Columnar apple trees for a small garden: varieties and care

A columnar apple is an ordinary apple tree with a single stem and short fruiting spurs all along it. It grows to 2–2.5 m, stays 30–50 cm wide and by the second or third year gives 4–8 kg of apples per tree. For a terraced-house garden, a narrow strip along the fence or a patio, it is the easiest way to grow your own apples – as long as you choose a hardy variety and leave the tip alone.

How much space it needs

Columnar apples are planted close together, like a hedge:

• Within the row – 60–80 cm between trees. Closer makes no sense: the roots are shallow and start competing for water.
• Between rows – 1–1.5 m, so you can get to the trees easily.
• A single tree can go right next to the front steps, provided it gets at least 6 hours of sun a day.

Five trees fit into a strip about 4 m long and under a metre wide. In spring it is a wall of blossom; from August to October, a crop you pick from the ground, no ladder needed.

Which varieties survive an Estonian winter

The older Russian-bred columnar varieties often suffer frost damage and scab here. Latvian varieties, mostly bred at Dobele where the climate is almost the same as ours, are the safer choice. If you plant several trees, pick different ripening times and you will have apples from August into winter.

• ‘Uldis’ – the earliest, ripening in early August, before ‘White Transparent’. Large, red-striped, juicy, sweet-sharp apples that do not keep. Vigorous, branches a little and may crop every other year.
• ‘Čiepa’ – August. Sweet, juicy apples on a weak-growing tree with good winter hardiness and disease resistance.
• ‘Baiba’ – late August to early September. Bright red-striped apples with tender creamy flesh that keep well for a summer variety. Very good winter hardiness.
• ‘Zane’ – late August to early September. Pale yellow with a pink blush, aromatic and low in acid – a favourite with children. Good winter hardiness, moderate scab resistance.
• ‘Maija’ – mid-September. Flat, red-striped apples with a firm skin that keep for about a month. One of the heaviest-cropping columnar apples with good scab resistance, but prone to biennial bearing.
• ‘Inese’ – late autumn. Sweet, with white juicy flesh; picked at the right time they keep until January.
• ‘Gatis’ – large, dark red, firm, sweet-sharp apples, picked in September for storage. Crops every year and is winter-hardy.

Pollination

Apples set poorly with their own pollen, and trees of the same variety do not pollinate each other. Plant two different varieties that flower at the same time, or count on an ordinary apple or a crab apple in a neighbour’s garden within about 20 m. With a pollinator the crop is noticeably bigger and the fruit more even.

Planting in autumn

In Estonia a container-grown tree can be planted until mid-October: it needs 3–4 weeks of warm soil to root before the frosts.

1. The hole – 50–60 cm wide and 40–50 cm deep. Keep the fertile topsoil separate; on heavy clay, loosen the bottom.
2. What goes in – compost and loose soil. In autumn use only a phosphorus-potassium fertiliser (about 80 g per m² of the root area), mixed into the soil. No fresh manure and no nitrogen: they push growth that will not ripen before winter.
3. Depth – keep the graft union (the swelling low on the stem) 5–10 cm above the soil. Columnar apples are grafted on clonal rootstocks (MM106, B118 and others): bury the union and the tree roots from the scion and loses its compact habit.
4. Support – drive the stake in before planting, on the windward side, and tie the stem loosely. Every tree needs it for the first 2–3 years; on a dwarfing rootstock, for life.
5. Water and mulch – 10–20 litres straight away, even in wet weather, then 5–8 cm of mulch (bark, wood chips, compost), kept a hand’s width from the stem.

The golden rule: protect the tip

A columnar tree grows from its terminal bud. Never prune it: a cut or killed tip sends up a bunch of competing shoots and the column turns into a bush. If it happens anyway, in spring keep the strongest, most upright shoot and remove the rest – it becomes the new leader.

The tip is threatened less by hard frost than by the February–March sun and the swings between daytime thaw and night frost. For the first 2–3 winters wrap the top 30–40 cm in one to one and a half layers of light-coloured fleece, especially on the south and south-west side, and take it off in April.

Care through the year

• First year – remove all flowers or fruitlets: rooting matters more to the tree.
• June – after the natural fruit drop, leave 1–2 apples per cluster. An unthinned tree overcrops and slips into biennial bearing.
• July – summer pruning: shorten overly vigorous side shoots to 15–20 cm (4–5 buds). Leave the short fruiting spurs alone.
• Watering – the roots are shallow, so in dry spells give 20–30 litres per tree once a week to wet the soil to about half a metre.
• Feeding – a balanced fruit-tree fertiliser in spring; from August, phosphorus and potassium only.

A columnar apple lives and crops well for about 10–15 years – less than a standard tree, so think of it as a planting for the next decade.

Protection from hares and mice

Young bark gets gnawed in the first winters. By the end of October fit mesh or a plastic spiral guard from the ground to snow depth plus 30–40 cm, usually about a metre. Rake the mulch away from the stem for winter – mice nest in it. Where hares and roe deer come in, a scent-based repellent adds extra protection.

What not to do

• Don’t cut the tip “to keep it lower” – the column will turn into a bush
• Don’t bury the graft union
• Don’t give nitrogen or fresh manure in autumn
• Don’t leave fruit on the tree in the first year
• Don’t plant closer than 60 cm or leave the trees dry in a drought
• Don’t wrap the tip in plastic film – the bark sweats and overheats in the sun

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to plant more than one variety?

It is best to. Two different varieties side by side, or an ordinary apple tree next door within 20 m, raise the crop noticeably.

Can a columnar apple be grown in a pot?

Yes, in a container of at least 40 litres. But the roots freeze long before the stem, so for winter sink the pot into the ground or move it to an unheated shed; left exposed in a pot, the tree usually does not survive an Estonian winter.

Does it need pruning?

Very little: in July shorten only the overly vigorous side shoots to 15–20 cm. Never touch the tip.

When will I get the first apples?

The tree may flower the spring after planting, but let it carry its first crop in the second or third year; a full crop of 4–8 kg comes from about the fourth or fifth year.

From our catalogue

All varieties are in the columnar apple trees section. Protection against hares and deer is under wild animal repellents.