Summer 2025Pre-order now for delivery September onwards.
Tel. 01759 392007

Christmas Pippin® apple trees

Christmas Pippin apples
Christmas Pippin has received the RHS Award of Garden MeritChristmas Pippin is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Late
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 3
  • Awards: RHS AGM (current) 2014

Christmas Pippin is a new Cox-style apple variety introduced in 2011. Unusually for a modern apple variety, it is a genuine "pippin" apple, raised from seed and of unknown parentage.

Christmas Pippin is a very "more-ish" apple, with a definite apple flavour, juicy melting flesh and a thin skin - and it tastes exactly like an apple should. The flavour is essentially sweet, but with some sharpness too. It is bound to be popular with fans of Cox's Orange Pippin or similar varieties - and it is much easier to grow.

Christmas Pippin 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 11.5L pot-grown tree, M27 rootstock£64.00
    Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
    Very small tree (< 1.7m after 10 years)
  • PG2Premium cordon 12L pot-grown tree, M9 rootstock£62.00
    Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
    Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
  • PG32-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree, M26 rootstock£58.75
    Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • PG42-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree, MM106 rootstock£58.75
    Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • PG5Premium half-standard 12L pot-grown tree, MM106 rootstock£64.00
    Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)

Bare-root

  • BR11-year bare-root tree,M9 rootstock£38.95
    Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
  • BR22-year bush-trained bare-root tree,M9 rootstock£45.25
    Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
  • BR3Cordon-trained bare-root tree,M9 rootstock£46.75
    Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
  • BR41-year bare-root tree,M26 rootstock£35.75
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR52-year bush-trained bare-root tree,M26 rootstock£43.75
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR61-year bare-root tree,M116 rootstock£34.95
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR71-year bare-root tree,MM106 rootstock£35.75
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR82-year bare-root tree,MM106 rootstock£43.75
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR92-year bush-trained bare-root tree,MM106 rootstock£46.00
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR102-year half-standard bare-root tree,MM106 rootstock£46.50
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)

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

Pre-ordering

Pre-order now for delivery in September 2025

Delivery charges

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

Growing and Training

Christmas Pippin is easy to grow, with better yields than Cox's Orange Pippin. It can be pollinated by most other apple varieties.

Recommended pollinators for Christmas Pippin apple trees

Christmas Pippin is not self-fertile, so you will need another different but compatible variety planted nearby in order to produce fruit. The following varieties are good pollinators for Christmas Pippin. If you are not sure about pollination requirements don't hesitate to ask us. More pollinators >

  • Pollinator Scrumptious
    Scrumptious
    Scrumptious is a modern award-winning early-season English dessert apple.
  • Pollinator Red Falstaff
    Red Falstaff
    Red Falstaff is one of the best garden apple trees, heavy crops, easy to grow, and very juicy.
  • Pollinator Katy
    Katy
    Katy is an attractive and versatile early apple variety from Sweden, very easy to grow.
  • Pollinator Red Devil
    Red Devil
    Red Devil is a good apple variety for the UK garden, and produces a sweet red-tinted juice.
  • Pollinator Spartan
    Spartan
    Spartan produces lots of crimson maroon apples, crunchy, sweet, easy to grow, delicate "vinous" flavour.
  • Pollinator Fiesta
    Fiesta
    Fiesta (or Red Pippin) is one of the best Cox-style apples, easy to grow, with a good aromatic flavour.
  • Pollinator Sunset
    Sunset
    Sunset is a popular garden alternative to Cox, easier to grow, with a sweet aromatic flavour.
  • Pollinator Worcester Pearmain
    Worcester Pearmain
    Worcester Pearmain is a well-known early-season English apple, noted for its strawberry-like flavours.

History

Christmas Pippin is a modern variety, first introduced in 2011, so you might expect it to be the result of a major university-led apple breeding programme. In fact the original tree was discovered growing beside a road near an orchard in Somerset, so it is a genuine seedling or "pippin" variety, perhaps from a motorist's discarded apple core. The parentage is unknown, but there is clearly an influence from Cox's Orange Pippin in its ancestry. The leaf shape has some resemblance to Gala (which itself is distantly related to Cox's Orange Pippin).


Christmas Pippin characteristics

Growing

  • Gardening skillBeginner
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Flowering group3
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
  • Climate suitabilityTemperate climates

Using

  • Picking seasonLate
  • CroppingHeavy
  • Keeping (of fruit)1-2 months
  • Food usesEating fresh

Problems

  • Disease resistanceAverage
  • CankerSome resistance
  • Scab (Apple and Pear)Some resistance

Identification

  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin2000
  • Fruit colourOrange flush
  • AwardsRHS AGM (current)

British-grown trees Trees grown in the UK.

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 while 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

Towards the end of September and into October we see late-season apple varieties beginning to ripen. Their longer ripening period typically means these varieties have the most interesting flavours.

Unlike mid and early season apples which are generally best eaten straight from the tree, many late-season varieties need to be stored in a fridge for a few weeks to mature before their flavours are at their peak. So if you want to be able to eat home-grown apples through the winter then late-season varieties are your best choice.

Some of the most famous English apple varieties fall into this category - including the classic Adams Pearmain, and the ancient Ashmead's Kernel with its peardrop flavours. We also find popular modern varieties such as Spartan, Red Falstaff, Fiesta, and Kidd's Orange Red all coming to perfection at this time of year.


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