Tree selection and maintenance

This is the exciting bit! But if you’re not careful you’ll get lost in a lot of technical detail about pollination groups, tree sizes, planting techniques and intimidating words like ‘diploids’ and ‘triploids’. You might start to lose the fun! But don’t panic!… Actually, it’s far simpler than it seems. Our advice is:

• Have more than one tree of the same type of fruit in your garden or orchard, ideally at least three;

• Size doesn’t matter (all that much) - big trees can be pruned to make them smaller, small trees are just easier to manage (but they do need staking or tying for longer); and

• Make sure you water and, ideally, mulch your tree after you’ve planted and staked it, and during dry periods in the first year.

  For those that like detail, we have provided information about all of this below, under the headings: ‘variety / cultivar , pollination’, ‘size’, ‘planting’ and ‘aftercare’. If you want to know even more we’ve provided links and recommendations for: additional information.

  But come back to that later if you like, and for now just choose the trees you want, and have fun!

• Apple trees are generally bought as ‘crab apples’, ‘eaters’ (‘cookers’ or ‘desert’) or cider / juicing apple trees (our specialism). There are hundreds of varieties (called ‘cultivars’).

• The name of the apple denotes the ‘cultivar’ and normally tells you where the tree was originally propagated (e.g. ‘Beauty of Bath’). We’re trying to keep the Somerset ones, in particular, alive and planted in and around Bath.

• The list of cultivars is constantly growing but, sadly, older varieties cultivated for flavour and disease resistance are being slowly lost. Most modern orchards are stocked with a very limited range of single varieties, better suited to supermarket supply chains and ‘chemical farming’ which in turn means they’re sprayed and fertilised and generally don’t make good habitat.

• Cider / juicing apples are generally grouped as ‘sweet’, ‘bittersweet’, ‘bittersharp’ and ‘sharp’ (to give the range of tannins, acidity and flavours you need for a proper cider).

• Traditional cultivars of tree, planted in close proximity to one another and left unsprayed and unfertilised, create excellent habitat for invertebrates, birds and bats. They’re a valuable and beautiful thing. And they produce apples with a much broader range of flavours, textures, shapes and sizes than anything you’ll experience elsewhere - but they are marked, and ‘wonky’.

• Don’t be put off by the myth that ‘cider apples don’t taste good’ (admittedly some don’t!) Pretty much any of the sweet or bitter-sweet varieties produce delicious apples - Sweet Alford, Sweet Coppin and Dabinett are some of the tastiest you’ll find anywhere - and even some of the ‘sharp’ and ‘bitter sharp’ ones are better than anything you’ll find in the shops (I love a Kingston Black).

• Trees fall into different ‘pollination groups’ (the time when the blossom / pollen forms on the tree i.e. ‘late’ or ‘early’). A few trees are self-fertile, while most require at least one other variety of apple tree ‘in pollen’ relatively nearby and at about the same time, for them to successfully pollinate and so produce maximum fruit.

• Most of our trees are not self-fertile, i.e. they’ll need a mate.

• You may come across the terms ‘diploid’ and ‘triploid’ trees - which seems quite technical. It’s really not. Almost all apple trees are ‘Diploids’ meaning they need at least one different variety of tree within ‘pollination range’, whereas triploids need at least two (or one ‘self-pollinating’ variety). All our trees are ‘Diploids’ except Bramley’s Seedling and Ashmead’s Kernel.

• Finally, different apple varieties fruit in different ways (some ‘on the tip’ and some ‘on spurs’). This affects how you should prune them in later years. Don’t worry too much about this - it’s something you can look into as you learn to prune your trees.

• Our advice is not to get too hung up about pollination groups. Bees travel amazing distances between trees (like 2.5 miles!) so, in particular if you live in an urban area, there is probably another suitable fruit tree somewhere within ‘bee range’. On top of this, pollination groups are only a rough guide, and they overlap with one another anyway (and in our experience seem to ‘do their own thing’ regardless)! So don’t stress! Just buy the trees you want - it will probably work out fine!

• The size of your tree is determined by the type of ‘rootstock’ it is grown on. Rootstocks are described using a code, being a letter and a number. Our trees come in four sizes:

• M25 (largest) - up to 8m tall and round, suitable for large gardens. The traditional orchard size. Vigorous and healthy trees. We mostly use these for cider / juicing varieties (our speciality), and crab apples.

• MM106 (large) - up to 6m tall and round, suitable for large gardens and orchards. The traditional orchard size. Vigorous and healthy trees. Again, we mostly use these for cider / juicing varieties (our speciality), and crab apples.

• M9 (Dwarf) - up to 3m tall and round, suitable for small gardens. Can be used in orchards if trained on wires. Slower growing. Should be staked their whole life. We mostly use these for ‘eaters’.

• M27 (‘even Dwarfer’) - up to 2m tall and round, suitable for small gardens and allotments. Can be trained extremely small (‘step-overs’). Slower growing. Should be staked their whole life. Again, we mostly use these for eaters.

• Larger trees may not seem right for a garden, but don’t forget that all trees can be pruned and / or trained to the size you want. Many garden centres sell tiny trained 1m high ‘espalier’ trees in pots on MM106 or even M25 rootstocks. They’re healthier and less prone to disease. They don’t mind being pruned hard - in fact, they love it!

• To make things simpler we list our trees as available as either ‘large’ or ‘dwarf’. When we quote we’ll quote with the specific root stock, to make sure it’s what you want.

