When to harvest Apple (dessert) in the UK
Apple (dessert) is normally planted as a young grafted tree rather than sown from seed — seedlings do not come true to variety — so the dates below are harvest dates, not sowing dates.
Harvest dates by region
Apple (dessert) is harvested at much the same time across the whole UK, so every region below reads the same. Planting time does shift by region, and Plot adjusts it from the Midlands and Lowland Wales baseline using Met Office average frost dates.
| Where you are | Harvest |
|---|---|
| South West Coast and Cornwall | early August to late October |
| South Coast and Channel | early August to late October |
| Greater London (Urban Heat Island) | early August to late October |
| South East and Home Counties | early August to late October |
| East Anglia | early August to late October |
| Midlands and Lowland Wales | early August to late October |
| Wales and West Coast | early August to late October |
| Northern England | early August to late October |
| Scotland Lowlands and Central Belt | early August to late October |
| Scotland Highlands and Islands | early August to late October |
| Northern Ireland | early August to late October |
| Channel Islands and Isle of Man | early August to late October |
Growing notes
Choose the rootstock for the space you have: M27 or M26 for pots, cordons and small gardens, MM106 for a free-standing tree of about 4m. Remove all fruit in the year after planting and allow just a couple in the second year so the tree builds a framework first.
At a glance
- Spacing
- 360 cm between plants
- Row spacing
- 450 cm
- Plants per m²
- 0.1
- Yield per plant
- 15.0 kg
- Sun
- Full sun
- Frost tender
- No
- Grows in a container
- Yes, 90 litres or more
- Minimum soil depth
- 45 cm
- Balcony rating
- 2 out of 5
What usually goes wrong
- apple scab
- apple canker
- codling moth
- biennial bearing
- birds and wasps
Companion planting
Grows well near
- chives
- comfrey
Related guides
Timings cross-checked against RHS guidance for apple (dessert).