Pollination

Pollination groups: who blossoms with whom

An apple tree’s blossom needs pollen from a different variety, carried by insects. So the trick is finding it a partner in flower at the same time.

Why most apples need a partner

Most apples need a partner: another variety nearby that flowers at the same time, so insects can carry pollen between them. RHS: How to grow apples

Apple blossom has five petals, white and often tinged with pink. Britannica: Apple

Fruit tree flowers are usually pollinated by flying insects such as honeybees, bumblebees, flies, beetles and wasps. RHS: Fruit pollination Apple flowers are pollinated by bees such as honeybees and the blue orchard bee. Britannica: Apple

Only apples (including crab apples) pollinate apples: a pear tree won’t do it. RHS: Choosing the best fruit trees

How close?

Bees can fly 3–4km, but the RHS rule of thumb is to plant partner trees within 18m (55ft) of each other. RHS: Fruit pollination

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

The RHS flowering groups

The RHS chart runs from Flowering Group 1 (very early) to Flowering Group 7 (very late). RHS: Apple pollination groups (PDF) Apples are sorted into flowering groups. Grow two or more varieties from the same group or a neighbouring one. RHS: Apple pollination groups (PDF)

Group 3 is the biggest group on the RHS chart, with ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’, ‘Discovery’, ‘James Grieve’, ‘Sunset’, ‘Worcester Pearmain’ and ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ (a triploid). RHS: Apple pollination groups (PDF)

‘Egremont Russet’ is in Flowering Group 2. RHS: Apple pollination groups (PDF) ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Ellison’s Orange’ are in Flowering Group 4. RHS: Apple pollination groups (PDF)

‘Edward VII’ flowers late, in group 6, and ‘Crawley Beauty’ is alone in group 7. RHS: Apple pollination groups (PDF)

The RHS numbers its groups; some nurseries use letters instead, so group 1 is A and group 2 is B. RHS: Choosing the best fruit trees

1 May8 May15 May22 May

• Egremont Russet30 April → 14 May · pick late September National Fruit Collection: Egremont Russet
• Worcester Pearmain1 May → 11 May · pick early September National Fruit Collection: Worcester Pearmain
• Lord Lambourne2 May → 15 May · pick mid-September National Fruit Collection: Lord Lambourne
• Ribston Pippin3 May → 16 May · pick late September National Fruit Collection: Ribston Pippin
• Sunset3 May → 16 May · pick late September National Fruit Collection: Sunset
• James Grieve5 May → 18 May · pick early September National Fruit Collection: James Grieve
• Bramley’s Seedling6 May → 18 May · pick early October National Fruit Collection: Bramley's Seedling
• Granny Smith6 May → 18 May · pick mid-October National Fruit Collection: Granny Smith
• Blenheim Orange6 May → 19 May · pick late September National Fruit Collection: Blenheim Orange
• Discovery7 May → 19 May · pick mid-August National Fruit Collection: Discovery
• Golden Delicious7 May → 19 May · pick late October National Fruit Collection: Golden Delicious
• Spartan7 May → 18 May · pick early October National Fruit Collection: Spartan
• Katja7 May → 21 May · pick early September National Fruit Collection: Katja
• Cox’s Orange Pippin9 May → 20 May · pick late September National Fruit Collection: Cox's Orange Pippin
• Ellison’s Orange8 May → 21 May · pick mid-September National Fruit Collection: Ellison's Orange

At the National Fruit Collection in Kent, ‘Egremont Russet’ trees started flowering on 30 April and ‘Sunset’ on 3 May in the collection’s records. National Fruit Collection: Egremont Russet

Triploids: the awkward ones

Triploid apples such as ‘Bramley’s Seedling’, ‘Ribston Pippin’ and ‘Blenheim Orange’ make mainly sterile pollen, so they can’t pollinate other trees. RHS: Fruit pollination

If you grow a triploid, you need two other trees that pollinate each other and the triploid, all flowering at the same time. RHS: Fruit pollination

A famous pair that won’t work

Two famous apples can’t pollinate each other: ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ and ‘Kidd’s Orange Red’. RHS: Apple pollination groups (PDF)

Going solo

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

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

The crab apple trick

Crab apples are very useful pollinators for apples, because they flower heavily over a long period. RHS: Fruit pollination

Next: pruning and thinning →