Cordon apple trees provide an ingenious space-saving solution, enabling you to plant several fruit trees where you might otherwise have only had room for one standard tree. These trees normally consist of a columnar, upright central leader and short, lateral, fruiting spurs, though they can also be grown at a 45° angle on a wire support ‘James Grieve’ is an RHS award-winning, dual-purpose variety that start out sharp before sweetening up the longer they’re left on the tree ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ arguably produces the nation’s favourite cooking apples, just whack them into a crumble, strudel or pie and get ready for baked perfection… ‘Braeburn Hillwell’ yields delicious red apples and has the benefit of being self-fertile, meaning it doesn’t need a pollination partner ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ apples are often found in the supermarket, but they taste infinitely better when you grow them at home – juice them, bake with them or scarf one down straight from the tree ‘Gala’ is one of the easiest apple varieties to grow, producing crisp and refreshing fruit that look as good as they taste! ‘Discovery’ boasts good pest and disease resistance, and yields gloriously tasty dessert apples that store very well (for more than two months) Our growers have established the proper cordon shape for you, so you just need to prune your tree to keep its shape. Pruning is needed in summer with occasional winter pruning also required. Here’s what to do: At the end of August, trim those shoots that are over 20cm long, aiming to cut back to one leaf beyond the leaf cluster that marks the start of that year’s growth (also known as the basal cluster) If you find that your cordon tree’s spurs are becoming overly busy, then thin out those spurs which are a bit older and haven’t fruited as well in recent times (do this in winter)
