Granny Smith apple

Sun

Full sun, preferably with at least 6-8 hours of direct light and shelter from strong winds.

Water

Water deeply during dry spells, especially for the first two growing seasons and while fruit is swelling; avoid waterlogged soil.

Soil

Fertile, well-drained loam is ideal; tolerates other soil textures if drainage is good. Aim for pH 6.0-7.0.

Height

8-25 ft (2.4-7.6 m), depending on rootstock and training; dwarf trees remain near the lower end.

Spread

6-25 ft (1.8-7.6 m), depending on rootstock and pruning.

Flowers

White flowers opening from pink buds in mid- to late spring.

Foliage

Oval, toothed green leaves, sometimes turning yellow before falling in autumn.

Growth

Moderate; vigour varies substantially with rootstock, soil and pruning.

Care needed

High

• Pollinators
• Heat tolerant
• Wildlife
• Low allergen
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Hard

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   7 ft (2 m)

2. After 1 year

   7 ft (2.2 m)

3. After 2 years

   8 ft (2.3 m)

4. After 3 years

   8 ft (2.5 m)

5. After 5 years

   9 ft (2.8 m)

About 20 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Growth rate

Moderate

• Choose a rootstock suited to your space and climate; keep the graft union above the soil when planting.
• Water the root zone deeply in dry weather rather than giving frequent light sprinklings.
• Apply 2-3 in (5-8 cm) of organic mulch, leaving a clear gap around the trunk.
• Feed in early spring only as needed for healthy growth; excess nitrogen encourages leafy shoots rather than fruit.
• Stake young trees securely; many dwarfing rootstocks need permanent support.
• Thin crowded fruit after the natural early-summer drop to one apple per cluster, roughly 6 in (15 cm) apart. Provide another compatible apple flowering at the same time for more reliable crops.

Pruning. Prune established trees in late winter while dormant, removing dead, crossing and crowded branches and retaining a well-spaced framework. Shorten new side shoots on trained espaliers in summer, and avoid severe pruning that produces excessive upright growth.

Pick apples in late autumn, commonly October-November in the Northern Hemisphere and April-May in Australia, with timing varying by climate. Mature fruit remains green but develops a slightly paler background colour, tastes less starchy and lifts away with a gentle twist; taste several apples rather than judging by colour alone.

Late autumn

Harvest mature apples before damaging freezes; store sound fruit somewhere cool and check regularly for decay.

Winter

Plant bare-root trees when soil is workable and not waterlogged; protect trunks from browsing animals.

Late winter

Prune for an open framework and inspect ties and stakes.

Early spring

Renew mulch and feed if growth or a soil test indicates a need.

Spring

Protect blossom from forecast frost where practical, and avoid insecticides while flowers are open.

Early summer

Thin fruit after the natural drop and begin checking for codling moth damage.

Summer

Water during dry spells and summer-prune trained forms without removing too much fruit-shading foliage.

• Train as an espalier along a sunny boundary to produce fruit in a narrow space.
• Use a dwarf tree as a focal point in a kitchen garden, with low flowers outside its mulched root zone.
• Plant in a mixed orchard with compatible apple varieties for improved pollination.
• Use a freestanding tree in an edible lawn or family garden, allowing room for harvesting and fallen fruit.

Garden styles it suits: Backyard orchard, Edible landscape, Potager (kitchen garden), Cottage garden, Homestead and Traditional.

Plant it with: Golden Delicious apple, Crab apple, Chives, Sweet alyssum and Yarrow.

Wildlife: Flowers provide pollen and nectar for bees and other insects. Fallen apples feed birds and mammals but also attract wasps; remove damaged fruit near paths and seating.

• Apple scab: dark leaf spots and scabby fruit are encouraged by wet weather. Remove fallen leaves, improve airflow and use locally approved treatments if repeated damage warrants them.
• Codling moth: larvae tunnel into fruit. Remove affected apples promptly, use monitoring traps and follow local advice on treatment timing.
• Fire blight: blackened shoots may curl at their tips. Prune infected wood well back into healthy growth in dry weather, disinfect tools and avoid excessive nitrogen.
• Poor cropping or unripe fruit: check for inadequate winter chilling, frost-damaged blossom, poor pollination or a growing season too short for this late cultivar.

Apple flesh is not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses. Seeds, leaves and stems contain cyanogenic compounds and can cause serious poisoning if enough is chewed and eaten; a few accidentally swallowed whole seeds are unlikely to cause harm. Remove the core and seeds before offering apple pieces to pets, and prevent horses from eating prunings or large quantities of fallen apples.

• Golden Delicious apple (Malus domestica 'Golden Delicious')

  Unripe fruit can look similar, but ripe Golden Delicious usually becomes yellow and tastes much sweeter.

• Bramley's Seedling apple (Malus domestica 'Bramley's Seedling')

  Also produces tart green cooking apples, but these are usually larger, flatter and more irregularly ribbed, sometimes with a red flush.

The name honours Maria Ann 'Granny' Smith, who raised the original seedling in Eastwood, near Sydney, Australia, in the nineteenth century.

Propagation. Propagate by grafting or budding onto a suitable apple rootstock. Seedlings do not come true to 'Granny Smith'; buy a named, grafted tree for predictable fruit and size.

Accepted botanical name

Malus domestica

Native range

Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Pakistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan and Xinjiang.

Measured

Soil pH 5 to 7.5. Average height 700 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0) and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.