Best Apple Trees For Any Purpose | Growers' Choice
Tried-and-tested favourites
Best Overall: Scrumptious
Scrum-diddly-umptious!
- Sweet, honeyed and aromatic (eating)
- Award winner from legendary breeder, H. Ermen
- Perfect for a mid-morning snack
- Harvest from August to September
Best For Eating Fresh: Rubinette
The best-tasting apple? Maybe!
- A perfect balance of sweet and sharp (eating)
- Easy to grow and very reliable
- Take a bite straight from the tree
- Harvest from September (stores well)
Best For Cooking: Bramley's Seedling
The UK's favourite cooking apple
- Sharp, cooks down to a rich flavour (cooking)
- A reliable heavy cropper
- If you want apple pies, come this way...
- Harvest from September (keeps to February)
Best Dual Purpose: James Grieve
Disease-resistant and delicious
- Sharp early apples, sweet later (dual)
- Award winner, renowned for its juiciness
- Makes great pies and crumbles
- Harvest in September
Best For Cider Making: Kingston Black
I'll have a pint of apples...
- Bittersharp flavour (cider)
- A rare heritage variety, highly sought after
- Press and make your own homemade cider!
- Harvest from October to November
Best For Patios: Discovery
Loved by pollinators and the RHS
- Sweet with a slight acidity (dual)
- Incredibly easy to grow
- Eat fresh, puree or press for juice
- Harvest from July (keeps for two months)
Best Flavour: Egremont Russet
Apple enthusiasts love this tree
- Soft flesh with a nutty flavour (eating)
- World-renowned heritage apple
- Serve with cheese and walnuts!
- Harvest from September (stores well)
Best For Getting Kids Into Gardening: Fortune
Lovely, traditional garden apple
- Juicy with nice levels of acidity (eating)
- Heavy cropper
- Use in Waldorf salads or spiced chutneys
- Harvest from September (stores until October)
