Apple trees - how did yours do this year?

[Sneakyfox]

I have quite a few and they looked promising early in the year but they haven’t produced nearly as much fruit as last year. I think I harvested too late for the early ones and some of the trees are due for a good prune, just wondering how others got on?

Quite a few of the trees have had a few different apple varieties grafted on them, so identifying isn’t easy Lovely! I've seen that done but have never tried myself.

You've got some nice varieties in there. Presumably the previous owner was really into apples? - since I think you said you inherited them rather than planted them yourself.

I love seeing the different colours and shapes of the different varieties, and the different tastes. The one that probably isn't Forge is rather cox-like in taste, whereas Herrings Pippin is so spicy you feel you've already added the cinnamon and cloves. Also huge - 2 apples to the pound. Cornish Aromatic, as expected, is another spicy one, and a very handsome apple, with big knobs around the blossom end and a beautiful "antique red" flush.

@MereDintofPandiculation I’ve never heard of some of your apple tree varieties (mind you, I’d not heard of mine until I moved in!). I will look some of them up! Your’s sound lovely - and you clearly know your apples! There are so many varieties aren’t they - it feels like I need a lifetime of experience to understand my trees and how they behave, let alone the hundreds of other varieties. We are in Yorkshire and I’ve noticed many of my trees are common for this region.

Yes, I think it was a couple of owners back that really loved apples and gardening - they installed four huge tanks at the rear of the garden which are filled with well water (the well is somewhere under our drive) via a pump in the garage. The garden was once someone’s absolute pride and joy (in the 80’s), so I am trying my best to learn all I can and restore it to something like. It’s a steep learning curve though and lots of trial and error! Again, it feels like it’s gonna be a lifetimes work. Thankfully, this board and the posters on here (such as yourself) are very knowledgable, it is a great resource!

I’ve got Apple and pear trees
Last year had loads of pears and just a few apples
This year, hardly any pears but the apple trees have done brilliantly. Best crop ever and I’ve lived here over 30 years

@Sneakyfox We're in Yorkshire too, near Leeds. Whereabouts are you? That's going to be really great, restoring a garden, I do envy you.

Actually, I need to restore mine. I have to admit that 30 years on it's rather overgrown and I've got to the third stage of gardening, where I have to decide which plant I want to keep - simple pruning is no longer going to work. (The three stages of gardening 1) plant lots of fast growing things, too densely, in order to fill the space 2) spend lots of time pruning so that plants don't murder each other 3) accept that you have too many plants and start wholesale uprooting)

I have a Braeburn apple tree, it didn't have as many apples this year as it has the past few years, but the ones that it did have were much larger.
I've already made quite a few crumbles, and the rest I will leave on the tree for the blackbirds and blackcaps that usually visit over the winter.

I have an apple tree in front garden, it was there when we moved in approx 20 years ago. How do I go about finding out what variety it is - apples are eating apples, sharp crisp taste.

I have an apple tree in front garden, it was there when we moved in approx 20 years ago. How do I go about finding out what variety it is - apples are eating apples, sharp crisp taste. It's very difficult - there are hundreds of varieties. Best to wait till after Covid, and look out for an Apple event where they're identifying apples. Alternatively, try the RHS -I think they'll id for you, but you'd have to take up membership.

The features to look at, apart from taste and smell, are overall shape of the fruit, whether it is smooth or has little bumps round the stalk end or flower end, the shape and appearance of the dent at the stalk end and at the flower end, the colour of the skin, any markings, any stripes and blotches, the shape of the core.

On your description, I could tell you that it wasn't Cornish Aromatic or Herrings Pippin, because you would have commented on the spicy taste. And not one of the russets, because you'd have commented on the skin

Our Discovery had the best year it’s had so far! The blackbirds, squirrels abd I were fighting over them

Thanks for that info MerdeintofPandiculation. So much I hadn't thought of in identifying apple trees. I must do some more homework.

Mine did well - it always does though. Not sure what it is but they can be eaten or cooked and they are mostly red apples. The only thing I did notice is the apples were a little smaller than some years which I put down to it being a dry year.

I wish I’d weighed this year’s crop. One tree cropped so heavily that I was able to give crates and crates of apples away while the other had a very meagre crop. Both trees are overdue for a good prune.