Pink Lady apple

Sun

Full sun, ideally at least 6-8 hours daily; choose a warm site sheltered from strong winds and away from frost pockets.

Water

Keep the root zone evenly moist, especially during establishment and fruit swelling; avoid waterlogged soil.

Soil

Deep, fertile, well-drained loam, ideally pH 6.0-7.0; drainage matters more than soil texture.

Height

Usually 8-12 ft (2.4-3.7 m) on dwarfing rootstocks or 15-25 ft (4.6-7.6 m) on more vigorous rootstocks.

Spread

Usually 6-10 ft (1.8-3 m) on dwarfing rootstocks or 12-20 ft (3.7-6.1 m) on more vigorous rootstocks.

Flowers

Mid-spring; pink buds open to white or pale pink flowers.

Foliage

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

Growth

Moderate; rootstock, soil and training strongly influence growth and final size.

Care needed

High

• Pollinators
• 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 (2.1 m)

3. After 2 years

   7 ft (2.1 m)

4. After 3 years

   7 ft (2.2 m)

5. After 5 years

   7 ft (2.3 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

• Plant with the graft union above the finished soil level; stake dwarf-rootstock trees permanently.
• Water deeply during dry spells, particularly for the first two growing seasons and while fruit is swelling.
• Apply a 2-3 in (5-8 cm) organic mulch, keeping it clear of the trunk.
• Feed modestly in spring if growth is weak; excess nitrogen encourages leafy growth rather than fruit.
• Provide a compatible apple flowering at the same time, such as 'Granny Smith' or 'Golden Delicious'; check local flowering overlap.
• After the natural early-summer fruit drop, thin crowded clusters to one apple, leaving roughly 6 in (15 cm) between fruit.

Pruning. Prune in late winter while dormant, removing dead, damaged and crossing branches and maintaining an open framework with well-spaced fruiting wood. Summer-prune trained espaliers to control side shoots, but avoid stripping off foliage that shades fruit from intense sun.

Pick in late autumn, commonly October-November in suitable Northern Hemisphere climates and April-May in Australia, before damaging freezes. Look for a lighter green-to-yellow background beneath the pink blush, brown seeds and a crisp, developed sweet-tart flavour; lift and twist gently rather than pulling.

Winter

Plant dormant bare-root trees when soil is workable; prune established trees and check stakes and ties.

Early spring

Renew mulch and feed only where growth or soil fertility warrants it.

Mid-spring

Check that a compatible apple is flowering nearby; avoid insecticide use during bloom.

Early summer

Thin fruit after natural fruit drop and begin regular checks for codling moth damage.

Summer

Water during dry spells and summer-prune espaliers without exposing fruit suddenly to strong sun.

Late autumn

Taste-test and harvest mature apples; store sound fruit cool and remove fallen or mummified fruit.

• Train as an espalier along a sunny fence or wall to combine fruit production with a defined garden boundary.
• Plant dwarf trees in an edible garden where blossom and ripening fruit provide seasonal interest.
• Include in a small orchard with compatible pollinating varieties and room for harvesting access.
• Use a freestanding tree as a focal point beside a potager, keeping its immediate root zone free of competing turf.

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

Plant it with: Granny Smith apple, Golden Delicious apple, Chives, Thyme, Yarrow and Sweet alyssum.

Wildlife: Spring flowers supply pollen and nectar for bees, and fallen fruit feeds birds and mammals. Protect ripening fruit with wildlife-safe exclusion netting where necessary, securing it tightly so animals cannot become entangled.

• Poor fruit set or unripe apples: provide a compatible flowering partner and a warm, sunny site; where autumn arrives too early, choose an earlier-ripening cultivar instead.
• Apple scab: remove fallen leaves, prune for airflow and avoid wetting foliage; use locally approved apple treatments if disease remains severe.
• Codling moth: remove damaged and fallen fruit promptly, use monitoring traps and time any locally approved controls to egg hatch.
• Fire blight: remove infected shoots well below visible damage during dry weather, disinfect tools between cuts and avoid excessive nitrogen feeding.

Apple flesh is not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses. Seeds, leaves and stems contain cyanogenic compounds; substantial consumption, especially of chewed seeds or wilted foliage, can cause serious poisoning. Do not let pets or horses eat pruning waste, and remove cores and seeds from fruit offered as treats.

• Fuji apple (Malus domestica 'Fuji')

  Fruit is often rounder, with red striping or mottling, and tastes sweeter with less acidity; appearance overlaps, so a reliable label is more useful than colour alone.

• Gala apple (Malus domestica 'Gala')

  Usually ripens much earlier and bears smaller, sweeter fruit with orange-red stripes rather than the typical late-season pink blush of 'Cripps Pink'.

'Cripps Pink' honours breeder John Cripps, who developed it in Western Australia from a cross between 'Golden Delicious' and 'Lady Williams'.

Propagation. Propagate by grafting or budding onto a suitable apple rootstock; seed-grown trees will not remain true to 'Cripps Pink'. Rootstock choice determines much of the tree's size, support needs and time to cropping; check local plant breeders' rights before propagating protected selections.

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.