Golden Delicious apple trees
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- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
- Awards: RHS AGM (former) 1993
Golden Delicious has a very poor reputation in the UK, a legacy of the time when large quantities of bland under-ripe bright green French-grown Golden Delicious apples dominated supermarket shelves. However, Golden Delicious is a very different proposition when home-grown in good conditions - a handsomely-shaped apple with a golden-green skin, crisp juicy flesh, and a rich sweet flavour, reminscent of raw cane sugar. If you like crisp sweet apples then it is hard to beat a home-grown Golden Delicious, picked late in the autumn when it is properly ripe.
Home-grown Golden Delicious apples still retain the advantages of commercially grown examples - they are versatile for eating fresh or using in the kitchen, and of course they are one of the best apples for long-term storage, retaining flavour and crispness for several months in a cold shed or in the fridge.
Golden Delicious apple trees for sale
Pot-grown
All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.
PG12-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree M26 rootstock £56.50< 5 in stock
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree MM106 rootstock £56.50
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Bare-root
BR12-year bush-trained bare-root tree M9 rootstock £44.75< 5 in stock
Small tree
(1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
BR21-year bare-root tree M26 rootstock £34.95
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
BR32-year bush-trained bare-root tree M26 rootstock £43.00
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
BR42-year bush-trained bare-root tree MM106 rootstock £43.00
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
BR52-year half-standard bare-root tree MM106 rootstock £46.50
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Need help? Ask our fruit tree experts
Call us on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.
Next deliveries
Order now for delivery from week commencing 25th November for pot grown trees or December for bare-root or mixed tree orders.
Delivery charges
Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.
Growing and Training
Golden Delicious is easy to grow, and very productive. In the UK it does best in the south and east as it prefers a drier climate, and a warm autumn helps.
It is usually a good pollinator for other apple varieties, particularly traditional English varieties such as Cox, because it flowers over a long period, producing a lot of pollen, and is is not closely related to them.
History
Golden Delicious is not a French apple, as many people assume - it was discovered in West Virginia, USA, in the 1890s. Golden Delicious is almost certainly a seedling of an old American variety called Grimes Golden.
The original tree survived until the 1950s, by which time Golden Delicious was firmly established as one of the most widely-planted of all apples.
Golden Delicious characteristics
- Gardening skillAverage
- Self-fertilityPartially self-fertile
- Flowering group4
- Pollinating othersGood
- Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
- Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesWarm climates
- Picking seasonLate
- CroppingHeavy
- Keeping (of fruit)3 months or more
- Food usesEating freshCulinary
- CankerSome susceptibility
- Scab (Apple and Pear)Some susceptibility
- Powdery mildewSome susceptibility
- Fire blightSome susceptibility
- Country of originUnited States
- Period of origin1850 - 1899
- Blossom colourWhite
- Fruit colourGreenGreen - lightGreen / Yellow
- AwardsRHS AGM (former)
British-grown trees 
Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK.
Find out more.
In addition, all our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance.
Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. The scheme aims to improve UK biosecurity by setting standards
for all growers and retailers involved in selling plants in the UK.
Find out more
Guaranteed fruit trees
When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden whilst it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund - subject to some conditions.
Find out more.
