varshini78 asks: Could someone advice me on apple tree for small garden please?
Name of the apple
Season on which I have to plant it?
This is going to be my first apple tree in my garden (clay soil) and if you could give some advice on looking after it,feeding the tree etc I would be very grateful.
Thanks in advance
Edible varity please.
The answer voted best is:
Answer by jax
Always best to plant everything shrub or tree-wise in the middle of winter when plants are dormant. I can recommend an ORNAMENTAL apple for your small garden as you describe, Malus x robusta, a really good value plant with heavenly flowers and heaps of beautiful ornamental fruits.
Unable to recommend edible cultivars though as I am unwise in that area!
What do you think? Answer below!
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will this site help you blog.gardenersworld.com/…/jas-ornamental-trees-11032008/
For a small garden it’s important that the selected variety is on dwarf stock,otherwise one apple tree will fill the garden!
Trees come in many shapes,from standards,which are too big for most gardens to bushes and dwarf pyramids.
It’d probably be best to consult a local nursery about a cordon apple,which can be grown in a large pot on the patio,or planted directly into the soil.
Should you decide to plant in the garden,the next few weeks are ideal,while the soil is warm and the tree can become established before the winter.
Concerning varieties,some favourites are;
Cox’s Orange Pippin-this needs another tree as a pollinator.
Egremont Russet another dessert apple.
Bramley Seedling,the well known cooking apple is too large for many gardens.
In all cases,it would be advisable to consult a local nursery for advice.
Definitely plant it in the fall. To have apples pollinate though you need more than one tree and preferably more than one variety.
The best pollinators for apple trees are: Grimes Golden, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Idared, and Red Rome Beauty.
For a small garden find a nursery that offers a variety of trees that are grafted to reach a maximum height. For example look for trees grafted that are classified as dwarf and semi-dwarf.
The place I recommend is also where I get my information from: http://www.boyernurseries.com/
If you download their catalog, it should answer quite a few questions. You can order your trees and they will ship them bare-root to you. I would also give them a call with any questions. They are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. They are old school. Not like going to ask for help at home depot or these modern commercial nurseries.
For example, check out the details they have for Golden Delicious: http://www.boyernurseries.com/fruit_trees/apples/yellow_delicious.html
You won’t find that information or rootstock selection at any local nursery or home depot/lowe’s. They are in the heart of apply country in Pennsylvania.
Lovely juicy tasty apple called Sunset. It’s a variety of Cox’s. Suitable for most gardens. In the autumn would be a good time to plant. Recommended by a number of the Gardeners World team. I don’t have one myself yet but it will be next purchase for the garden.
Another suggestion: Columnar apple.
See here:
http://images.google.co.nz/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=columnar%20apple&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
Also check out this site for info on apple trees 😉
http://www.aboutappletrees.com/columnar_apple_trees.shtml
the one who said to plant in winter is an idiot. or lives in tropics where winter the same as summer. anyway, he is an idiot. if u have warm winter u may plant a tree in autumn, all right. but if u have cold winter and a clay soil never ever, i repeat, never, plant tree in autumn. and i would never even consider winter advice. and if u have clay soil which is the worst soil possible u must dig a hole 1mX1m and put on bottom like 10 cm min sand and then good soil. i can not advice u on the name of the apple tree. but i have an old apple tree in my quite big garden – pain in the a’s’s. first it shadows very much, second u must prune it every spring, third these bloody apple keep falling off and rotting and me and my kids re really tired to pick them up. and i mean it gives so many apples that we eat them, make jam of them and still re tired of throwing them away. so i would advice on some sort of dwarf tree. good luck
o, and i forgot. u must spray it with pesticide every spring before buds open and then several time during summer and then u must carefully remove all the fallen leaves cos those insects keep living and reproducing in them. i told u, it is pain in the a’s’s
anything from LIDL i havent killed one of their plants yet, thats really saying something. And the pear tree i bought from them -£4.99- has 5 pears on it and iv only ha it for about 4 months.
x
Not specifically an eating apple, but a dual-purpose variety, is “Howgate Wonder”. It’s sweet enough to eat (if you have a large appetite for apples – sometimes they can weigh a pound each) but is excellent for cooking.
