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Apple trees

ColinAColinA Posts: 386
in Fruit & veg
Hello

I have an established unknown eating apple tree in my garden which was in situ when we moved in thirteen years ago, it nearly always gives good crops.
I am now wanting to plant a Bramley cooking apple tree approximately thirty feet away, will these two trees cross pollinate and give mixed crops.

Regards
ColinA

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 86,965
    Hello ColinA :smile:
    Without knowing what variety your existing tree is I'm afraid it'smpossible to say whether it will pollinate a Bramley Seedling cooking apple.  To add to the complication a Bramley is a triploid and requires two pollination partners.

    More info here https://www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/pollinationchecker.aspx?v=1009 i



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ColinAColinA Posts: 386
    Yhans for the info it saved buying a tree that was doomed to fail i think
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,245
    Try and find a good tree nursery near to you Colin - preferably one that handles a lot of fruit trees.
    There are many alternatives to Bramley for cooking and a good fruit tree nursery should be able to recommend the variety which would work best for you in terms of taste, texture, harvesting and storage times - as well as a flowering time to coincide with your existing tree.

    If all else fails I can recommend Crown Nursery in Suffolk - very knowledgeable people, and they do apple tasting days in autumn.

    http://www.crown-nursery.co.uk

    They may be able to help by phone if it's too far to visit

    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 86,965
    Oh yes Topbird ... Crown Nursery are brilliant.  :)

    Rev'd W Wilks is a really good cooking apple, a little earlier and less sharp than a 
    Bramley, but it cooks to the same soft purée as a Bramley does.https://www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/apple-trees/reverend-wilks 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,263
    If your apple tree fruits well without your growing another variety, it's either self-fertile, or more likely, there are compatible trees within a mile or so (bee-flying distance) of your garden.   :)

    I've grown Howgate Wonder, which is a "keeper" with large fruit, but not quite so acidic as Bramley, and Grenadier, which is an early cooker with a lovely flavour.  It doesn't keep long though.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
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