DescriptionDelivery & Guarantee
Malus domestica Golden Delicious
Browse all our apple trees here or read our guide to buying the right apple tree.
Golden Delicious probably needs no introduction - it is one the biggest selling supermarket apples of all time and can be found in school lunch boxes, cafeterias and office fruit bowls across the world. However, any fruit produced on such a massive scale and then shipped across the world is going to have a tough time competing with the quality of a home grown specimen. The difference can be chalk and cheese - if you've never found a really good one of these apples in the shops, then you will get a nice surprise when you bite into one that you grew yourself - they really do deserve the name Delicious (they're not always very golden though - some of your crop might turn slightly pink). The light, chewily crisp flesh is bursting with sweet juice and a great aroma. Although they are famous as eating apples, they are also great for sauces, apple butter, fruit sorbets and are good to use in salads because the cut fruit takes a long time to turn brown. Your apples are ready to pick in late October and store extremely well (this is why they are so popular commercially) - up to about 8 months in ideally cool and dry conditions.
Golden Delicious' History & Parentage: In the 1890's, Mr L.L Mullins sent his teenage son out to scythe down the weeds around their farm in the hills of Porter's Creek in West Virginia. The boy's careful work is the reason that we have this apple today - he spotted the sapling tree and mowed around it, year after year, ensuring that it grew well. By the time the tree was mature, the farm had passed into the hands of Mr Mullins' brother Anderson, who sent some of the fruit to the Stark Brothers nursery - a large nursery that was already producing the famous American apple, Red Delicious (Red and Golden Delicious are not closely related). The Stark Brothers saw its value straight away and bought both the tree and about 10 square metres of the land around it. The first orchard of grafted Golden Delicious trees came into production in 1914 and the original tree died in the 1950's. Since it is a discovered tree, we may never know what its parents are, but a cross between Grimes Golden and Golden Reinette would be a good guess, as both trees were common in the area at the time.
Pollination Partners for Malus Golden Delicious: Your trees require a pollination partner to crop well. They are in flower throughout the mid-season, so they can be cross-pollinated with any apple tree, except those few varieties that are in flower very early or very late. If you are uncertain about pollination, please have a look at our Apple Tree Pollination guide. The surest way to pollinate a group of apple trees is with a crabapple tree - they are in flower for ages, produce masses of pollen and look great while they are doing it.
Rootstocks, Growing Notes and Pruning & Planting Advice:
Golden Delicious is a hardy tree with lovely flowers that can withstand late frosts - another reason that farmers love them. They have a spreading growth habit and are heavy croppers, with a bit of a biennial tendency. They are very resistant to most common diseases, except Cedar Rust (this needs a cedar tree as a host, so it shouldn't be a problem unless you have lots of cedars in your area). Like most apple trees, they are spur-bearers and should be pruned normally.
All of our Golden Delicious sizes are grown on MM106 rootstocks - the "all-round" rootstock for both restricted shapes, like fans and espaliers, and for medium sized mature trees, up to 4-5 metres tall.
If you are unclear about fruit tree sizes, please take a look at our Guide to Fruit Tree Sizing.
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Read our full terms and conditions here.
Delivery:
The basic delivery charge for all orders containing fruit trees of any size (bareroot or pot-grown) is £12.55 + VAT.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
You can choose the delivery week that suits you during checkout and we will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.
Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.
Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.
Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted fruit trees must be watered in dry weather while they are establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.
Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot fruit trees to gardeners and orchard owners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying fruit trees online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.
Your 12 Month Guarantee
If any of the plants that you buy from our nursery die within a year of delivery, we will replace them.
You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.
We do ask for clear photos of the plants in the soil, both taking in the planting area and close up. These will help us to work out what went wrong so we can give you the right advice for looking after your replacements.
The most important thing to do with establishing plants is to water them in dry weather. Water very thoroughly, but not too frequently: allow the top 2 inches of soil to dry out before you water again. In hot summer weather, this should mean that you are watering 1 to 3 times per week, depending on your site's drainage and exposure to wind and sun.
If there is heavy rain, that counts as a watering for your plants. If there is only very light rain during hot weather, this probably won't be of much use to your plants and they will still need watering.
Weeding is also very important; we strongly recommend using a mulch mat (for trees) or mulch fabric (for hedges) if weeding your new plants will be impractical.
Outside your 1 Year Guarantee period?
If your plants die or get sick after their first year, you are still welcome to take some photos and send them in: we will still be happy to give you what advice we can.
We can't make any promises, but if you want to buy replacements from us, give us a call and we'll see if we can arrange a discount for you.
Place an order for £250 excluding VAT and delivery and we deliver it for FREE!
Bare-root Plants are only delivered in the winter season, from November to April. Pot grown plants can be delivered all year round
Advantages of Bare-root plants:
You pay less for the same size plants.
You can carry and plan them easily.
You only plant them in winter, so they need less maintenance after
planting. The rain will water them for their first few months.
You get the biggest selection: Many trees are not sold pot-grown.
They are "asleep" in winter - this is the best time to transplant any tree.
They use fewer fertilisers & fungicides, less water and fuel in their production & delivery.
Advantages of Pot Grown plants:
Pot grown plants can be delivered & planted all year round.
Plants with tender roots & larger specimens must be delivered in pots.
Plants in pots can be kept for months longer if there is a delay in planting.
Our Advice to You:
If you can't wait to get planting, order Pot grown plants now.
If you are not in a hurry, order bare-root plants for delivery this winter. Simply add them to your basket and choose a winter delivery date that suits you during checkout.
This will reserve your plants before they sell out.
We won't charge you until the day before delivery, so cancelling your order is always easy.
If you are only ordering chemicals and other small items, delivery is £3.50
Our delivery charge for all other orders is £6.50 + VAT.
If you live in the Scottish Highlands or the Isle of Wight, there will be an extra charge of £15 + VAT on top of the appropriate basic charge, as listed above.
If your order is over £250 exc. VAT, there will be no delivery charge.
If you are uncertain, just add items to your basket which will calculate the basic shipping charge for you.
