@happy.smallholding: These adorable little apple trees are called stepover apples. At ~2ft high they really are tiny which makes them perfect even for the smallest of spaces. I think they make really pretty borders. They are planted around our rhubarb and gooseberry beds. They are also surprisingly productive. We get a lot of apples from these tiny little trees! Planting a stepover apple is pretty straightforward: 🌱 Make your supports. We bashed oak posts into the ground, drilled holes through them and threaded metal rods through the holes. 🌱 Plant your tree. Stepover apples are best grown using M27 rootstock. Most apples trees that you can buy are grafted, which means two parts of a tree are joined together. The rootstock controls the size of the tree, and the scion, the top part, controls the fruit you get. Make sure you plant at least 2 trees in the same group as trees in the same group will flower at the same time and therefore help to pollinate eachother. If you’re planting just one tree make sure you get a self-fertile variety. 🌱 Train your tree. Gently bend the top of the tree over towards the horizontal mental rod and tie it in. Alternatively, prune the tree back to a node close to the horizontal, and a new branch will grow from the node which can then be trained along the horizontal. #selfsufficient #gyo #growyourown #growyourownfood #homestead #smallholding #garden #lovegardening #kitchengarden #veggarden #plants #igrewthis #ediblegarden #gardendesign #spreadsheets
