Bramley's Seedling

Bramley's Seedling is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators

Bramley's Seedling - simply the best of British! Superb tree that will give you more apples than you can cope with. Takes a bit longer to start fruiting, but well worth the wait.

Bramley apples cook down to a 'chunky' consistency, making it the perfect choice for a good old fashioned apple crumble, However Bramley can also be used for jucing too, and is a great choice in a cider blend due to its acidic content.

Don't worry about having to cook all the apples at once - Bramleys store really well.

Bramley's Seedling apple trees for sale

RF1Spindlebush bare-root tree on M27 rootstock£44.00
Mature height: < 1.5m after 10 years
For growing a very-dwarf spindlebush apple tree, will need a permanent vertical stake.
Available next season
RF21-year bare-root tree on M9 rootstock£38.25
Mature height: 1.5m-2.5m after 10 years
Suitable for a dwarf apple tree, a small apple spindlebush, a small apple fan or espalier, a small apple cordon or U-cordon. Will require permanent support.
Available next season
RF3Spindlebush bare-root tree on M9 rootstock£44.00
Mature height: 1.5m-2.5m after 10 years
For growing a dwarf spindlebush apple tree, will need a permanent vertical stake.
Available next season
RF41-year bare-root tree on M26 rootstock£34.95
Mature height: 2m-3.5m after 10 years
Suitable for a semi-dwarf apple tree, a medium apple spindlebush, a medium apple fan or espalier, a large apple cordon or U-cordon.
Available next season
RF52-year bare-root tree on M26 rootstock£43.00
Mature height: 2m-3.5m after 10 years
Suitable for a medium bush-trained semi-dwarf apple tree.
Available next season
RF6Spindlebush bare-root tree on M116 rootstock£44.00
Mature height: 2m-3.5m after 10 years
Suitable for growing on as a spindlebush apple tree with a permanent stake.
Available next season
RF71-year bare-root tree on MM106 rootstock£34.95
Mature height: 3m-5m after 10 years
Can be trained on as a large free-standing apple tree, a half-standard apple tree, a large apple fan or espalier, or a pleached apple tree.
Available next season
RF82-year bare-root tree on MM106 rootstock£43.00
Mature height: 3m-5m after 10 years
Suitable for a large bush-trained free-standing apple tree.
Available next season
RF91-year bare-root tree on M25 rootstock(Original)£35.75
Mature height: 5m-7m after 10 years
Can be trained on to produce a big 'standard' free-standing apple tree in a traditional apple orchard.
Available next season

Growing and Training

Bramley's Seedling is a vigorous triploid variety and needs a pollinator in order to fruit. As it is a poor pollinator of others, it would be best to select a self-fertile variety to act as a pollinator for it. Bramley's Seedling is quite easy to grow, and due to its vigour and natural disease resistance it is a good choice for most locations.

We also offer an alternative to the Bramley's Seedling known as Bramley 20 which is about 20% less vigourous which is better suited for smaller gardens. The apples are the same size.

Recommended pollinators for Bramley's Seedling apple trees

Bramley's Seedling is not self-fertile and is also a poor pollinator of other varieties. Ideally you need two other different but compatible varieties planted nearby in order to produce fruit, or one compatible self-fertile variety. The following varieties are good pollinators for Bramley's Seedling. If you are not sure about pollination requirements don't hesitate to ask us.

Bramley's Seedling characteristics

Gardening skillAverage
Fruit persistenceNormal ripening
Self-fertile?Not self-fertile
Pollinating othersPoor
Pick seasonLate
Picking monthSeptember
Picking periodearly October
Keeping3 months or more
Food usesCulinaryJuiceHard ciderTraditional cooker
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Period of origin1800 - 1849
Fruit colourGreenGreen - lightGreen / Red

More about apple trees

We've all grown up with Bramley cookng apples so we take it for granted that cooking apples are different to eating apples, but, surprisingly, the UK is one of the few countries that makes such a distinction between apples for cooking and apples for eating fresh.

The main qualtities of a good "cooker" are size - the bigger the better - and acidity. Counter-intuitively, it is the acid which gives cooking apples their flavour. In contrast the flavour of sweet dessert apples collapses with cooking.

Cooking apples are usually easier to grow than eating apples, and will tolerate partial shade.

This variety description was researched and written by Orange Pippin staff. Last checked: 07-Sep-2024.

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Bramley's Seedling