What semi-dwarf apple tree?

[BarneyRubble]

Hello,
I'm new here and I really need your advice - I'm a complete novice!

I really want to grow an apple tree in our small London garden and have been told that
a tree on an M26 rootstock would be suitable. It has to be planted against a south-facing 6ft fence and space around it would be limited - I was also told that a u-cordon might be the way to go. I'd like it to fruit a tasty desert apple and as it will be the only tree I think that it would need to be self-fertile.

So, am I on the right track? Can anyone recommend a specific plant? Thanks in advance.

[veggiechicken]

Hello Barney Rubble. Just wanted to say welcome to the Forum. I'm no expert on fruit trees though but I'm sure one of our resident experts will be along soon!

[alex-adam]

This link may help: Rootstocks for apple trees

a-a

[veggiechicken]

Have a search through the Feeling Fruity threads on this Forum and look for the posts by FB,
Here's one to start you off : http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ons_59430.html

[FB.]

M26 would be a good choice for a pot, cordon or bush-tree.

Varieties vary in their growth rate, irrespective of the rootstock. It is possible for very vigorous varieties - such as Bramley - to make substantial trees even when grown on semi-dwarf rootstocks.

Varieties vary in their tolerance of certain soil types and climate.

They also vary in their ability to resist the diseases and pests in certain areas.

In a well-populated area of a town, there will probably be enough apple trees in nearby streets to provide pollen for your tree without worrying about a pollination partner.
Note, though, that young trees will often not fruit well until established; they may fail to set fruit, or may drop fruits prematurely, or produce poor quality fruit. Only after the tree is well-established (a couple of years, sometimes more for slow-growing dwarfs) will it have a big enough root system to provide nutrients and water for the fruits. Any fruiting in the first couple of years will slow establishment; growth may be poor and fruit quality poor too.
If you are impatient and greedy (unless you have excellent quality soil; deep and fertile), dwarfs or semi-dwarfs will get stuck in a "can't grow because it's using all its energy trying to fruit" and "can't fruit because it hasn't been allowed to build its strength into some strong roots to feed the fruits".

When asking for a tasty dessert apple, you also have to decide what time of year you want your crop.
The earliest apples can be ripe in mid-July to mid-August. The price paid for such an early treat tends to be a short storage life (a couple of weeks before the fruits go off) and considerably more damage to the fruit from birds, wasps and "worms/maggots".
Some good early varieties include:
Beauty of Bath
Discovery
Gladstone
Irish Peach
Laxton's Epicure
Scrumptious

Each has its good and bad points - which I'm happy to detail if any of them take your fancy. No variety is perfect.


Mid-season apples ripen from mid-August to late-September. They will also attract some pest/insect damage. Shelf life is a month or two, depending on variety.
I'm not a great fan of mid-season apples because I can be eating the last of the earlies, or the first of the lates instead (or I can be eating pears, which don't tend to keep for more than a few weeks).


Late-season apples ripen in October. Those which can be eaten straight from the tree tend to keep through until the new year, sometimes a bit longer.
I like the following lates:
Jupiter
ArdCairn Russet
Spartan
Winter Gem

Again, each has good and bad points.

Finally, there are the very-late-ripening varieties.
Some may be picked in October, but will need a couple of months in the shed before they are ready to eat. Others may not ripen until November and may still require storage before ripe. These tend to be very resistant to pest and insect damage, and tend to store in simple conditions for several months - often until the first earlies are ready the following year. Many of these very-late-keepers are dual purpose; cookers or ciders for the first few months after picking, then "mellowing" and sweetening in storage to become eaters late in the winter and into spring.
With modern refigerated/controlled atmosphere storage, many of these varieties have fallen out of favour as their natural long-keeping properties are no longe required (and they may be insufficiently attractive/shiny/smooth/even-shaped for modern requirements), although I tend to specialise in them for a nearly-year-round supply of fruit.

[BarneyRubble]

Thank you very much for the welcome and the great advice.

FB, could I ask for a little more help in choosing a variety?
I'm going to go for a M26 cordon and I don't mind what time of year it crops, but my preference
is for an English variety that is firm, crisp and sweet - something like a Braeburn (which I know
originates from NZ). It needs to be hardy and resilient and willing to grow in the middle of London from not terribly good soil!

Any suggestions? Thanks again for your time.

[FB.]

Barney

To some extent, your choice will be limited to what your preferred supplier has available.
I might recommend certain varieties, only for you to not be able to find them.

If it is to be grown as a cordon, try to look for varieties which are mostly spur-bearers. That's not to say tip-bearers can't be grown as cordons - just that they're more difficult.

If I had to choose just one for garden growing in the Eastern half of the UK, it'd be Winter Gem.
It is one of the tastier apples - at least in my climate. Different climates can affect the way fruit ripens.

Shorter growing seasons are best if growers opt for very sweet varieties and not too many late-season apples so as to make sure that they are reasonably wellripened and not too acid. (a cooker is often an eating apple which doesn't ripen properly in our climate, so remains very acid).

However, in really wet areas Winter Gem might succumb to canker as I find its canker resistance to be only about average, whereas scab and mildew resistance and insect-damage resistance (woolly aphid and Codling moth) is fairly good.
Resistant does not mean immune; it just means "less likely than average". In extreme situations, or where insects have no choice of what to eat, even resistant varieties can have problems.

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