Advice re dwarf Bramley Apples?

I want to grow dwarf cooking apples and like Bramleys. Someone said Howgate Wonder is a better tree.
Will this self pollinate.? How large does a dwarf apple tree grow.? Is Howgate as good as Bramley?
Does it have to be on a south wall.? Any suggestions welcome?

PS Can I replant my snowdrops now in North England?

 

Hi Compost Maker

I can't tell you about Howgate Wonder but in the 1980s, I moved into a house with a big mature Scarlet Bramley in the garden and I looked after it for the next 20 years. My Scarlet Bramleys were great for cooking and if fully ripe, you could eat the smaller ones as dessert apples. Pollination was always a mystery to me because there didn't seem to be any other apple trees around but my apples always turned out just fine! It was planted in the middle of my garden so it didn't need (or get) any protection from a wall. It was so reliable, I'd recommend a Bramley.

I think your main challenge will be finding a tree which combines big cooking apples with a dwarf rooting stock. My old Bramley tree was big and it needed to be like that to support branches full of big fruit.

Yes, it's OK to translpant snowdrops now, I reckon.

 

Howgate Wonder, like Bramley, is very vigorous, and may not be available on dwarf stock. Also it is not self fertile and would need another group C variety. A better variety would be Grenadier, and though not self fertile, only needs another group B variety somewhere in the neighbourhood to produce a decent crop.:thumb:

 

Thanks for the advice both of you. Would a Malus John Downie (crab apple) be suitable as a polinator.?

 

Jean, I`m not 100% certain, but I think John Downie is in the same pollinating group as Grenadier. But if one of your neighbours has a Coxs Orange Pippin that will do the job.:thumb:

 

I've just spotted on page 151 of the current Radio Times (4-10 April) an offer for a dwarf Bramley apple tree! It comes as a 5ft high specimen and its height is, allegedly, restricted to 6-7ft tall by a "secret root system". I have no idea what a "secret root system" means.
No mention is made of its pollination requirements but it's sold as an addition to a "mini-orchard" collection of a Braeburn, Conference Pear and Victoria Plum trees. Maybe the Braeburn and the Bramley cross-pollinate?

I mention this because I doubted that anyone sold a dwarf Bramley - well, I now know that somebody does. The company concerned has a website www.gardenbargains.com/ but I've never used them myself.

 

As far as pollination is concerned, Bramleys are what are known as triploids. This means that they need to be pollinated by TWO different varieties of apple from the same pollination group (B).:thumb:

 

I have a Bramley on dwarfing rootstock. I planted it 18 years ago and if I remember correctly, it was then 2 years old. It fruits exceedingly well:thumb: but even now needs to be staked. I remember about 10 years ago it needed to be restaked because it blew over in a gale. It seems the roots really are not very strong in relation to the vigour of the tree. On this rootstock it spreads quite well but is only about 2 metres high. Hope this helps.