Apple Tree Braeburn - Malus domestica

The Braeburn apple tree is a very productive variety from a young age and the fourth best-selling apple in France after the Golden Delicious, Gala, and Granny Smith. Its medium-sized apples are delicious, striped and streaked with brick on a yellow-to-green background. And their crispy flesh, without being hard, is rather juicy, appreciated for its pleasantly tart flavour. An excellent apple for eating fresh, it can also be cooked into applesauce or used to garnish pastries.

The Braeburn apple tree was selected in New Zealand in 1950 and is believed to be a cross between Granny Smith's and Lady Hamilton's apple trees. It thrives in warm climates and takes several weeks (175 days) for its fruits to ripen; its apples are harvested in late October in France. They are consumed without delay and can be enjoyed until April. A tree of medium vigour bears them, hardy but quite susceptible to diseases (scab, mildew, rust, and fire blight). It blooms abundantly in April. It is a self-fertile variety, but a nearby Queen of the Pippins or Cox's Orange Pippin apple tree will further improve its productivity. We recommend thinning the fruits in early summer to obtain a harvest of good-sized fruits. The Braeburn apple tree is not subject to alternate bearing; its production is regular and bears fruit from a young age.

The apple tree (Malus domestica) is a fruit tree that belongs to the Rosaceae family. It is cultivated almost everywhere in the world and includes countless varieties, ancient or modern, that produce apples of varying sizes and flavours, from sweet to tart. Apple trees are native to Europe, where their presence has been documented since antiquity. Hardy, sometimes up to -30 °C (- 22°F) for the most resistant varieties, they can be grown almost anywhere.

The size of the domestic apple tree does not exceed ten metres in height and is almost as wide. This site can be even smaller depending on the rootstock's vigour. This fruit tree generally has a high trunk that naturally spreads out. It comes in various forms (bush, half-standard, standard, etc.) and can be trained in many ways (column, cordon, espalier, etc.)

The apple tree leaves are deciduous and arranged alternately on the branches. Their lamina is ovate and toothed. They have a dark green upper surface and a whitish lower surface, slightly downy. In spring, the apple tree bears white or pale pink flowers grouped in corymbs. The flowers of the apple tree consist of 5 petals, surrounding a core composed of about 20 stamens. They give rise to fleshy, spherical fruits (botanically drupes) filled with pips. Their colour, size, flavour, and shelf life vary depending on the variety. Rarely self-fertile, the apple tree is a fruit tree that often requires the presence of other apple trees, blooming simultaneously and nearby, to bear fruit.

The apple tree can be grown in all climates, but it particularly appreciates temperate, relatively humid regions, such as Normandy. It thrives in sunny locations with reasonably moist and fertile soil. It is traditionally grown in orchards but can also be cultivated as a standalone tree or hedge. It is an easy fruit tree that requires at least some pruning. Proper fruiting pruning will prevent the alternate bearing phenomenon (fruiting every other year). An annual or biennial application of well-decomposed compost also promotes apple tree productivity.