Pink Lady Apple

Pink Lady Apple (Malus domestica 'Pink Lady') is the Australian bred late season apple that made crisp pink skinned fruit a supermarket standard, and it grows just as well in a home garden. On semi dwarf rootstock it reaches about 3.5m tall and 3m wide, small enough for a courtyard or a large pot. The fruit hangs on the tree well into the cooler months and eats sweet, firm and sharp at once.

Why you'll love it

• The fruit is the reason. Dense crisp flesh with high sugar and enough acid to stay interesting, picked late when most backyard apples are long gone.
• Small enough for a courtyard. About 3.5m by 3m on semi dwarf stock, and easily held lower with one winter prune a year.
• It grows in a pot. A container 500mm or wider keeps it near 2m and still crops, which makes it a real option for townhouses.
• Roots that stay out of trouble. Non-invasive roots, so it can go close to paving or a boundary without lifting anything.
• Blossom worth having. Pink flushed white flowers that pull bees and butterflies in before anything else is open.

Where it works best

Small gardens. One tree gives spring blossom, summer shade and autumn fruit from a 3m footprint. Allow 2m of clearance from a fence so you can pick and prune from all sides.

Pots and containers. Use a pot at least 500mm wide with real drainage. Potted apples dry out fast in summer, so be honest about the watering.

With a partner. Pink Lady needs another apple flowering at the same time, so plant Granny Smith or Gala 4m away.

Growing Pink Lady Apple in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, six hours minimum. This is a tree for cool temperate, warm temperate and Mediterranean gardens, frost hardy and wind tolerant once established. It needs winter chill to flower and a long warm autumn to ripen, so subtropical gardens give little usable fruit.

Soil. Free draining loam, slightly acid to neutral, with compost through the backfill. On heavy clay plant on a raised mound, keeping the graft union above soil level. Mulch 75mm deep.

Water and feed. Deep soak weekly through the first two summers, then water consistently while the fruit is sizing, since irregular watering causes small apples and split skins. Feed a complete fertiliser in late winter and after fruit set.

Pruning. Winter, on bare wood. Keep an open vase of four or five main limbs and leave the fruiting spurs alone. Thin heavy clusters to two apples in late spring.

What to expect when it arrives

This apple is currently grown in a single size, a 45L tree, supplied on backorder rather than held in stock year round. A 45L tree is advanced: a formed framework, real height on arrival, and capable of a light crop in its first or second season.

Apples are deciduous, so a tree despatched through winter may arrive bare or with very few leaves. That is normal, and bare wood actually travels better. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every tree comes with our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Planting and caring for backyard fruit trees
• See every apple variety we grow
• Granny Smith Apple
• Plants that grow well in containers

Common questions

Does Pink Lady need another apple tree?

Yes. It is not reliably self fertile, so plant a second apple that flowers at the same time. Granny Smith and Gala are the standard partners, and an apple in a neighbouring garden is often enough.

Can I really grow it in a pot?

Yes, and it is one of the better apples for it. Use a pot 500mm or wider, water daily through summer heat, and root prune every three to four years. Expect about 2m rather than 3.5m.

When is the fruit ready?

Late. Pink Lady is one of the last apples to mature and needs a long warm autumn to colour and sweeten. Picking early gives hard, sour fruit.