio Tomcot was £61.95 including packing. A nine-litre pot is more compost and more nursery time than 4.5 litres. A price near £12 did not appear on the specialist lines we checked, so treat it as a young grade or a small pot until the label shows litres, cultivar, and rootstock. Two trees at one price can still finish at different sizes, and size this week is what the pounds buy.

Carriage, timing, and the winter window

Patio fruit tree cost depends on whether packing is already in the number. Pomona's patio Tomcot at £61.95 included packing. The Roots prices of £35 and £40, and the RHS Plants span of £39.99 to £59.99, were recorded as plant prices. Add the delivery line before you decide which tree costs less at your door. A tree that looks £15 cheaper can change places once carriage is included, and this check does not invent a courier fee.

Bare-root trees are sold while dormant, usually from late autumn to early spring in the UK, often November through March. That window is nursery practice, and each firm sets its own last dispatch. In June you are buying a container, which is part of why the potted price exists all year. A bare-root bag is a clock as well: roots dry in a heated porch, so a £35 tree left until Sunday can become a replacement. Heel it in if you cannot plant on the day.

A stake, a tie, and mulch sit outside these shelf prices, and so does a blossom cover in a cold spring. We did not price them. Leave room, because the first year is when an unsupported tree wastes the purchase. Write down the date, the litres or the bare-root grade, and whether packing was included. The 16 October 2026 figures are a snapshot, and a sale price can be a short grade.

What the price does not promise

A higher price buys a more finished plant, and on the Pomona patio line it includes packing. It does not buy more fruit. The tree at £61.95 and the tree at £35 can both lose blossom to one frost, because apricots flower early in a British garden. A sheltered wall can matter more than a £20 gap on the page. We did not run a cropping trial, so a promise of fruit next summer is ahead of this check.

£34.99 for a 19 cm pot can be a fair sum for a starter you mean to grow on. It is a muddled match for a 4.5 litre tree or a patio tree near £62 if the page never names a cultivar. Our apricot set did not include that ASIN. A qualifying purchase through links on our comparison pages can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. That is not a claim that any line is the lowest price in the UK.

Pears follow the same bare-root versus pot pattern, and the pounds are not close enough to copy from Tomcot. This check does not keep a separate pear comparison, so take that category's figures from the nursery on the day. Read them the same way: form, litres, packing, and the date you looked.

We checked RHS Plants, Roots Plants, Pomona Fruits, and amazon.co.uk ASIN B0GDNRK2JZ, with the RHS apricot growing note, on 16 October 2026. There was no trial plot and no half-standard price. Before you pay, name the form, the litres or centimetres, the cultivar, the carriage, and the month. One blank means the listing is not ready to sit beside the £40 pot or the £61.95 patio tree.