• Your trees will be supplied as ‘1 year old’ or ‘2 year old’ ‘bare root’ trees. The former just look like a stick (a ‘maiden’) about 1m tall, the latter look like a slightly bigger stick, maybe with a few side shoots (a ‘feathered maiden’) about 1.5m tall. This is just how they grow - don’t be disappointed! - they will look like a proper tree before you know it and they’ll be much, much healthier than a chemically grown tree in a pot from a garden centre (that will cost you three times as much!)

• Bare root trees have bare roots! We’ll wrap them up for you to keep them moist, but you need to keep them protected from frost and wind, but kept cool. Don’t leave them in the house! Ideally get them in the ground as soon as possible, but no later than a week after the time we deliver them to you. If the ground is frozen, then wait until it isn’t, and keep the trees in a shed or outbuilding where the roots won’t freeze, but the tree won’t think it’s Spring and start to grow!

• When it comes to planting, put simply: dig a big hole (at least 60cm round and deep), put your stake in it, put your tree in it, tie it to the stake, and fill it in making sure no roots are left exposed and the soil is no higher than the grafting point (the ‘lumpy bit’ about 10 cm up from where the roots start), and water it. A mulch helps too.

• The tie should be about about 40cm from the ground. There are different techniques, each with their merits. But the important thing is that the top of the tree should sway in the wind, but the root ball must not ‘rock’ with it. ‘Rocking’ will stop the roots from developing properly (whereas the ‘top bit swaying’ makes it strong).

• For big trees, leave about 6m between them if you’re not going to prune them to a small size. If they’re dwarfing trees or bigger ones trained as espaliers or heavily pruned each year, then you can reduce this to as little as 1.8m apart. The basic rule is ‘whatever is growing at the top is growing at the bottom in the form of roots’ - so think about that, especially when deciding how far away from your house foundations / drainage systems etc. that you’re planning to plant your trees!

• It is important to give your trees the best possible start so time spent planting properly will be worth it in the end. The internet is your friend - things like the ‘grafting point’ and ‘soil depth’ will all make more sense if you find a good YouTube video!

• If deer, rabbits and / or hares visit your garden or orchard then you should consider protecting your trees with chicken wire or more expensive (and prettier) options. In most urban settings this isn’t necessary.

• We can also provide a local (within 5 miles of Bath) tree planting service for an additional fee, and will supply the stakes and ties necessary as part of this - and a basic ‘chicken wire’ deer and rabbit guard, if requested.

• The most important thing to do is remember to water your trees in the first year. A mulch helps too (if you use woodchip it builds ‘magical’ fungi that helps the tree, and whatever you use it will slow the rate at which the soil dries out in the Spring and Summer).

• Give your tree a good soaking when you first plant it, then at least a bucket of water a month for the first Spring and Summer. In dry spells, increase this to a bucket a week.

• You should prune your trees when you first plant them, by just cutting the top off (to a bud) at a point where you want the trunk to stop and the side branches to start. Otherwise, leave them alone for the first year.

• For the next three years or so you will prune your trees ‘for shape’. This just means you’re trying to create a sort of ‘chalice’ shape with about 5 branches that will make the main ‘frame’ of your tree. Take a look at your tree in about August in your second and third years after planting, and try to cut it into roughly this shape. If you cut no more than about a third off the length of new growth on each ‘structural’ branch then you won’t go too wrong (and trees ‘grow back’ so don’t panic).

• You will see the phrases ‘standard’ and ‘half standard’ when describing the ‘chalice’ shape of tree that most trees are pruned to. This just denotes the point where the trunk stops and the side shoots start (for a ‘standard’ they start at about 1.8m off the ground, for a ‘half-standard’ at about 1.2m and some are deliberately cut so the side shoots come out close to the ground). The closer the side shoots are to the ground, the easier it is to harvest the apples but the harder it is to protect the trees from deer or to work around them with machinery.

• Pruning is intimidating but it’s not as complicated as it seems at first. Just follow the general rules of ‘no more than a third in any year’ and ‘prune in winter for vigour, in summer for shape’. Apple trees are tough and can cope with some pruning abuse.

• Again, we provide a local tree pruning service for the trees you buy from us, for a small fee. We don’t go up on ladders though so get in touch before your trees get too massive!

We can’t / shouldn’t try to repeat all the information about each apple tree, or how to care for them, when you can find that out for yourself on the internet / from more informed people than us. Here’s some we like:

• The website ‘www.pomiferous.com’ is a marvellous place to spend some time ‘geeking out’ about specific apple varieties.

• Specialist nurseries like Adam’s Apples in Devon ‘www.adamsappletrees.co.uk’ are also a wonderful source of information. Tom Nancarrow who runs Adam’s Apples is an incredibly knowledgeable man - he really knows his apples! - and his nursery is the best I’ve found. If you want a wider variety of fruit than we can offer, or delivery outside of the Bath area, then Adam’s Apples is the place to go.

• YouTube is full of useful stuff when it comes to pruning and aftercare for your trees, and there are some great courses out there (take a look at Days Cottage near Stroud ’www.dayscottage.co.uk’ - also brilliant).

We have no connection with any of these businesses but we’ve found them all helpful and the people involved with them to be a delight to meet.

Apple growing seems to bring out the best in people, so check them out and enjoy losing hours ‘geeking out’ about apples!