Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi

I have just been given 2 young Bramley apple trees but I want to know how far apart to plant them? I need to know the minimum space.

Thanks

depends on rootstock, have a trawl through something like keepers nursery website (google) when you have checked.

quite a long way i would wager

S

Do you know what root stock they are? www.kenmuir.co.uk have very comprehensive instructions on their site but you will need to know how big they are going to grow.

Many thanks to both of you. Both sites gave me the info and yes it was all dependent on the rootstock. Many thanks

As you have two Bramley apple trees, do you have any other apple varieties in the vicinity?

The only reason I ask this is that the Bramley apple is a triploid. What this means is that it needs two other varieties to pollinate it. If you only have the two Bramley trees, you will never get apples. Unless there are at least two other apple varieties nearby to cross pollinate it, it will be pointless having them in your garden!

valmarg

Hi Valerie

many thanks for that. Upon further investigation I do indeed need two other varieties for pollination.
Many thanks for that!

Hi Digger,

Sorry, I did not mean to be gloom-and-doom with regard to your Bramleys. I feel as if I have turned a lovely gift into a liability.

You do not need to have another two apple varieties in your own garden. If there are any apple trees in nearby gardens they will be just as good for cross pollenation. Bees are not fussy, and will travel quite long distances to collect nectar, picking up and depositing pollen on the way.

Failing this, Woolworths have some reasonably priced apple trees in the spring. You do not need an enormous area for these, as they can be cordon trained against a fence or wall, but should do the job of cross-pollenation.

I do hope my comments have not made you think twice about planting your Bramleys. After all they are the king of the cooking apple, and are well worth the effort of growing.

valmarg

Well I live in a very rural area and its just fields around me. I dont think there is another apple tree around (in line of sight at least).
Ill continue with a 3rd tree cost isnt a problem here
Many thanks again.

I am sorry to harp on, but what you need is another two different apple varieties. The fact that you have two Bramley trees means that you only have one variety.

What you need is another two apple trees of different varieties than Bramley.

My suggestion of a cheap way of achieving this was only intended to be helpful, insofar the gift you had received was going to be more expensive than if you had never been given the trees.

You really should join the BBC TV Gardeners World team, where price is most definitely no object.

So sorry I even bothered to help.

valmarg

I am sorry to harp on, but what you need is another two different apple varieties. The fact that you have two Bramley trees means that you only have one variety.

What you need is another two apple trees of different varieties than Bramley.

My suggestion of a cheap way of achieving this was only intended to be helpful, insofar the gift you had received was going to be more expensive than if you had never been given the trees.

You really should join the BBC TV Gardeners World team, where price is most definitely no object.

So sorry I even bothered to help.

valmarg

Lol when i said a 3rd tree I meant that I am buying an extra 2 different vaieties. (lol i know what I mean)

So I had 2 bramleys to start with and I have now ordered a Cox's Orange Pippen and also a Golden Delicious. Both varieties with pollinate the bramley according to "keepers nursery".

I have plenty of room on my land as its nearly an acre.

Also cost isnt an issue. The original trees were a gift to me as a birthday present and the two following trees only cost £10 each. Not exactley bank busting for somebody with disposible income that doesnt drink smoke etc etc.

However im glad that you did respond otherwise I may have ended up fruitless without your advice.

Crab apples can also be good pollinators as they flower over a long period if this is any help.

It's a bit more tricky than that, even, as the other trees have to be in blossom at the same time as the Bramley. Apple trees fall into 5 periods of flowering, the pollinators have to be the same or one group earlier or later. Give me time to look up permissible varieties.

Hi Digger

Cox and Bramley are in the same pollination group - but Golden Delicious is not. When faced with the same issue many years ago I decided to plant a mini orchard - five half standards (including Bramley) two espaliers and two crab apples. Seems to have worked fine.

Why not be inspired by the present and make this the year for apple tree planting? - in five years you will be pleased you did it!

As for the third tree to pollinate the Bramley I went for Discovery and James Grieve. There are plenty
of others - suggest checking out Hessayon's "The Fruit Expert" for all the information you need.

Planting distances depend on rootstock but also where you live. In the southern half of Britain Bramleys can get very big - but here in the North of Scotland the climate, and in my case the high water table, are limiting factors. I planted the mini orchard with about 15 ft between the trees - could have been closer up here but probably a reasonable rule of thumb for most places.

Good luck with the project

Bramley is Group 3. If you look it all up you will find that the vast majority of apple trees are in 2 3 or 4 so the chances are that almost anything would do. Don't try and copy what you see in the shops, you can buy these cheaply anyway and they have been selected for sound commercial reasons.
However a lot depends on what other sort of fruit you want, i.e. cooker or eater and which season of fruit. I would rule out an early cooket as in autumn almost any windfall will suffice. Cox is fickle and a tip bearer so tricky to prune. Laxton Superb has strong biennial bearing tendencies. An excellent choice for eater is Fiesta, group 3 anyway. We found that Sunset (early Cox-type) served us well over many years, we planted it near the existing Bramley and always got a good crop of both. The other alternative I would choose again is a late dessert keeper, Tydeman's Late Orange.
You might see fit to give or swop the Bramley to leave room for another of your choice.
Our bible on these matters is The English Apple by Rosemary Saunders,ISBN 0 71482498 4