Apple (Malus) Discovery — Cordon, 12L Container, M9

Discovery is Britain's classic early apple, with glossy scarlet fruit, crisp white flesh and a sweet, refreshing flavour with a hint of strawberry. As a cordon, it is one of the most space-efficient ways to grow your own fruit. This tree is trained to a single upright stem with short fruiting side-shoots, so it fits against a fence, wall or row of wires where a conventional tree would never fit. Raised in Essex in 1949 and holding the RHS Award of Garden Merit, it gives the first apples of the season, ready to pick from late August.

Grafted onto the dwarfing M9 rootstock, cordons are usually kept to around 1.8–2m tall and can be planted as close as 75cm apart. That makes it easy to grow several varieties along a single boundary. Grow in full sun against a support of horizontal wires or a sturdy fence. Tie the stem to a cane set at an angle for an oblique cordon, or grow it upright. M9 has a shallow root system, so keep the tree permanently supported and water well in dry spells, particularly while the fruit is swelling.

Discovery carries fruit both on spurs and at the tips of some shoots, and it adapts well to cordon training. When you summer prune in late July or August, shorten the longer new side-shoots to encourage spurs. Leave a few of the shorter shoots of around 20cm unpruned, because these often carry next year's fruit buds at their tips. The tree is hardy, has good natural resistance to scab and mildew, and its blossom stands up well to late frosts. It is not self-fertile, so pair it with another apple from pollination groups 2, 3 or 4, such as James Grieve or Sunset. Both of those are also well suited to cordon growing. Enjoy the apples fresh, as they keep for only a week or so.

Each tree is hand-selected before dispatch.

Available from Pengelly Garden Centre.