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Damsons Variety Selector: Which One For Your Garden

Every recommendation below traces back to our full Damsons varieties comparison — this page is the fast route to one answer for your specific situation, no clicking through required.

If: My site gets late spring frosts

Prune Damson (Shropshire Damson)AGM

Blossom, not the tree itself, is what a hard spring frost kills, and Prune Damson flowers latest of the three AGM varieties, dodging more of that frost window as a result. It has no disease resistance separately named, unlike the other two, and carries the longest pest list of the three, but its main advantage is timing: latest flowering, latest ripening, most frost avoided by the time it blooms.

If: I want named disease resistance

Merryweather DamsonAGM

Merryweather Damson is the only one of the three with a named disease resistance rather than only a susceptibility list: it specifically resists silver leaf, the fungal disease that gets into stone fruit through pruning cuts made at the wrong time of year. Fruit is also the largest of the three, blue-black.

If: I've got a smaller garden or tight space

Farleigh DamsonAGM

Farleigh Damson is the variety called out for reliably heavy cropping on a compact tree, useful where a full-size damson doesn't fit, and it's named as 'less susceptible to frost damage than many other cultivars,' a genuine frost claim distinct from the shared H6 hardiness rating.

If: Not sure, just give me the safest all-round choice

Merryweather DamsonAGM

Merryweather Damson is the strongest all-round pick: full AGM detail, H6 hardiness, and named resistance to silver leaf, the disease risk this whole fruit family carries from badly timed pruning. It's also the earliest of the three to flower and carries the largest fruit.

Answer these as a quick wizard instead →
Damsons growing guide →Full Damsons varieties comparison →

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