Planting guide

When to plant apple

A classic backyard tree; plant bare-root in the dormant season and pick fruit in autumn. In Melbourne it goes in Apr–Oct.

Start as: Bare-root plant or Potted plant
Ready in: 3+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 300 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means apple can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's real monthly temperatures, not a zone map. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Hobart	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Launceston	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○
Seattle	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●
Austin	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Toronto	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	○

How to plant apple

Plant bare-root trees in winter when dormant.
Check pollination needs; grow two compatible varieties.
Prune in winter to an open shape.
Pick when fruit lifts easily with a twist.

Apple varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

GalaClassiclow-chill · sweet · 21–29 wksCrisp, sweet, reliable apple
Granny SmithClassicstorage · heavy-cropper · 24–31 wksGreen cooker/eater
Pink LadyClassicstorage · sweet · 26–33 wksTart-sweet with a pink blush
FujiClassicsweet · storage · 24–31 wksVery sweet, crisp apples
Cox's Orange PippinAdventurousheirloom · sweet · 21–27 wksFine British flavour, needs cool climate
BramleyClassicheavy-cropper · disease-resistant · 21–27 wksBritish cooking apple
JonathanAdventurousheirloom · 21–27 wksOld red apple; tangy and juicy
AnnaClassiclow-chill · 21–27 wksLow-chill variety for mild-winter areas

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Chive, Garlic, Nasturtium

Apple by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lemon · Lime · Fig · Avocado · Banana · Mango

Not sure apple is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now →