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Growing Apples at Home - Basic Facts

Planting Apples, Growing Apples, Apple pollination, Apple seasons, Apple Pruning, Apples Pests and Diseases


Easy to grow and productive, apple trees can be very rewarding, no matter how large or small your garden is. Beautiful in bloom, heavy with luscious apples, and picturesque when old, apple trees are wonderful additions to the landscape. There are more than 7,000 varieties of apples of varying sizes, appearances, and flavors. Apple cultivars can be dessert (eating fresh), culinary (cooking), dual-purpose, or cider making. There is surely one for you!

Growing Conditions

  • Most apple trees can only be grown in hardiness zones 3-8 and require between 500 and 1,000 hours of winter chill (hours of temperatures below 45ºF (7ºC) in the winter for their buds to open in the spring). However low-chill varieties requiring less than 400 hours of winter chill can bear apples in zones 9-10 such as Lady Pink, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Gravenstein, or Jonagold.
  • Full sun lovers, apple trees are easily grown in deep, loamy, moderately fertile, medium moisture, well-drained soils. They prefer a sheltered, frost-free position.
  • Apple trees should be planted when dormant from late fall until early spring.

Apple Tree Sizes

  • Since edible apple cultivars do not grow well on their own roots, most varieties have been grafted onto rootstocks and are classified as dwarf (8-10 ft, 2-3 m), semi-dwarf (12-15 ft, 3-5 m) and standard (18-25 ft, 5-8 m). The fruit itself is full-size and not dwarfed.
  • Dwarf and semi-dwarf apple trees will fit into the garden without sacrificing too much garden space. They can add a charming presence, tucked into a shrub border, or planted as a specimen.
  • The type of rootstock also determines how long it will take to bear apples. A standard apple tree will bear fruit in 6-10 years, a semi-dwarf tree in 4-6 years, and a dwarf tree in 3-4 years.
  • Some apple varieties are precocious, producing fruit a year or so earlier, and reaching full production a year or so earlier. Among them are Granny Smith, JonagoldHoneycrisp, and Red Delicious.

 

Guide Information

Hardiness 3 - 9
Plant Type Fruit, Trees
Plant Family Malus - Apples
Exposure Full Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Mid,Late)
Summer (Early,Mid,Late)
Fall
Water Needs Average
Soil Type Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Attracts Bees, Birds, Butterflies, Hummingbirds
Compare All Malus - Apples Guides with Malus - Apples

By topseller, Shutterstock

While every effort has been made to describe these plants accurately, please keep in mind that height, bloom time, and color may differ in various climates. The description of these plants has been written based on numerous outside resources.

Guide Information

Hardiness 3 - 9
Plant Type Fruit, Trees
Plant Family Malus - Apples
Exposure Full Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Mid,Late)
Summer (Early,Mid,Late)
Fall
Water Needs Average
Soil Type Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Attracts Bees, Birds, Butterflies, Hummingbirds
Compare All Malus - Apples Guides with Malus - Apples

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