Choosing an apple tree
There are hundreds to pick from. Here’s how to narrow it down before you fall for the first pretty label.
Why grow an apple?
The RHS calls apples probably the easiest and most popular tree fruit to grow. RHS: How to grow apples An apple tree gives you spring blossom, dappled summer shade and a crop of fruit in autumn. RHS: How to grow apples
Eating, cooking or both?
Apples come as dessert (eating), cooking and dual-purpose varieties. RHS: How to grow apples Britannica sorts apples into three classes: cider, cooking and dessert varieties. Britannica: Apple
Many cooking apples become sweeter in storage. RHS: Choosing apple cultivars
How many to choose from?
The RHS Find a Plant database lists more than 700 apples. RHS: Choosing apple cultivars · checked 31 Oct 2026 There are thousands of apple varieties. Britannica: Apple
More than 60 apple varieties hold the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM). RHS: How to grow apples · checked 31 Oct 2026 The RHS picks apple ‘Saturn’ AGM as one of the best tree fruits for a garden. RHS: Choosing the best fruit trees
Modern varieties are often more resistant to disease than traditional ones. RHS: How to grow apples
The two halves of every tree
Apple trees are sold as two plants joined together: a rootstock, which controls the tree’s size, and a cultivar, which forms the top. RHS: Stepover training In orchards, the chosen variety is usually grafted onto a young seedling rootstock. Britannica: Apple
Gardeners say “variety”, but the correct botanical word for a named apple like ‘Discovery’ is “cultivar”. RHS: Stepover training
The rootstock matters as much as the variety: rootstocks and tree shapes →
Room for only one?
A “family” tree has three cultivars grafted onto one tree: handy where there’s no room for more than one tree. RHS: Choosing apple cultivars
In a built-up area there are often other apple trees close by, so one tree may be enough in your garden. RHS: Fruit pollination
Some apples are self-fertile or partly self-fertile, including ‘Greensleeves’, ‘James Grieve’, ‘Red Windsor’, ‘Scrumptious’, ‘Saturn’ and ‘Sunset’. RHS: Choosing the best fruit trees Even self-fertile trees tend to crop better with another variety planted nearby. RHS: Fruit pollination
Where it will go
Apples like full sun and a warm, sheltered spot that isn’t prone to late frosts. RHS: How to grow apples
Apple trees need a proper winter rest, so they grow best between latitudes 30° and 60°, north and south. Britannica: Apple
Bare-root or in a pot?
Bare-root trees are sold only from late autumn to early spring, while they’re dormant, and are usually cheaper than trees in pots. RHS: How to grow apples
Trees in containers are on sale all year and can be planted any time, though winter is best. RHS: How to grow apples
A maiden is a young tree, about 1m tall, old enough to have a few small side branches. RHS: Training an espalier A whip is a young tree that is just a slender stem with no side branches yet. RHS: Training an espalier
Next: famous varieties →