Plant a mini cider orchard
Autumn’s the time to plant apples bare-root but they don’t always have to be for eating! Why not try growing your own cider?
Cider has been made in Britain for more than 1,000 years, but it’s enjoying a massive surge in popularity as traditional orchards, once in decline, are making a welcome return to the countryside.
Now’s the perfect time to plan your own little cider ‘plantation’ as apple festivals and nursery open days encourage visitors to test varieties before ordering. You can pick your favourite apple with absolutely no guesswork!
The West Country, especially Somerset, is famous for cider, but there are varieties that will suit most regions in the UK. With modern, dwarfing rootstocks and cordons there’s a tree for most gardens.
You can make cider from any apple, but cider varieties have a distinctive, tart flavour that makes them perfect for pressing. Sadly this can mean they’ll be relatively poor ‘eaters’. Unless you’re planning a full-size orchard, it’s probably best to go for an all-rounder that’s good for cider-making and chomping fresh, while some also double as cooking apples. Don’t forget to check whether a tree is ‘diploid’, needing one pollinating partner, or ‘triploid’, requiring two pollinating pals. If you only have room for one tree, try a self-fertile variety or take a peek in your neighbours’ gardens; they may have compatible varieties and bees know no boundaries!
Choose the right apples
Selecting the correct rootstock will help contain your tree. Nursery label information will tell you which rootstock is grafted onto which tree – if in doubt, give them a call. If you’re looking for a traditional orchard-style standard, try M25, but for small gardens and growing trees close together, one of the dwarfing stocks will be more suitable.
As specialist trees, most cider apples are only available as bare-roots, usually from November until early March while the trees are dormant. Choosing a local variety helps
preserve traditional strains and should suit your soil and weather conditions perfectly. If your area is known for certain pests or diseases, pick a variety that shows resistance; they all have different strengths and weaknesses. Think about ‘heritage’ apples, too – they may not be such good croppers or as disease-resistant as modern varieties, but will often win out on flavour.
Cider apples are described according to the taste of their juice and the amount of tannin, acid and sugar each holds. Classifications run from ‘bittersharp’ through ‘sharp’ and ‘bittersweet’ to ‘sweet’. Commercial growers blend varieties to create their own distinctive brands, but a few old apples, such as ‘Dabinett’ and ‘Kingston Black’, will make decent cider on their own.