What apple/ cherry tree to buy for a small garden?

rosie383

Decisions, decisions. Actually, I will be going away for about 10 days in a few weeks, so I may be as well to wait til I come back at least, so i won't have to worry about watering... I will just have to fret about my brand new veg plot that I have been nurturing.

RAS

rosie383 wrote: »

. There is Worcester Permain/ Egremont Russet/ Golden Delicious, OR Greensleeves/ Queen Cox/ Fiesta, OR Fortune/ Falstaff/ Idared.

I think there are two issues for you to think about.

Getting a good eating season. I made the mistake of getting two autumn eaters and have to give lots away, then have nothing after Christmas. Will check those combinations out. GD is supposed to be OK until June though.

The second thing is what do you like? I love WP and ER but hate GD for instance and do not know the other fruit. Other people do not like the flavour of russets.

For the sake of a few months and to give yourself a greater choice of combinations, I would wait until the autumn and them buy a coupole of apples of each variety and decide which you want to give house room. You will be eating them for many years.

rosie383

Thanks RAS. More food for thought. My dh likes a sweet apple, but my daughter and I both like something a bit more tart. I quite like a golden russet, is the egremont russet similar? And golden delicious was always my least favourite (after the horrible thick-skinned red one in the supermarkets which is definitely gross!) until I was in Algeria recently and tasted locally grown golden delicious and it was the nicest apple I had ever tasted.

Patchwork_Quilt

I'd heard that about Golden Delicious straight off the tree. We are just looking into fruit trees and I will be getting yellow fruit where possible to deter the birds.

The nicest apple I ever had was a James Grieves straight off the tree (in another house). They are tart enough to cook with but sweet enough to eat. Lovely depth of flavour

RAS

Try Ashmead's Kernel sometime, winter time.

And i agree that GD bought in market stalls in France seems to be a completely different fruit to the supermarket cotton wool things.

nodwah

Another vote for stella - really good.
you will have to make sure it's on a dwarfing rootstock so it stays small and you'll have to net it to keep the birds off one the fruits are set - the blackbirds will even eat the green ones and they'll have the lot before you get a chance!

Farway

Patchwork_Quilt wrote: »

The nicest apple I ever had was a James Grieves straight off the tree (in another house). They are tart enough to cook with but sweet enough to eat. Lovely depth of flavour

A second for James Grieve, not a keeper and not normally available in supermarkets because of this, but for a lovely juicy early apple it is a winner, and a good pollinator for others. If I had room for another apple this would be it