Granny Smith Apple tree in Scotland?

I was going to add another fruit tree in my garden and was wondering if my climate would be suitable in central Scotland? The winters can get pretty cold below zero and the summers are decently warm, around a maximum of 24 degrees Celsius. All my other apple trees fruit brilliantly. I know they originate in Australia, but haven't seen any posts on the UK. Thanks.

 

Bit tender to grow anywhere in Britain, from what I read about it.

 

I've never come across a Granny Smith apple that I would bother buying let alone go to the trouble of growing.
I think its one for warmer climates.

 

Why don't you have a "James Grieve"? It is both a cooker and, if you leave the apples on the tree, an eating apple. Only Apple tree that does that apparently! It originally came from Scotland and is as tough as old boots.
Hope this helps.

 

Thanks a lot for your replies , I think I might get a James Grieve then, they look tasty haha. Shame the fruit that the supermarkets advertise aren't actually capable of being grown here.

 

There's a reason for that! Supermarkets sell things that suit the growers and suit the transport and display process. So you are unlikely to find varieties that easily bruise, or have lots of misshapen fruits, or are awkward for the grower to harvest (so if they "all come at once" that's preferred). (I'm speaking in general terms, not specifically about Apples)

Flavour doesn't feature very high on that list!

My expectation is that Apples you grow yourself will taste far better, (even supermarket varieties), as you can choose varieties for taste and if they have thin skins, and bruise easily, you'll be careful how you pick & handle them!!

If you aren't in a hurry then you should be able to find an "apple tasting day" somewhere near you in the Autumn (there is a specific national apple day which I expect Mr Google will find for you ). That would give you an opportunity to try tasting some Apples to find one you like, and the local nursery hosting it will help you with local growing conditions etc. You also need to take into account pollination - some Apple varieties won't self-pollinate, and need a second, different, one - which must also flower at the same time (and just to complicate matters Triploid Apples won't reciprocate the pollination - so Apple-A may pollinate Apple-B but sometimes not the other way round, you then need Apple-C to pollinate Apple-B and vice versa - only an issue if you are hell-bent on having variety of Apple-A)

Red Windsor is regarded as a bullet-proof variety, self fertile, and will grow Up North. Dunno if you will like the taste though ... that's personal preference of course.

Apple trees are dirt cheap (lets say £15 per plant) relative to their lifetime yield so easy to see that it will pay for itself and thus I think worth spending a bit of time on the initial choice

(Yield is between 4-6kg for the smallest dwarfing rootstocks 10-20kg for M9 rootstock (2.5M mature plant), 30kg for M26 (3M mature plant), 25-50kg for MM106 (4M tall by 4.5M dia), 50-150kg for MM111 (5M x 5M) and up to 200kg per tree for M25 rootstock (7M tall and more than that dia) )

 

Funny how everyone says James Grieves yet it is the one apple variety which totally failed for us. I don't think we ever got a decent apple from the tree in 10 years. It was so badly affected by Scab, that in the end we dug it up and planted something else.
Kristen's approach is certainly the best way to go about it.

 

I already have a few apple trees, but my big apple tree, I don't know the variety and I can't remember if it is an eating apple or not. I got it from LIDL about 6 years ago and it has been amazing. The apples are green with red blotches from the sun, but that doesn't really help.

 

That's good to hear

Doesn't follow though, sadly, that your next purchase will be to your liking ... and it will take a few years for a new tree to fruit ... so I think worth picking one that you are going to enjoy (and will grow OK in your climate / soil /etc.) rather than waiting those years for the new tree to grow and then hating its fruit!