ALL ABOUT APPLES
APPLES are one of the greatest casualties of modern fruit production because supermarkets sell only those that travel and store well.
While all supermarket apples look good and have a nice crunch, very few taste of anything. However, there are hundreds of varieties you can grow which have distinctive flavours and qualities. Plus, an apple tree is a marvellous feature in any garden.
Shelter from cold winds is vital for the trees, as is sun for ripening and soil with good drainage.
Apples are grown on rootstocks which determine the size of the tree. Put simply, the rootstock is part of a plant, often just a stump with a healthy root system, from which new above-ground growth can be produced.
A variety of apple (or other fruit) is then grafted onto this, which means that the same variety of apple can reach different sizes depending on the rootstock. M9 is best for containers and very small trees, MM106 for medium-sized trees, cordons or espaliers and poorish soil, and MM111 is best for larger trees.
Fruit trees are sold
either as bare-root (meaning without a container) and in containers. Bare-root trees are best planted in autumn to early spring, but container trees can be planted at any time of year. Before buying any tree quiz the supplier, and if they cannot clearly tell you what it is don’t buy it. When planting, dig a hole one metre in diameter but do not add compost. Loosen the bottom and plant the tree on a slight hillock so the union between the rootstock and the trunk (where it looks lumpy) is clear of the ground. Firm it in well with your heel, stake securely, give it a good soak then mulch thickly. Bark chippings are perfect. It is important to water it in a dry summer and to keep it clear of weeds for at least three years.
Apples in the UK usually flower from mid-April to midMay with the blossom lasting about ten days. This means the earliest will have stopped flowering before the latest has begun. But most will overlap around the start of May.
This is important as all apples need a pollinator in the shape of another apple tree within 50-100 yards that is flowering at the same time. Apples need insects to perform this pollination, usually honeybees.
Apples are categorised into flowering groups 1-8 with group one being the first to flower and group 8 the last. You need to know which group your chosen variety is in. Most are in groups 3, 4 & 5 and these all pollinate each other. My personal favourites are:
EATERS: ‘Jupiter’, ‘Ribston Pippin’, ‘Rosemary Russet’.
COOKERS: ‘Blenheim Orange’, ‘Arthur Turner’, ‘ Newton Wonder’ (left).