apple variety for stepover

[gan heather]

I've been planning on getting an apple tree to train as a stepover. I just got a voucher from T&M and thought I might get the tree from there. I've just had a look on their website and the only tree I'm interested in is the Egremont Russet on M9 rootstock. Would this variety be suitable (I've got heavy clay soil)?

[rustylady]

You need to talk to FB - he's our resident fruit expert. He will probably pick up on this thread, if not send him a PM.

[Two_Sheds]

What about this? Depends how big your voucher is
Apple : Step Over Apples - Thompson & Morgan


I'd say M27 rootstock is the most suitable, being the most dwarfing. There's a bit more info here: http://www.pots2plots.com/Fruit/Apple%20Rootstocks.htm

[hailtryfan]

Hello,

Egremont russet is a pretty good choice for a step over as it's a spur bearer (an essential for any restricted form of apple tree). Its also pretty disease resistant. M9 is a good rootstock to go for you could probably get away with M26 if you would like a longer step over. If you only want the step over to be fairly short M27 might be ok but it could stuggle in your clay soil.

The main consideration though before going for Egremont russet is do you like the apples? If you're struggling to find the variety you like in a pretrained form you could always order some rootstock and try your hand at grafting and shaping your own tree. Personally I would find this much more satisfying.

[FB.]

Egremont Russet on M9 would be a good choice for a stepover.

The M9 roots would be a little more lively than M27 (I find that M27 is too slow to recover from damage) and the M9 would handle the heavy soil better than most other apple rootstocks.
But remember that the dwarf rootstocks may need some watering in summer.

Egremont Russet is very easy to control - it forms side branches and fruit spurs fairly easily. It also has fairly good resistance to pests and diseases (although I am beginning to find that E.R. is not quite as resistant as it used to be - presumably because it is now so widely grown).

Just watch out for woolly aphid attacks and destroy any as soon as you see them - they can be devastating on the weaker apple rootstocks: deforming the stems and splitting the bark. A dwarf apple tree can be ruined in a matter of weeks by woolly aphids.

[gan heather]

Thanks for the help. I do like the apples. I'm not looking for a pretrained tree (though as Two Sheds points out, T&M do have *very* expensive ones). I'm looking to buy a maiden and train it as a stepover. This will be my first attempt at shaping a tree and I don't know how to graft a tree (yet - though I hope to learn how eventually).


The main consideration though before going for Egremont russet is do you like the apples? If you're struggling to find the variety you like in a pretrained form you could always order some rootstock and try your hand at grafting and shaping your own tree. Personally I would find this much more satisfying.[/QUOTE]

[hailtryfan]

[QUOTE=gan heather;766130]This will be my first attempt at shaping a tree and I don't know how to graft a tree (yet - though I hope to learn how eventually).QUOTE]

Cool. Make sure you report back to let us know how you get on

[gan heather]

Egremont Russet on M9 would be a good choice for a stepover.

The M9 roots would be a little more lively than M27 (I find that M27 is too slow to recover from damage) and the M9 would handle the heavy soil better than most other apple rootstocks.
But remember that the dwarf rootstocks may need some watering in summer.

Egremont Russet is very easy to control - it forms side branches and fruit spurs fairly easily. It also has fairly good resistance to pests and diseases (although I am beginning to find that E.R. is not quite as resistant as it used to be - presumably because it is now so widely grown).

Just watch out for woolly aphid attacks and destroy any as soon as you see them - they can be devastating on the weaker apple rootstocks: deforming the stems and splitting the bark. A dwarf apple tree can be ruined in a matter of weeks by woolly aphids.

Thanks. I'm definitely leaning towards this one now.

[Two_Sheds]

The M9 roots would be a little more lively than M27 (I find that M27 is too slow to recover from damage)

See, he knows his stuff

I had an M27 apple, lovely thing until I moved it to my new house. It's now making a lovely (dead) frame for a clematis

[FB.]

See, he knows his stuff

I had an M27 apple, lovely thing until I moved it to my new house. It's now making a lovely (dead) frame for a clematis

Awww....thanks for the kind words, Two-Sheds.

Yes, in my experience, it is better to have a plant that is slightly too vigorous, than a plant that isn't vigorous enough.
Instead of M27 (which can't fend for itself so needs very good growing conditions), I'd much prefer M9 or M26 for small trained forms, or for pots.

Slightly over-vigorous plants can be summer pruned to bring them back into line, but plants with insufficient vigour are difficult to persuade to grow and often become sickly and more prone to disease.

Clay soils can hold water quite well, which allows many plants to grow a little larger than required. On the other hand, the risk of surface water/flooding and the coldness and dampness of the soil can encourage poor root growth and rots.
From the dwarfing rootstocks, M9 is better than M27 or M26 in a very heavy soil.
From the more vigorous rootstocks, MM111 is better for very heavy soils than MM106 or M25.