Did you know that Friday 21st October is National Apple Day?
What is Apple Day?
Apple Day is a day that was created by Common Ground, an arts and environmental charity from Dorset. Created to celebrate and demonstrate apples and the varieties that we in danger of losing. It also helps in raising awareness of the provenance and traceability of our food.
To celebrate, YouGarden has pulled together some of our best tips and advice to show you just how easy it is to grow your own. We hope we can persuade even more green-fingered growers to jump on this frugal bandwagon and get growing!
How To Grow Apples
Apples are a very productive crop and they are easy to grow. There are also several varieties to choose from and each can be grafted onto different rootstocks. This means that every variety can be suitable for every garden. Apple trees can live for many years, therefore they should be grown as a long term crop. Fortunately, there are now highly dwarfing rootstocks available that you can even grow in containers. For example, our Bramley Apple tree will grow to a maximum height of 2.5m! Apples love well-drained soils with lots of organic matter. They also love a top dressing of well-rotted farmyard manure throughout the first three seasons.
Position them in a sunny spot away from frost-prone areas. If your garden is prone to frost, provide temporary protection in early spring by covering them with horticultural fleece. You can also try moving them under the protection of a well-lit shed. Bare-root trees should be planted during late autumn through to early spring when they are dormant. You can plant potted apple trees throughout the year, they just need regular watering during hot and dry periods. Most apple trees require an additional pollinating tree. However, you can also plant self-fertile varieties which will fruit all by themselves.
If you can it’s a good idea to grow at least 2 other varieties to help with pollination. The bonus to this is that you’ll get a great crop of three varieties throughout the year. Similarly, if a neighbour is growing apples or a crab apple tree nearby, it’s likely they will be pollinated by these. Our advice would be to check beforehand.
Types of Apples
This handy guide should help when it comes to selecting the best apple for you. Here we’ve picked our top 4 trees to help you decide, Braeburn, Bramley, Gala and Cox’s Orange Pippin…
Once you’ve planted, grown and nurtured your apple tree, there’s nothing better than reaping the rewards. The term fruits of your labour could never be more appropriate. Why not give this simple apple chutney recipe a go as a starting point.
Check out our range of apple trees and our full range of top quality fruit trees.
For our Bare-Root Fruit Tree Planting Guide, Click Here.
