Gala apple trees

• Picking season: Mid
• Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
• Flowering group: 4

One of the most popular apple varieties, and a good mid-season variety for the garden in many areas. The sweet flavour of ripe Gala apples eaten straight from the tree is quite a surprise compared to supermarket examples.

Another surprise is the fruit size, which is likely to be quite a bit larger than the small snack-size apples that are most usually sold in the shops. When home-grown (and well-thinned) Gala apples will get to a nice size, much more reminscent of its parent Kidd's Orange Red.

Gala is also a good variety for juicing, as you might expect the flavour is rich and sweet, useful for mixing with other sharper varieties.

Gala is one of the most commercially important of all apple varieties, and as a result a large number of Gala "sports" exist. These are naturally occuring mutations which are mostly indistinguishable from the original in terms of flavour but may have a deeper coloration or more pronounced flush to the skin. Royal Gala is probably the best known. We occasionally offer some of these newer forms but most of our trees are the original Gala, which in our opinion has more natural skin hues.

8See or add reviews

Gala apple trees for sale

Pot-grown

All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.

All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.

• PG12-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree M26 rootstock£56.50
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season
• PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree MM106 rootstock£56.50
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

  012345678910

Bare-root

• BR12-year bush-trained bare-root treeM9 rootstock£44.75
  Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season
• BR21-year bare-root treeM26 rootstock£34.95
  Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season
• BR32-year bush-trained bare-root treeM26 rootstock£43.00
  Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season
• BR41-year bare-root treeM116 rootstock£34.95
  Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season
• BR51-year bare-root treeMM106 rootstock£34.95
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season

Need help? Ask our fruit tree experts

Call us on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.

Tree specification

Photos of trees as supplied | Tree sizes and forms

Next deliveries

Order now for delivery from week commencing 28th April.

Delivery charges

Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.

Growing and Training

Gala is widely grown on a commercial basis in South Africa, Chile, New Zealand, and France. One of its unique characteristics is that Gala will produce good-quality apples across an unusually wide range of climates from cool temperate to hot.

Gala can be grown successfully in the south, central, and east of the UK, and crops well.

However Gala is susceptible to fungal infections. If you have a dry climate this is not usually such a problem - and the flavour of home-grown ripe Gala apples is worth a bit of effort - but it is not a good choice for mild or wet climates.

Most sports of Gala have some degree of self-fertility - but will set much better crops if there is a nearby pollination partner.

History

Gala was developed by New Zealand apple enthusiast J.H. Kidd from one of his earlier successes, Kidd's Orange Red, which he crossed with Golden Delicious. Through this parentage Gala unites three of the world's most influential apple varieties, Cox's Orange Pippin, Delicious, and Golden Delicious. The Kidd's Orange Red parentage is more obvious in Gala than the Golden Delicious side. More surprisingly, the influence of Delicious (one of the parent's of Kidd's Orange Red) comes through very strongly in Gala, more so than in Kidd's Orange Red - the deep red colour, sweet flavour, and large upright shape are very reminiscent of Delicious.

Gala characteristics

British-grown trees

Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK. Find out more.

In addition, all our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance. Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. The scheme aims to improve UK biosecurity by setting standards for all growers and retailers involved in selling plants in the UK. Find out more

Guaranteed fruit trees

When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden whilst it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund - subject to some conditions. Find out more.

More about apple trees

For apples the mid-season period usually starts in early September and finishes later in September when the late-season varieties start arriving.

Mid-season apples are best eaten straight from the tree. However unlike early-season apples, they will usually keep fresh for a couple of weeks in a fridge. On the other hand, just like early apples, mid-season apples ripen quite quickly so be sure to keep a close watch on them in early September and see if they are ready to pick.

Another thing you notice with mid-season apples is they still have that fresh zing you get with the early varieties, but the flavours are now more nuanced and interesting.

Some really good apple varieties fall into this category - including Red Windsor, Red Devil, and Lord Lambourne. These are un-fussy apples with good flavours, ideal for taking to work for a mid-morning snack.

And the famous Cox's Orange Pippin also just about falls into this category.