The Perfect Apple Tree

[WH308]

I’ve spent the last few weeks landscaping our front garden. It was just a large lawn that had no features, maybe 30 x 30 meters. It was created when we rebuilt the house and I just grass seeded the levelled soil, with a view to creating a garden in the future. I now have a deep border filled with cottage garden perennials and spring bulbs all around the lawn, so fingers crossed for a pleasant display for next year.

Now what I would like to add is a decent sized feature tree in the middle of the lawn, with a view to adding crocus beneath it. I have the (romantic) idea of planting an apple tree.

The ideal tree should get to about 10-12 feet in height and spread, be a red or reddish dessert apple and be self fertile! I have other apple trees, but the nearest will be 50-60 meters away.

Is anyone into their apples who could suggest a variety?

 

[User00035]

James Grieve. Scottish bred version of a Cox. Very hardy and well suited to colder parts of the country or exposed sites. Fantastic eating apples and work well as cookers.
Partially self-fertile and will crop reliably in isolation but does even better if it has a group 3 partner, even if it's only a small one.

It's also a spur bearer meaning it fruits on old wood so you can prune gangly new growth without reducing the harvest and it is excellent for training or espaliering and can be pruned into a handsome specimen tree.

Independent assessment of apple tree James Grieve

James Grieve apple tree - taste, looks, likely pests and diseases, pruning and general cultivation. Expert advice from GardenFocused.co.uk

www.gardenfocused.co.uk

 

[VSS]

Try this one if you fancy something a bit different. It was propogated from an unknown variety of apple tree that grew on the small offshore island where I used to live.
We have planted one in our orchard, and it does very well.
Similar to a James Grieve.

Bardsey apple trees for sale, various sizes

The Bardsey apple tree comes from Wales and makes a good choice if you have a wet windy climate. The apples are versatile, with a pleasant flavour.

www.orangepippintrees.co.uk

 

[Marcher]

What about a Worcester Permain ? A good old fashioned variety, and one you can eat straight off the tree.

 

[CarlW]

Be sure also to give some thought to your choice of rootstock. This will determine the ultimate habit and size of your tree. I generally use M25 as I like a traditional-looking tree (you know, the type with a swing under it, bearing a pale Englishwoman in a floral dress), but this will produce a tree that is too big for some smaller spaces.

 

[WH308]

Be sure also to give some thought to your choice of rootstock. This will determine the ultimate habit and size of your tree. I generally use M25 as I like a traditional-looking tree (you know, the type with a swing under it, bearing a pale Englishwoman in a floral dress), but this will produce a tree that is too big for some smaller spaces.

Thanks for the input guys, great info regarding spur / tip bearing. So I would agree that James Grieve is a cracking apple, I planted one at my old house and I have one here already albeit on a dwarfing rootstock.

Carl, I was thinking of an M26 rootstock as this looks like it will give me a feature tree without getting too huge.

Apple Tree Buyers Guide - Chris Bowers & Sons

Apple Tree Buyers Guide - Fans, Espaliers, Stepovers, Cordons and Supercolumns - Explanation of our Apple Tree Rootstocks : M27, M9, M26, M106, M111 and M25

www.chrisbowers.co.uk

An apple that has caught my eye when reading is Red Falstaff, it seems to fit the bill fairly well, it’s a self fertile, red desert apple, and it’s spur bearing (cheers Finch).

Red Falstaff Apple Trees - Chris Bowers & Sons

Red Falstaff Apple Trees - Chris Bowers and Sons : Suppliers of specialist fruit trees, plants, bushes from our nursery

www.chrisbowers.co.uk

 

[CarlW]

Thanks for the input guys, great info regarding spur / tip bearing. So I would agree that James Grieve is a cracking apple, I planted one at my old house and I have one here already albeit on a dwarfing rootstock.

Carl, I was thinking of an M26 rootstock as this looks like it will give me a feature tree without getting too huge.

