Apple tree classification

[dave45]

I admit I have made a mistake... I bought a load of miscellaneous apple trees at Homebase and have planted them as a hedge.hoping to train them. Now it turns out that "Lord Lambourn" is a tip-bearer rather than a spur-bearer, and is thus pretty useless in that mode. From reading the pruning books you need to know this AND what rootstock it is, neither of which is indicated on the Homebase label. Bah Humbug.

Is there an online directory of apple varieties and their characteristics? where?

FWIW Lord Lambourn has settled in quite well and has quite a lot of fruit on it... but it may never have a future as a hedging tree

[Millymollymandy]

I know about rootstocks which is why it irritates me when shops sell fruit trees without giving proper information but didn't know that you ought to know about spur bearers or tip bearers. I don't quite know the difference as I've been trying to get my head around pruning the apples in my orchard for the last 5 years - I notice that a few are 'different' from the others (which are obviously spur bearers) - also according to my RHS pruning book there are partial tip bearers too - it's a bit of a headache isn't it? I don't know any sites as I'm not planning on buying any more trees!

[Ted79]

Greetings! I know a new cultivar of apple tree, ‘Minneiska’ that is characterized by having fruit with an early ripening season, a crisp and juicy texture and slightly tart but well-balanced flavor. The fruit of ‘Minneiska’ has an unusually long storage life for an early ripening variety and can be stored for 3 to 4 months with little change in texture or flavor.