Facts About Apple Trees - Malus domestica

Britain has a near perfect climate for growing apple trees. You can keep a family in apples from early September well into the new year with 2 or 3 trees.

Apple trees will produce their best crops for at least 40 years. The amount of fruit you get in that time depends on the breed and where the tree is planted, but we reckon 10,000 apples is a reasonable ballpark figure - plenty of trees should do more.

If you buy the biggest size of starter apple tree, that works out at about 1p for every four fresh, organic apples produced in your own garden.

If you store apples carefully and preserve the fruit you don't eat as chutney, jam or apple butter, you could have tasty homemade apple produce all year round.

Some of the most delicious apples don't travel or store well in the shops, which is all the more reason for us to grow them ourselves.

There is not really a definite distinction between a cooking apple and an eating apple - cooking apples are usually large and acidic. We give you guidelines in our catalogue, but please experiment .

Apple trees all benefit from well drained, fertile soil and a sunny spot that does not form a frost pocket.

You can plant potted apple trees successfully during the summer as long as you can water them well two or three times a week when it is dry.