Start with the site, not the catalogue

Before you buy a single tree, spend a season — or at least a few months — watching your plot. On a small holding or community allotment, the differences between one corner and another are often greater than the differences between varieties. Apples want full sun, at least six hours in midsummer, and soil that drains freely but holds moisture through August. A pH between 6.0 and 7.0 suits most rootstocks.

Two things catch people out. The first is the frost pocket: cold air slides downhill and pools at the lowest point, behind a hedge or against a fence, so the bottom of a gentle slope can be several degrees colder than the top on a still spring night. Plant early-flowering varieties there and you will lose blossom for years. The second is drainage. If a spade-sized hole fills with water overnight in February, that spot needs a raised mound or a different tree.

Rootstock decides your spacing

Spacing is not a matter of taste — it follows from the rootstock, which controls how large the tree will grow. Work out the rootstock first, then draw the plan.

• M27: very dwarfing. Trees reach roughly 1.8m. Plant 1.5–2m apart; needs permanent staking and good soil.
• M9: dwarfing, the commercial favourite. 2.5–3m spacing, 2.5–3m eventual height.
• M26: semi-dwarfing. 3–3.5m spacing, useful on poorer ground.
• MM106: semi-vigorous. 4–5m spacing; a good choice for a bush tree on grass.
• M25: vigorous. 6m or more; only for larger plots and proper standard trees.

Trained forms change the arithmetic entirely. Cordons can sit 60–90cm apart along a wire, espaliers need 3–4m of wall or fence, and stepovers make a productive edging at about 1.5m apart. On a modest plot, a row of cordons plus two or three bush trees will give you far more variety than a grid of half a dozen large trees planted too close together.

Lay out for light and airflow

Rows running north to south intercept light more evenly across the day than rows running east to west, where one side of each tree stays shaded. If your ground slopes, run rows across the contour rather than down it — you will lose less soil and less water.

Leave room at the edges. A mature hedge or a mature tree will take moisture and nutrients from a surprisingly long way out; keep new trees at least 3m clear of established hedges and 4m from large trees. Good airflow through the rows reduces scab and canker, so resist the urge to cram everything in. And do keep a path wide enough for a wheelbarrow and a ladder — 1.5m minimum, 2m if you can spare it.

Pollination groups: plan in pairs and trios

Almost all apples need a partner that flowers at the same time. Varieties are sorted into flowering groups, numbered roughly 1 to 6, each about a fortnight apart in flowering. Plant within the same group, or in an adjacent one, and the bees will do the rest.

Two complications are worth knowing. Triploid varieties — Bramley, Ribston Pippin and Blenheim Orange among them — produce poor pollen and cannot pollinate anything else, so they need two other varieties nearby. Partly self-fertile sorts such as Katy and Falstaff will set some fruit alone but crop far better with company. A crab apple in a corner, or a pollinator planted deliberately, will cover a lot of ground. If you are growing cider apples, choose two or three varieties from the same group: bittersweet and bitter-sharp types often overlap well and give a better blend at pressing time anyway.

Practical layouts for a small plot

There is no single correct arrangement, but three work well on limited ground:

• Boundary row: cordons or espaliers along a fence, with bush trees in the open ground beyond. Uses space that would otherwise be wasted and keeps the centre of the plot clear.
• Grid block: simple, easy to mow around, and straightforward to net. Plant at the rootstock's full spacing and no closer.
• Quincunx: a diamond pattern with a tree in the centre of each square of four. It sounds fussy but gives excellent airflow and lets you squeeze an extra tree into a square plot without crowding the rest.

Group by pollination group rather than by fruit type, and keep cooking, eating and cider trees mixed through the plot if you want a long picking season — a fortnight's spread from early August to late October is easy to achieve with a little planning.

Planting and the first three seasons

Bare-root trees go in between November and March whenever the ground is not frozen or waterlogged. Dig a hole wider than it is deep, spread the roots over a cone of soil, and set the tree so the graft union sits 10–15cm above ground level — bury it and the rootstock will root, and the tree will grow away from its intended size.

Stake for the first five years on dwarfing rootstocks, fit a guard against rabbits, and mulch a metre-wide ring with well-rotted manure or compost, keeping it clear of the trunk. Water through the first two summers, thin the fruit in June of the second and third year, and prune to an open goblet shape in winter. Get those early years right and an orchard on a small holding will crop for thirty years or more.