Canopy height of standard and half-standard fruit trees
Hello I was wondering if you could give me some advice re a good apple tree. I'm a very novice gardener with small children looking for an apple tree to plant in an east border with a 2.5m wall behind it.
Ideally I would like the crown of the tree to be at least 1.5-2m off the ground and the tree to grow to about 3.5m. I plan on planting it about 1.8m from the wall behind.
Asked by: Cecilia from Bath, 11-Dec-2021
Hi Ceclia. The first thing is to decide the mature height of the tree. If you need a clear stem of 1.5m-2m then you will require a tree capable of reaching a mature height of 6m or so. This is sometimes called a "standard" apple tree.
If you want a mature height of around 3.5m then you will need a "half-standard" tree ... but this will only have a clear stem of about 1.2m - 1.4m in the longer term.
Let me know which you prefer.