Apple

Apple: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Fruit tree of 3–10 m depending on the rootstock: bush, half-standard or standard, or trained as an espalier.

Leaf

Alternate, oval, 5–10 cm, crenate; underside grey and felty.

Bark

Grey-brown, flaking off in plates.

Flower

Pink buds opening into white flowers in April–May.

Fruit

Apples, ripe from August to October depending on the variety.

Flowering: April–May · Harvest and fruit: August–October · Pruning: July–August and December–March

Identify by feature: White or silver underside · White blossom · Pink blossom

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Pear Pyrus communis: glossy, hairless leaves on a long stalk and white flowers. Difference from pear
• Plum Prunus domestica: stone fruits with a single stone. Difference from plum

Why grow it?

• Your own apples from August well into winter, with a variety of your choice.
• Blossom in April–May for bees and bumblebees.
• There is a form for every garden: espalier, bush, half-standard or standard.
• Old standard trees are home to little owls, woodpeckers and bats.

Apple: where does it grow best?

• Full sun: then it flowers profusely and the apples colour well.
• Fertile, well-drained soil; no wet feet or heavy clay that stays wet for long.
• Sheltered from cold spring winds, which can freeze the blossom.
• Space: 2–3 m for a bush tree, 4–5 m for a half-standard, 8 m or more for a standard.

Light

Full sun

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

10 m tall, 6 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Crab apple: A good pollinator for almost every apple variety, with blossom and small apples that hang on for a long time.
• Nasturtium: Under the tree it lures aphids away and flowers all summer.
• Chives: A low edge under the crown that attracts bees and, according to gardeners, helps against scab.
• Pot marigold: Flowers for a long time and attracts hoverflies, which eat aphids.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• A second apple variety or a crab apple within 50 m, for pollination: apple

Best kept away from

• Walnut releases juglone, to which this plant is sensitive: walnut
• Can pass on fireblight (not right next to fruit trees): rowan, hawthorn, swedish whitebeam, whitebeam, medlar, quince, firethorn, photinia

Apple: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March; a container-grown tree can go in all year, except in frost or drought.
2. Choose the rootstock to suit your space: M9 for a small bush tree, MM106 for a half-standard, a seedling rootstock for a standard.
3. Keep the graft union (the kink at the bottom of the trunk) a hand’s width above the soil.
4. Put a sturdy stake on the windward side and tie the trunk loosely.
5. Plant a second variety or a crab apple within 50 m, for pollination.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first year, and later in dry summers while the apples are swelling.

Feeding

In March, some compost or dried cow manure under the crown.

Thinning

If the tree is heavily laden, remove some of the young fruitlets in June: the rest grow larger and the tree will crop again next year.

Harvest

An apple is ripe when it comes away with a slight twist and the pips are brown.

Storing

Store keeping apples in a cool, humid place, not touching each other.

Tip: Choose a scab-resistant variety (such as ‘Topaz’ or ‘Santana’): you will get fine apples without spraying.

Apple: when to prune it?

Pruning months: July–August and December–March.

When: Formative pruning in winter (December–March, not in frost); summer pruning in July–August to slow growth.

How:

• Keep the crown open so that light and air reach the fruit.
• Remove water shoots, crossing branches and those growing inwards.
• Young trees: formative pruning into a sturdy crown of 3–4 main branches.
• Spare the short fruiting spurs: that is where the flowers and apples come.

Caution: Don’t prune in frost, and disinfect your secateurs when cutting out canker or fire blight.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Grafting

A variety is propagated by grafting a twig (scion) onto a rootstock in winter, or by budding in summer.

Sowing

An apple pip gives a new, unpredictable apple, not the same variety: fun to try, but not a way to reproduce a variety.

Apple: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Hardy; only the blossom is sensitive to late frosts in April.
• In winter, remove dried-up apples (mummies) from the tree: brown rot overwinters in them.

Diseases and pests

• Scab: Dark, rough spots on leaves and apples. Clear up fallen leaves and choose a scab-resistant variety.
• Powdery mildew: White, powdery coating on young shoots and leaves. Cut off affected shoot tips.
• Canker: Sunken, cracked wounds on twigs and branches. Cut them out in dry weather back to healthy wood.
• Codling moth: A caterpillar in the apple, with a tunnel to the core. Hang pheromone traps in May–June and pick up fallen apples.
• Woolly aphid: White, woolly tufts on branches and wounds. Brush them off; the parasitic wasp Aphelinus mali is a natural enemy.

Through the year

• January: Winter pruning in mild weather; remove mummified apples.
• February: Winter pruning and grafting.
• March: Feed with compost; last pruning before the buds open.
• April: Blossom: watch out for night frost.
• May: Hang pheromone traps against codling moth.
• June: Thin the young fruitlets.
• July: Summer pruning of water shoots.
• August: Summer pruning; harvest the first summer apples.
• September: Harvest the autumn apples.
• October: Harvest and store the keeping apples.
• November: Clear up fallen leaves against scab; planting.
• December: Winter pruning can start.

What can you use it for?

Food and drink

Apples fresh, as purée, juice or baked; traditional orchards of standard trees with old varieties.

For wildlife

Blossom for bees; old standard trees are home to little owls and woodpeckers.

Caution: Host plant of fireblight. Needs another apple variety or a crab apple nearby for pollination.

Edible and useful

Fruit (August–October)

An apple is ready to pick when it comes away with a gentle upward twist and the pips are brown. Eat summer apples straight away; autumn and winter varieties are picked in September–October and left to ripen a little longer in a cellar. Fresh, as purée, juice, apple syrup or dried rings, in pies or baked. Crab apples are edible too, but sour: ideal for jelly.

Storing

Only store sound, unbruised apples in a cool (2–6 °C), humid, frost-free place, in a single layer and not touching. Check them regularly: one rotten apple spoils the rest. Keep them away from vegetables, as the ripening gas from apples makes them spoil sooner.

Fermenting

Apple juice ferments naturally into cider, and cider further into cider vinegar. Peels and cores make an easy home-made vinegar (see recipe).

Caution: Do not crack or grind the pips: they contain substances that can release cyanide (swallowing a few pips is no problem). Raw apples can make the mouth itch in people with a birch pollen allergy; cooked or baked they are often fine. Do not use rotten or mouldy fruit for juice or vinegar.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Apple purée (Compote · ± 1 litre · 30 min)
• Apple scrap vinegar (Vinegar · ± 1 litre · 15 min + 5–8 weeks)
• Dried apple rings (Dried · ± 150 g · 20 min + 6–8 hours drying)
• Apple crumble tart (Dish · makes 1 tart of 24 cm (8 portions) · 45 min + 30 min resting + 50 min baking)
• Apple jelly from tart apples or crab apples (Jelly · makes ± 4 jars of 250 ml · 1 hour + overnight draining)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Caterpillars

Host plant: caterpillars of butterflies or moths eat the leaves.

Bumblebees

Nectar and pollen for bumblebees, also from deep flowers and early in spring.

Did you know?

• Almost all apple varieties need another apple or crab apple variety nearby for pollination.
• Belgium and the Netherlands have hundreds of old apple varieties; standard-tree orchards preserve them for the future.
• An apple keeps breathing after picking and gives off ethylene: bananas and kiwis next to it ripen faster.
• Our apple descends mainly from the wild apple Malus sieversii of the Tian Shan mountains in Central Asia, where wild apple forests still grow.
• Sow an apple pip and you never get the same variety: every pip is a new cross. That is why apple varieties have been propagated by grafting for centuries.