Autumn 2021We are selling out of many of the trees already this season. Please order as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
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Golden Delicious apple trees

Golden Delicious
Golden Delicious is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators

Golden Delicious has a very poor reputation in the UK, a legacy of the time when large quantities of bland under-ripe bright green French-grown Golden Delicious apples dominated supermarket shelves. However, Golden Delicious is a very different proposition when home-grown in good conditions - a handsomely-shaped apple with a golden-green skin, crisp juicy flesh, and a rich sweet flavour, reminscent of raw cane sugar. If you like crisp sweet apples then it is hard to beat a home-grown Golden Delicious, picked late in the autumn when it is properly ripe.

Home-grown Golden Delicious apples still retain the advantages of commercially grown examples - they are versatile for eating fresh or using in the kitchen, and of course they are one of the best apples for long-term storage, retaining flavour and crispness for several months in a cold shed or in the fridge.

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Golden Delicious apple trees for sale

Pot-grown

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 £43.00
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
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  • PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree MM106 rootstock £43.00
    Large tree (3m-4m after 10 years)
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  • PG3Espalier 12L pot-grown tree MM106 rootstock £70.00
    Large tree (3m-4m after 10 years)
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  • PG4Fan-trained 12L pot-grown tree MM106 rootstock £70.00
    Large tree (3m-4m after 10 years)
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Bare-root

  • BR12-year bush-trained bare-root tree M9 rootstock £34.25
    Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
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  • BR21-year bare-root tree M26 rootstock £25.95
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
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  • BR32-year bush-trained bare-root tree M26 rootstock £32.75
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR41-year bare-root tree MM106 rootstock £25.95
    Large tree (3m-4m after 10 years)
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  • BR52-year bush-trained bare-root tree MM106 rootstock £32.95
    Large tree (3m-4m after 10 years)
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  • BR62-year half-standard bare-root tree MM106 rootstock £37.00
    Large tree (3m-4m after 10 years)
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Next deliveries

Order now for delivery from October 2021 for pot grown trees or December onwards for bare-root trees. Mixed pot grown and bare-root trees orders will be sent out from December onwards.

How to grow

Golden Delicious is easy to grow, and very productive. In the UK it does best in the south and east as it prefers a drier climate, and a warm autumn helps.

It is usually a good pollinator for other apple varieties, particularly traditional English varieties such as Cox, because it flowers over a long period, producing a lot of pollen, and is is not closely related to them.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Golden Delicious is not a French apple, as many people assume - it was discovered in West Virginia, USA, in the 1890s. Golden Delicious is almost certainly a seedling of an old American variety called Grimes Golden.

The original tree survived until the 1950s, by which time Golden Delicious was firmly established as one of the most widely-planted of all apples.

Golden Delicious characteristics

Growing

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityPartially self-fertile
  • Flowering group4
  • Pollinating othersGood
  • Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
  • Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesWarm climates
  • WildlifeRHS Plants for Pollinators

Using

  • Picking seasonLate
  • CroppingHeavy
  • Keeping (of fruit)3 months or more
  • Food usesEating freshCulinary
  • Flavour style (apples)Sweeter
  • Cooking resultKeeps shape

Problems

  • ScabSome susceptibility
  • CankerSome susceptibility
  • MildewSome susceptibility

Identification

  • Country of originUnited States
  • Period of origin1850 - 1899
  • Fruit colourGreen / Yellow
  • AwardsRHS AGM (former)