Question:

I am hoping to plant a ROYAL GALA apple tree.  Would you recommend this in an Irish climate and if so, would I need a pollinator.  I have looked at various main and pollinator tree varieties on the Internet.

Answer:

I have no prior experience of Royal Gala, as you might guess it is not a heritage apple. I have only worked with, Irish heritage apples and also English, French and American varieties that are of the heritage sort and that grow in Ireland. Any Irish commercial growers that I know of do not grow this variety either, even though it sells a lot in Ireland as an imported product. This suggests to me that it may not be the most suitable variety to grow.

Selecting a variety for home uses is a completely different choice than that of commercial growing. Commercial growing selection is more based on factors such as storability, transportability, bland taste to suit the general palate, marketability, etc… then also factors such as response to disease control measures, and culture of 1,000s in mass production methods etc…

Selection for home growing is usually based on factors such as taste (number 1!), low maintenance, beauty (of tree, blossoms, fruit), fruiting season, flowering season, health of tree, etc… We usually recommend that a beginner orcharder take a day to learn about these and other issues in order to inform a decision. Another recommendation would be to visit us during the fruiting season and take a taste tour of fruit ripe at that time. I’m confident you will find tasty alternatives.

Our next course on ‘creating an orchard’ is on 4th February 2012. Please see www.irishseedsavers.ie for more workshop info and booking if you are interested.

In our fruit tree shop in the same website you will see a full list of the varieties we have available for sale and a matrix showing flowering times so you can choose a pollinator.

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