Apple ‘Granny Smith’

Granny Smith Apple (Malus domestica 'Granny Smith') is the green cooking apple most Australian kitchens already know, and one of the easier fruit trees to fit into a suburban block. On semi dwarf rootstock with an annual prune it settles at about 4m tall and 3.5m wide. The fruit picks firm and tart and stores for months, and the pink flushed white blossom brings bees through the garden in spring.

Why you'll love it

• Fruit that keeps. It holds texture and acidity in cold storage far better than early season apples, so one crop feeds the kitchen for months.
• A tree you can keep small. About 4m by 3.5m on semi dwarf stock, and one winter prune a year holds it lower again.
• Roots that stay out of trouble. Non-invasive, so it can sit near a path, a shed or a boundary fence without lifting paving.
• Genuinely hardy. Frost hardy and wind tolerant, which is what an open block or a cold inland garden needs.

Where it works best

Small gardens. One tree gives blossom in spring, shade in summer and fruit in autumn. Allow 2m of clearance from a fence so you can get around it to pick and prune.

Shade over a seating area. It shades a table through summer, then drops its leaves and lets winter sun back through.

Feature planting. It espaliers against a wall where space is tight, and crops more heavily with a second apple 4m away.

Growing Granny Smith Apple in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, six hours minimum, or the fruit stays small and sour. Apples need winter chill, so this is a tree for cool temperate, warm temperate and Mediterranean gardens, not the subtropics or tropics.

Soil. Well drained loam, slightly acid to neutral, with compost through the backfill. On heavy clay plant on a raised mound so the graft union sits clear of wet soil. Mulch 75mm deep, kept off the trunk.

Water and feed. Deep soak weekly through the first two summers, and keep the water up while the fruit is sizing, since a dry midsummer means small apples. A complete fertiliser in late winter and again after fruit set is enough.

Pruning. Prune in winter while the tree is bare. Open the centre to an even vase and take out crossing wood. It fruits on short spurs that crop for years, so cut for light and air rather than shortening everything.

What to expect when it arrives

We grow this apple in four sizes: 250mm in packs of three, 300mm, 45L and 100L. The 250mm and 300mm trees are young grafted plants, usually chest height. The 45L and 100L trees arrive with a formed framework and can crop in their first or second season.

Being deciduous, a tree ordered in winter may arrive bare. That is normal, and bare wood travels better than soft growth. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every tree carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Fruit tree planting tips season by season
• Compare the full apple tree range
• Pink Lady Apple
• A beginner's guide to pruning

Common questions

Do I need a second apple tree for fruit?

Granny Smith sets some fruit alone, but the crop is noticeably heavier with another apple flowering nearby. Pink Lady or Gala are the usual partners, and an apple in a neighbouring garden will often do the job.

Will it fruit in the subtropics?

Not reliably. Apples need a run of cold winter nights to break dormancy and flower evenly. Cool temperate, warm temperate and Mediterranean districts are where this tree performs.

How long until it fruits?

A 250mm or 300mm tree usually gives a first light crop in its second or third year. Advanced 45L and 100L trees can fruit the season after planting, though it pays to strip most of that first crop so the tree builds roots.