Laura

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Laura is one of the best of the columnar crab-apple trees, with a striking upright form, superb dusky pink blossom, dark red fruits - and also easy to grow.

Laura has a compact upright columnar or "fastigiate" habit. It is also naturally dwarfing and slow-growing, so it makes a good choice if you are looking for a an interesting crab-apple that will not take up much space in the garden.

The young leaves are bronze when they emerge, turning to a light bronze-green over the summer.

The blossom appears at about the same time as the leaves. It is very attractive, featuring dark pink flowers with lighter centres. The blossom stays on the tree for several weeks, noticeably longer than for regular apple trees.

The maroon-coloured fruits are large and persistent. Their size makes Laura an excellent choice for crab-apple jelly - and the red flesh lends a pretty red tint. Although it always remains a small tree, once established you should achieve a yield of 2kg of crab apples or more in good conditions, which will produce about 800ml after cooking, suitable for further processing into deep red jelly or sauce.

Growing and Training

Laura is a naturally dwarf slow-growing crab apple variety and the mature height will usually be around 2m-3m - although it will take 8-10 years to reach that height.

It is easy to grow, and has good disease resistance.

It has a strongly columnar form. Side shoots may develop, but they grow vertically close to the main stem.

If planting several together you can achieve a nice effect by spacing them about 1.5m - 2m apart.

We recommend that you do not prune this variety.

Typical yield in good conditions from a mature tree will be around 2-3kg of crab apples.

History

Laura was developed in the late 20th centry by UK fruit tree enthusiast Hugh Ermen, who also raised a number of successful garden apple varieties such as Scrumptious.

Laura characteristics

• Gardening skillBeginner
• Self-fertile?Self-fertile
• Pollinating othersGood
• Pick seasonLate
• Food usesCulinary
• PruningDo not prune
• Country of originUnited Kingdom
• Period of origin1950 - 1999

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