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Simple bare root fruit trees and ornamental trees

Red Windsor®

Red Windsor apples
Red Windsor has received the RHS Award of Garden MeritRed Windsor is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators

There are so many reasons why this should be the first apple tree you grow.  For a start Red Windsor is self-fertile so you don't have to worry about needing a pollinator for it to fruit.  It has Cox's Orange Pippin as one of its parents so has a good flavour, slightly on the sharper side of sweet.  However, whilst Cox is predominantly disease prone, Red Windsor has good overall disease resistance.

Red Windsor is a reliable cropper and has the added advantage of fruit ripening over several weeks so you are not left to deal with a glut all at once.  It also has a naturally compact growth habit so is well suited to smaller gardens or if you are short of space. 

A good choice for the anyone wanting to branch out into growing their own apples.


 

Red Windsor apple trees for sale

  • RF12-year bare-root tree on M9 rootstock£43.00
    Mature height: 1.5m-2.5m after 10 years
    Suitable for growing a small bush-trained dwarf apple tree, will need a permanent stake.
    Available next season
  • RF2Spindlebush 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
  • RF31-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
  • RF42-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
  • RF51-year bare-root tree on M116 rootstock£34.95
    Mature height: 2m-3.5m after 10 years
    Can be grown on as a large free-standing apple tree, a small half-standard apple tree, or a large apple fan or espalier.
    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
  • RF9Spindlebush bare-root tree on MM106 rootstock£44.00
    Mature height: 3m-5m after 10 years
    For growing a large central-leader spindlebush apple tree, will need a permanent vertical stake.
    Available next season
  • RF10Spindlebush bare-root tree on MM111 rootstock£44.00
    Mature height: 3m-5m after 10 years
    For growing a very large central-leader spindlebush apple tree, will need a permanent vertical stake.
    Available next season

Growing and Training

A great mid-season apple variety whose blossom also has some resistance to late frosts.  It is a good choice if you have limited light or a shorter growing season. 

Red Windsor is grown commercially on a small-scale in the UK, and is sometimes marketed as Sweet Lilibet.


Recommended pollinators for Red Windsor apple trees

Red Windsor is self-fertile, so you do not need another variety to pollinate it to produce fruit. However you are likely to get a better crop if you plant any of the following pollinator varieties nearby. If you are not sure about pollination requirements don't hesitate to ask us.

  • Pollinator Egremont Russet
    Egremont Russet
    Egremont Russet is the most popular English russet variety, and a good apple tree for the garden.
  • Pollinator Bountiful
    Bountiful
    Bountiful is an easy-to-grow cooking apple, it retains its shape when cooked, fairly sweet for a cooker.
  • Pollinator Greensleeves
    Greensleeves
    Greensleeves is a reliable and popular mid-season green/yellow apple, easy to grow and productive.
  • Pollinator Bardsey
    Bardsey
    A hardy disease-resistant apple, discovered growing on an island off the west coast of Wales.
  • Pollinator Stirling Castle
    Stirling Castle
    A traditional Scottish cooker from the Victorian era, with a good sharp flavour.
  • Red Sentinel
    Malus Red Sentinel has classic white blossom and a profusion of tiny scarlet persistent fruits.
  • Pollinator Keswick Codlin
    Keswick Codlin
    Keswick Codlin is a popular early-season cooking apple, easy to grow, and productive in most climates.

Red Windsor characteristics

  • Gardening skillBeginner
  • Fruit persistenceNormal ripening
  • Self-fertile?Self-fertile
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • Pick seasonMid - Early September
  • Picking periodmid-September
  • Keeping1 week
  • Food usesEating fresh
  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1950 - 1999
  • Fruit colourRed

You might also like these varieties

  • See also Christmas Pippin
    Christmas Pippin
    Christmas Pippin is a new high-yielding Cox-style apple, discovered as a chance seedling tree.
  • See also Red Devil
    Red Devil
    Red Devil is a good apple variety for the UK garden, and produces a sweet red-tinted juice.
  • See also Red Falstaff
    Red Falstaff
    Red Falstaff is one of the best garden apple trees, heavy crops, easy to grow, and very juicy.
  • See also Sunset
    Sunset
    Sunset is a popular garden alternative to Cox, easier to grow, with a sweet aromatic flavour.

More about apple trees

Apples are very versatile, and all varieties can be eaten or used in the kitchen. However varieties specifically grown as eating apples tend to have the best flavours for eating raw.

The main thing to decide when choosing an eating apple is when you intend to eat the apples. Early season apples are typically ready in August, and generally don't keep very long. Mid-season apples are ripe in early September, while late-season apples start to become ripe in late September and October. Many of the late-season varieties can also be stored in a fridge or cold shed for several months into the winter.

Some apple varieties are self-fertile, but most are not. However in most areas of the UK you do not need to worry whether your apple trees are self-fertile or not, as there will be other apple trees in nearby gardens to help with pollination.


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