When to harvest Medlar in the UK
Medlar is planted rather than sown from seed, so the dates below are harvest dates.
Harvest dates by region
Medlar shows the same dates across the whole UK, so every region below reads the same. Where a plant’s timings do follow the frost, Plot shifts them from the Midlands and Lowland Wales baseline using Met Office average frost dates.
| Where you are | Harvest |
|---|---|
| South West Coast and Cornwall | late October to late November |
| South Coast and Channel | late October to late November |
| Greater London (Urban Heat Island) | late October to late November |
| South East and Home Counties | late October to late November |
| East Anglia | late October to late November |
| Midlands and Lowland Wales | late October to late November |
| Wales and West Coast | late October to late November |
| Northern England | late October to late November |
| Scotland Lowlands and Central Belt | late October to late November |
| Scotland Highlands and Islands | late October to late November |
| Northern Ireland | late October to late November |
| Channel Islands and Isle of Man | late October to late November |
Growing notes
An easy, almost problem-free tree with big white late-spring flowers and good autumn colour, but it makes a wide canopy, so allow at least 5m from other trees and buildings. Fruit picked in late autumn must be bletted for two to three weeks before it is edible, and a tree takes several years before it crops.
At a glance
- Spacing
- 500 cm between plants
- Row spacing
- 500 cm
- Plants per m²
- 0.04
- Yield per plant
- 15 kg
- Eventual height
- 500 cm
- Eventual spread
- 500 cm
- Sun
- Full
- Frost tender
- No
- Grows in a container
- No
- Balcony rating
- 1 out of 5
Pruning: what to avoid
Prune medlars only in winter, when dormant, and only lightly: get the framework right in the first few years and after that the tree needs almost nothing. Hard pruning simply produces a mass of unproductive shoots.
Pruning group
medlar (minimal winter pruning)
Bare-root season
Bare-root stock is lifted and sold while dormant, from early November to late March. Container-grown plants can go in at other times of year, but bare-root is cheaper and establishes well.
How long until it crops
Expect the first worthwhile pick about 5 years after planting, and a productive life of roughly 50 years.
What usually goes wrong
- quince leaf blight
- brown rot
- powdery mildew
- wind and frost damage to leaves and flowers
Related guides
Timings cross-checked against RHS guidance for medlar.