Apple (Malus) Christmas Pippin® — Patio, 11.5L container, M27

Christmas Pippin is one of the most exciting new English apples of recent years, and its discovery story is hard to beat. In 2003, Geffrey Rowson found the original tree growing as a chance seedling beside the M5 motorway in Somerset, most likely sprung from a windfall from one of the orchards that once grew in the area. After careful trials it was introduced to gardeners in 2010, and it has quickly won a following for its Cox-style flavour on a more easy-going tree. The medium-sized apples have thin, golden-yellow skin flushed and streaked with red. The flesh is crisp, juicy and creamy, naturally very sweet, with a lovely aromatic quality and a gentle balancing sharpness. Pick the fruit in early October and store it somewhere cool, and true to its name it will keep until Christmas.

This patio tree is grafted onto the very dwarfing M27 rootstock and reaches around 1.5–1.8m tall with a similar spread. That makes it ideal for a large patio container, a small border or a courtyard. Grow it in full sun or light shade in a well-drained, loam-based compost, and move it into a pot at least 50cm across as the tree establishes. M27 trees have a small root system, so keep the tree permanently staked and water regularly through the growing season, especially while the fruit is swelling. A spring feed with a balanced fertiliser keeps cropping steady. Trees on M27 usually begin fruiting within a couple of years of planting. Christmas Pippin flowers and crops generously and has some natural resistance to scab and canker, which makes it a rewarding choice for gardeners who love the flavour of Cox but want a more reliable tree.

Christmas Pippin is not self-fertile, so plant it near another apple from pollination groups 2, 3 or 4, such as Discovery, James Grieve or Cox Self Fertile. In most built-up areas, neighbouring trees will also help with pollination.

Each tree is hand-selected before dispatch.

Available from Pengelly Garden Centre.