The apple has been around for over 10,000 years. World wide, there are currently over 9000 varieties of apples with about 1500 varieties that can be grown right here in BC. We are always tasting and evaluating new and old varieties at the nursery in our quest to curate the best Apple growing varieties for our climate and some of the tastiest (in our opinion) so that you can be a successful grower of this venerable, versatile and delicious fruit.
Grafted Apples
All of the apples that we offer are grafted apples. This means that a piece of the original tree like a Bramley or a Fameuse, is grafted onto another apple which may not be tasty but is a fast grower, or has a dwarfing growth habit, or has superior anchorage etc. This way you will get to eat your apples sooner – 3 years as opposed to 7 to 10 years for own root cuttings.
Why don’t we just grow them from seed? Well, we are glad you asked that because it’s really interesting!! The fruit of the apple that surrounds the seed is the same as the tree that is growing it. For example, a Liberty Apple Tree will produce a Liberty Apple fruit. The seed inside the apple is a combination of the Liberty Tree and whatever apple variety pollen the bee carried onto your apple flower. Will it grow? Yes! But it is not a Liberty, sadly it is usually something the orchardists affectionately call a ‘Spitter’. An apple you bite into and then immediately spit out! If you have the space (and the time…7 to 10 years from seed to fruit) you can test out the combo to see if you might have grown something really tasty!!
Planting Apple Trees
Your apple tree will live its best life if you can plant it outside, in the ground in a sunny (at least 6 hours of sun), well drained site with lots of good soil or compost worked into the soil. Your apple tree will appreciate 2 to 3 inches of mulch around the feet of the tree but not touching the trunk or even a companion planting or ‘green mulch’ as we like to call if of some kind of groundcover like perennial geraniums, strawberries, clover etc.
Fertilizing Apple Trees
A good all purpose fruit tree fertilizer containing micronutrients (and/or good compost can be applied to the dripline in the early spring. We recommend either an organic fertilizer like Gaia Green, or our Garden Pro Fruit Tree and Berry Food.
Container Planting
If you would like to keep your apple tree in a container make sure it’s a big enough container, about the size of a ½ oak barrel or 2 ½ to 3 feet wide and 2 to 2 1/2 feet in depth. This will allow for good growth, soil structure and give you space to plant herbs, perennials or other companion planting.
Winter Care
All fruit trees benefit from an application of Dormant Oil & Lime Sulphur Spray in later winter, before new growth begins. This combo spray helps prevent pests and disease from overwintering on your tree and causing damaging.