The apple of your eye

With scores to choose from in the UK, there is a delicious apple variety for everyone - and now is the ideal time to start thinking about planting one

- Ursula Buchan

THERE ARE three certain things in life: death, taxes and the presence of at least one apple tree in the garden you get when you move house. Of all ‘top fruits’ (that is tree fruits, as opposed to ‘soft fruits’ such as blackcurrants, gooseberries and strawberries), apples are the most widely planted. And it isn’t difficult to see why. They are less picky about how much sunshine they get than pears, peaches, nectarines and apricots, less prone to bird damage than cherries, more useful and storable than plums and infinitely more delicious than medlars. Their blossom in April and early May is the most beautiful of any top fruit; even lovelier than that of quince or cherry. And older trees, on traditional ‘non-dwarfing’ rootstocks, acquire the kind of gnarled individuality that delights tree-climbing children and is so satisfying to the rest of us.