Purely an eating apple? I’d go for “Braeburn”.
Plant after leaf fall for best results – large hole to take the roots spread – I’d work some compost into the clay to lighten it – treat in firmly so that there are no air pockets, stake, and water.
Potash feed in Spring.
Keep watered during drought.
After second year – summer prune any 18″ leaders back to approx 2″.
Keep the centre of the tree open and goblet-shaped
Keep an eye open for woolly aphids and spray or grease-band against codling moth
The variety you grow will depend on your growing zone. If your area is small, you may want to get one of the dwarf fruit trees, with apples they need pollination from another apple tree (different variety will produce a larger yield of fruit).
Dig the hole at least 3 times as large as the pot the tree comes in, amend the soil, mix with existing soil. Plant the tree at a level it was growing in the pot, fill hole with water, then refill when the water has soaked in, then mulch around the tree at least 3 to 4 inches deep. Keep newly planted trees watered well until they are established and fertilize in early spring. Also, spray with a good fruit spray when the tree begins to bud, again when they bloom and again when the small fruits appear.
Which ever one you decide on make sure of;
#1. Does it require a pollinator
#2. Order from a reputable dealer
#3. Buy dwarf they yield faster than semi dwarf or regular
# Consider miniature trees you can have more than one.
I’ll include excertps from my inquiry from Stark Brothers.
Thanks,
Kathleen
Stark Bros Customer Service
wrote:
RE:I’m inquiring for my granddaughter so I know she’ll want to know the cost of the peach and the nectarine. The apples I’ll check on in the spring. She watched the video in your last email (I forwarded it to her)
Patti Moreno the Garden Girl and has shown the first ever interest ever
in any kind of gardening.
From: Stark Bros Customer Service
Subject: Re: mini fruit trees
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 8:01 AM
Hi, We do have the mini peach and nectarine available for this
The peach is 24.99 the nectarine is 22.99. We ship items that come potted in a few weeks. If you have any questions feel free to call.
fall, you would have to call to order them, they are not in the catalog so they are not on the website. The citrus is only
available in spring, it will be in the new spring catalog that
comes out in January.
The colonnade apples may be available again miniature
next spring, right now I am not sure. You can check the new spring
catalog in January. If you have any questions feel free to call.
Thanks,
Kathleen
Stark Bros Customer Service
Do you no longer carry the mini fruit trees for containers? I
Email Addresses
Want to ask a question or leave a comment? Please send them to info@starkbros.com.
http://www.starkbros.com/access?action=category&categoryID=1¤tPage=2
they have been in business more than 190 years
My Home state Missouri
You know it might not be the best choice. Apples from garden trees are sometimes Ok, but often get scabby and diseased. I would be tempted to go for a more robust and beautiful tree and then buy the apples. If you got a rowan – mountain ash, you woudl get a statuesque tree with good leaves, great red berries, that attract wildlife (birds not wasps like the apple), or perhaps a nice snakebark maple or even a decorate silver birch.
If you really want to go for an apple, then it does depend what sort you like.
Cox is Ok, but some of the russett apples are much better flavoured. Try to get an old variety to keep the gene pool going.
I’d go for a ‘ballerina’ tree – it is more upright, taking very little space and on a small rootstock. You can get some good ones through the post on ebay. Dig prenty og compost into the planting hole if your soil is clay.
Fall is good for planting trees, and you’ll find some nice potted ones still with leaves on them so you can judge their health. I’d put in a dwarf tree with a variety of grafts that give different types of apples. That way you’ll get a longer season and not a sudden huge crop..and it might even pollinate itself.
In clay soil be sure to plant on a raised hill, so the roots don’t drown or stay soggy.
There are very good fruit tree feeding fertalizer stakes that you just pound into the drip zone every year with a hammer…simple.
Smart of you to start growing your own food…who cares about a few branch rub scars…and having to spray a couple of times a year to keep away things like bugs and leaf curl. We should all be growing gardens and family orchards. We’ll be healthier and help our economy too !