APPLE  TREES. Dessert.

         There is nothing better than seeing an apple tree blossom, and later  being able to pick and enjoy the fruit whether it be apple.plum or pear. Some of you may say "yes but what about the leaves that fall", a fair question, but have you read my pages on mulch or composting?

          In growing your own apple trees, your treatment of them, whether it is the compost you feed them or the pruning, can give you a natural and organic apples to enjoy, knowing that the skin has not been treated with chemicals that make them grow faster/bigger, or so called better tasting apples.

          I have chosen a selection of apple trees, stocked by various horticultural-garden centres and apple growers to give you a wide choice of type, and included  some of the apple descriptions, and no!! I do not grow all of thes apples in my garden. PLEASE- please do not be offended if your local stockist does not carry some of the apple trees named, for as you will see there is a very wide variety, and it is not always possible to carry all of the apples  in stock, it may also be that certain types or apples are not available in your area, I would however point out that in all the apple tree stockists/garden centres I have visited, that their alternatives in the way of apple trees are just as excellent, and most of the service given is excellent and can be guiding and useful for your specific needs.

                 YOUNG  APPLE TREES

     New or young apple trees can be trained to all sorts of shapes, like espalier, fan-trained, cordon, spindlebush, pyramid ( remember me asking you to count all the different types of apple tree), or within reason any shape, so when selecting chose a young apple tree with branches you can train in the direction necessary.

                        APPLE ROOT STOCK

        A common term used where a cutting has been grafted onto a root suited  to the variety of apple tree enabling it to grow in various soil conditions, a variety of different stocks are used, as there are those for:- half standards, full standards, dwarf trees (useful for patio planters or similar), whilst others are for vigorous growth.

                       POLLINATION

        If your garden is isolated your stockist may recommend  a pollinator, which will probably be another apple tree (that could  be an apple or a different fruit) of similar type, or you may decide to choose say:- a dessert apple and a cooking apple, crab apple or another type of fruit tree, however if you are in close proximity to other apple or fruit trees of perhaps a neighbour, this may not be necessary (it really depends on your chosen appletree) as your little flying friends, in the form of bees and other insects will carry out this task for you for free.

                       DESSERT APPLES

       Apple ALEXANDER.

       ALEXANDER is Russian in origin, this apple was first introduced to the UK about 1815 and then to the U.S.A. in the early 1800s, in an attempt to introduce apple varieties that were more hardy  towards the cold weather. Usually a large fruit,  this apple has a tough skin, due to it being  thick, which is green with carmine/red stripes. The coarse flesh of the apple is both crisp and tart sweet.             

     Apple ASHMEADS KERNEL

        The Ashmeads Kernal apple is both fresh, firm and crisp having an aromatic and sweet flavour, with skin greenish yellow,and a flush of orange/brown (but this apple will need a pollinator).

         Apple BEAUTY OF BATH

         Beauty of Bath apples are a pleasantly sharp apple, but sweet and juicy, the flesh is sometimes pink, whilst the  skin of this apple  has a red flush on a yellow. A variety of apple suitable for its frost resistance and ideal for colder areas, when the apple is ripe it is best eaten straight from the tree, a heavy crop of apples can be expected, from an apple tree that has a vigorous spreading habit.

         APPLE  BRAEBURN

                The best Braeburn apples are grown in Europe and France as they appear to have the right climate, similarly in southern England, if the apple tree is grown as a column rather than spreading, more sunlight may help ripen the apples, giving a better crop, preferably grown organically ( as it was developed for it's disease resistance), some argue that the U.K. does not have the ideal climate for growing this apple, but if you have a sunny south garden, then you could be very successful, when grafted onto dwarf rootstock, a reasonable crop of apples will be achieved in around two years, if picked before fully ripe the apples store well in cool conditions. I  honestly believe that just after picking Braeburn apples from the the tree that they taste their best. ( Information requested by Mr A. THORPE of the U.K.).

        Due to the wide and varied selection of Dessert or eating apples I have had to make the pages smaller to save you time scrolling to find the apple of your choice, but I have another tip for you before you finally choose the tree:-  Why not puchase one or more different apples, taste them, and see if they are the type you would like to grow!      FRED