Apple tree, what type?

[Lurch]

Hi guys, im going in search of an apple tree for my garden. Ideally i would like a good eater with option of being able to use it for cooking. Is there a compromise?
Would i need to get a self pollinator or would a single apple be pollinated ok on its own?

Thanks.

[Two_Sheds]

this site might help you to choose: growing apple trees

[Duronal]

Could you provide a location Lurch? A garden in the north of the uk is very different to the south! (you can do this in your profile options if you like)

I would wait and see if FB (resident apple expert) answers your question. You could also try find some apple trees in your area and see if you can find the variety. It stands to reason that if they're old and healthy that this could be a tree for you!

[FB.]

Duronal, thanks for the kind words, but I am more an "enthusiast" than an expert!

Lurch
As has been mentioned, your location (climate, soil, rainfall, amount of sun, day length etc) could have a large influence on what will grow well in your area. Different varieties are ready to pick at different times - some can be picked as early as July-August, whereas others are picked in the main Sept-Oct season and a few are picked even later. Some of the very late varieties can be stored in a box in your shed, right through until the following spring.

[Lurch]

Sorry for the delay is replying, Location is Wiltshire.

[Fluorescent green]

Hi

I have just bought a "sunset" apple tree from Morrisons, just pot luck, cant go too wrong for £5.
And I intend to find a public place to plant it, somewhere not too far away from my home, but away from the roads.

FG

[FB.]

Sorry for the delay is replying, Location is Wiltshire.

I may be wrong, but I consider Wiltshire to be relatively mild, with adequate sunlight, but at risk of damp. Therefore, if you want to grow without too much chemical intervention, I suggest that you look for varieties with above average resistance to scab and canker. Powdery mildew is less likely to be a serious problem than here in the low-rainfall Eastern side of the UK.
Since my apple disease problems are completely the opposite of what you may face, I can't give too much advice from direct experience.

The problem with a dual-purpose apple is that cookers tend to be large and acidic, whereas eaters tend to be small and sweet.
Cooking apples picked in Sept-Nov can be adequate as eaters after Christmas.

Of the apples that I have direct experience of, I would most favour "Crawley Beauty" for your requirements. Mine appears to be completely immune to all apple diseases. It flowers very late, so never loses blossom to late frosts. The blossom display is very impressive; probably more flowers than any other variety. Growth is fairly compact. Crawley Beauty's cropping seems to be good almost every year.
It's a cooker before Christmas and an eater after Christmas and will often keep until early spring as an eater, but the multi-purpose fruit is nothing remarkable; most British people would probably consider it to be a little too sweet, mild-flavoured and colourul for a cooker and a little too large, green and sharp for an eater.

I favour many of the old "russet" types of apple, but most are eaters, although many eaters can be used as cookers if picked when slightly under-ripe. The disease resistance of older varieties (and flavour, if you ask me) -especially "Russets" - tends to be better than modern varieties and their growth is compact (their final size will tend to be one rootstock class smaller than you'd expect - e.g. a russet on MM106 will be equal to an average apple on M26). They often form unusually upright-growing trees that take up less ground space.
Many of the old russets have impressive blossom displays. The downside is that they can be unreliable in their production of apples from one year to the next and the fruit is considered to be ugly; dull coloured, rough-skinned and irregular shaped.
Their unreliability is why I grow several of the old russet types, including:

Ashmead's Kernel
Brownlees Russet
D'Arcy Spice
Egremont Russet
Rosemary Russet

.

Perhaps a better option would be for you to grow a "family tree", where each main branch is a different variety. They cross-pollinate each other and your one tree can produce a whole season's worth of fruits.

Some varieties that I would consider worthy of a family tree, suitable for most parts of the UK, without too much spraying, include (in alphabet order):

Bramley clone 20 (late cooker)
Discovery (early eater)
Egremont Russet (mid-season eater)
Falstaff/Red Falstaff (late eater)
Fiesta (late eater)
Grenadier (early cooker)
Reverend Wilks (early/mid-season cooker)
Red Devil (mid-season eater)
Tydeman's Late Orange (very late eater)
Winston (late/very late eater)
Winter Gem (late eater)

Hopefully there's plenty for you to ponder.....

[chellybobs]

Hi

I have just bought a "sunset" apple tree from Morrisons, just pot luck, cant go too wrong for £5.
And I intend to find a public place to plant it, somewhere not too far away from my home, but away from the roads.

FG

I'VE JUST BOUGHT THE SAME TREE! Pic will be on my blog when I set it up. I bought a cherry tree from Morrisons for the same price 5 years ago at my old house, it was growing strong when I left (ex husband may have taken an axe to it by now tho lol)

Chelle x

[Lurch]

thanks for the replys guys

[FB.]

Lurch

I just had a brainwave!
How could I forget the queen of dual-purpose apples; Blenheim Orange!

Unfortunately there are disadvantages with a Blenheim.

It does not produce viable pollen, so is no good as a pollinator for itself or other apple trees. You'd need either someone else's tree to pollinate, or you'd need to buy two more pollinators (one to pollinate the Blenheim and one to pollinate the pollinator). You could get around that problem by, for example, growing the Blenheim as a half-standard tree on MM106 rootstock and growing a pair of pollinators as cordons, on M26 rootstock.

Another problem with Blenheim is that it's fruit production is very variable from one season to the next.

Some "official" reports and publications claim that Blenheim is quite susceptible to scab (i.e. not too good in wet areas), but from what I've seen, Blenheim has fairly good resistance (but not immunity). I've been wanting to add a Blenheim to my collection as I think it has good organic potential in my area. But I already have several of Blenheim's relatives; Annie Elizabeth, Bramley and Howgate Wonder.

The final potential problem with Blenheim is that the tree is capable of growing to an enormous size. A Blenheim is likely to be one or two rootstock sizes larger than you'd expect. For example, a Blenheim on M26 would grow as strongly as an average variety on MM106 or MM111. A Blenheim on MM106 would grow as large as an average variety on M25. Blenheim on M25 would become a huge tree. I've seen some pot-grown Blenheims (2-3yr old) at nurseries that grow so strongly that their roots come over the edge of the pot like an octopus - roots as thick as your finger.