A Guide To Buying & Planting Apple Trees

If you’re thinking about putting an apple tree or two into your garden, this is the guide for you, from what to look for to when to do it.

Start With the Rootstock, Not the Variety

Most people go straight to variety selection, which is understandable. Varieties are romantic. Rootstocks are not. But the rootstock controls the ultimate size of the tree, and getting this wrong is the most common mistake home growers make.

For a typical UK garden, you want to be looking at M9, M26, or MM106 rootstocks. Here’s a rough breakdown:

M9 produces a very dwarf tree, typically reaching around 2 to 2.5 metres. It needs permanent staking and relatively fertile soil, but it fruits early in its life, often within two or three years of planting and it’s manageable for smaller spaces. The trade-off is that it needs good growing conditions and won’t tolerate waterlogged ground.

M26 is slightly more vigorous, reaching 2.5 to 3.5 metres. It’s a bit more forgiving than M9 and still suitable for most domestic gardens. This is probably the most versatile choice for homeowners who want a productive but controllable tree.

MM106 is a semi-vigorous rootstock that will give you a tree up to around 4 or 5 metres. This is the one to choose if you have more space and want something that can largely fend for itself once established. It tolerates a wider range of soil conditions and is genuinely resilient once settled in.

If someone is selling you an apple tree without being able to tell you the rootstock, walk away or ask the question directly. It matters.

Choose Varieties That Suit Your Purpose

Now we can talk variety, but even here I’d encourage you to think practically before romantically.

If you want cooking apples, Bramley’s Seedling remains the gold standard in the UK for good reason. It’s tart, it cooks down beautifully, and it crops reliably in most parts of the country. The trees are vigorous, so make sure you’re getting a Bramley on a dwarfing or semi-dwarfing rootstock if space is a concern.

For eating apples, the Cox’s Orange Pippin is a British classic but it’s also one of the fussier varieties. It’s susceptible to scab and canker and it needs a warm, sheltered position to perform at its best. If you’re in the north of England or Scotland, you might find it frustrates you. Sunset is a more reliable alternative with a similar flavour profile, and Discovery is an excellent early cropper that does well across most of the country.

For those thinking about bringing apples to a pressing facility like ours or investing in a home press, the varieties that produce interesting juice tend to be the older, less commercially fashionable ones. Katy produces beautifully coloured, sweet juice. Egremont Russet makes a wonderfully nutty, complex single-variety. Worcester Pearmain is a lovely early season option. These aren’t always easy to find in garden centres, so it’s worth seeking out specialist nurseries such as Orange Pippin Trees or Keeper’s Nursery, both of which stock heritage varieties on appropriate rootstocks and offer genuinely useful advice.

Pollination Is Non-Negotiable

Apple trees are almost all partially or fully self-sterile, which means they need pollen from a different compatible variety to set fruit properly. Pollination groups run from 1 through to 7, and you need two trees in the same or adjacent groups to get reliable cropping.

The good news is that if you have neighbours with apple trees, or there are wild crab apples nearby, you may already have some natural pollination happening. But don’t rely on this. If you’re planting intentionally, plant at least two compatible varieties. Most reputable nurseries will indicate pollination groups clearly, and many offer partnership suggestions when you’re buying.

A crab apple variety like Golden Hornet is also worth considering as a pollinator, as they flower over a long period and are compatible with most eating and cooking varieties.

Planting: Getting the Basics Right

The best time to plant bare-root trees is between November and March, when the tree is dormant. Container-grown trees can go in at almost any time of year, but autumn is still preferable because the soil is warm and roots establish well before winter.

Dig a hole that’s wide rather than deep, roughly three times the diameter of the root system but no deeper than it needs to be. Apple tree roots spread outwards more than they go down, and a wide hole loosens the surrounding soil and makes establishment easier.

Mix in some well-rotted compost or manure, but don’t overdo the fertiliser at planting. Too much nitrogen early on promotes excessive leafy growth at the expense of fruit development and can actually make the tree more susceptible to disease.

Firm the tree in well, making sure the graft union (the slight swelling near the base of the trunk where the variety meets the rootstock) sits above soil level. Burying the graft union is a common mistake that can cause significant problems down the line.

Stake the tree using a short stake placed at a 45-degree angle rather than a tall vertical one. This allows the trunk to flex in the wind, which actually strengthens the root system over time.

Water thoroughly after planting and keep the area around the base clear of grass and weeds for the first few years. A mulch of bark chippings or compost, kept away from the trunk itself, will retain moisture and suppress competition.

The Long Game

An apple tree planted well and in the right spot will still be producing fruit long after you’ve stopped gardening. These are genuinely generational plants. I’ve pressed apples from trees that were planted before the Second World War, and the varieties they carry are irreplaceable.

Plant something worth keeping. Buy from a reputable specialist nursery. Know your rootstock. Think about what you want from the harvest. And if you end up with more apples than you know what to do with, you know where to find us.