Apple Tree Buyers Guide - Chris Bowers & Sons

Apple Tree Buyers Guide - Fans, Espaliers, Stepovers, Cordons and Supercolumns - Explanation of our Apple Tree Rootstocks : M27, M9, M26, M106, M111 and M25

www.chrisbowers.co.uk

An apple that has caught my eye when reading is Red Falstaff, it seems to fit the bill fairly well, it’s a self fertile, red desert apple, and it’s spur bearing (cheers Finch).

Red Falstaff Apple Trees - Chris Bowers & Sons

Red Falstaff Apple Trees - Chris Bowers and Sons : Suppliers of specialist fruit trees, plants, bushes from our nursery

www.chrisbowers.co.uk

Presumably you are on clay in Staffordshire? Apples love the stuff. Some people plant apples proud in clay soil but I never bother and haven't had a problem.

 

[WH308]

Presumably you are on clay in Staffordshire? Apples love the stuff. Some people plant apples proud in clay soil but I never bother and haven't had a problem.

We are definitely on clay here, get below the topsoil and you are in to grey clay. Some of the local names are a indicator of my areas history and “what lies beneath” Potmans Lane and Brick Kiln Pits for example.

 

[Norfolk Horn]

You could get the tree of your choice then graft on another variety to get a succession of fruit, I dont know enough about varieties to suggest one but a bit of advise from our more knowledgeable members may come along shortly

 

[shakey jake]

ive seen trees available with three varieties grafted on, they would self pollinate and you would never get a glut of one apple, id go for an early, a keeper and a cooker

 

[willie_gunn]

Why not give the people at the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale a call?

Grow Fruit Trees

Specialist fruit tree growers. Services also include, consultancy, carbon offset, orchard planning & grafting of heritage fruit varieties from The National Fruit Collection.

brogdaleonline.co.uk

 

[willie_gunn]

One other idea might be to go for a traditional local variety, however looking at the PTES site only comes up with just a handful of local Staffordshire apples. Sadly only one of those looks to be available commercially:

People's Trust for Endangered SpeciesPeople's Trust for Endangered Species

ptes.org

However the "Whittington Hero" might be available by approaching the local Whittington and Fisherwick Environmental Group:

http://www.wfeg.org.uk/assets/resources/heib-portfolio.pdf

 

[WH308]

Being as how we were rained off from any jobs here today we took a trip out to local nursery to look for apple trees that would fit the bill. They had a very good selection of fruit trees and had a choice of two Red Falstaff trees on M106 root stocks. They are a little smaller than I would have liked, and will need a prune over winter, but when looking for a specific variety one can’t be too picky. So the better one was purchased. Then we took a trip to another local nursery that had been recommended by my parents for their perennial plants. When we got there they had some fab looking fruit trees too, in fact so good that I picked up a Howgate Wonder on an M106 rootstock. This was such a smart tree I decided to plant that as the feature tree in the garden. Then I have earmarked an area of unused ground to be cleared and I will them plant the Red Falstaff and a James Grieve there. All the correct pollination group for one another and all within 20-30 meters of each other. Fingers crossed they all thrive and I’m blessed with healthy apple trees for many years to come.

As a bonus, these were in the field next to the nursery, so I got my plant and deer fix in one outing.

 

[User00035]

They should do very well. Good luck and enjoy.
I have masses of inherited apple trees and every autumn I curse the things for all the rotting debris. There's always way more fruit than I can possibly use.
A similar thread came up on another forum I'm on and someone in the same situation puts all theirs through a juicer and sells the stuff. That's got me thinking..

 

[VSS]

They should do very well. Good luck and enjoy.
I have masses of inherited apple trees and every autumn I curse the things for all the rotting debris. There's always way more fruit than I can possibly use.
A similar thread came up on another forum I'm on and someone in the same situation puts all theirs through a juicer and sells the stuff. That's got me thinking..

Seems a shame to sell all that juice, when you could turn it into cider! Besides, if you wanted to sell the juice you'd probably have to pasteurise it, which is just another hassle.
(Or skip the juicing business, and make the whole lot into apple wine!)

 

[John Gryphon]

Is anyone into their apples who could suggest a variety?

Yes the deer attracting type.