Growing Apples in Tasmania – A Beginners Guide
Apples are one of the most rewarding fruit trees to grow, and Tasmania’s cool winters and mild summers provide ideal conditions for successful cultivation. With a little planning and care, you can enjoy an abundance of crisp, flavourful apples straight from your own garden.
Why Tasmania Is Ideal for Apples
While apples grow in many parts of Australia, Tasmania’s climate gives growers a real advantage. Most apple varieties bloom in mid-October, which helps avoid damage from late frosts - especially in all but the coldest regions.
Choosing the Right Spot
Apples need well-drained soil - soggy conditions in winter are a common cause of root issues. They thrive in full sun, but some varieties (like Granny Smith) will tolerate partial shade. Red-skinned apples need more sun to develop their colour properly.
Planting Tips
You can plant apples year-round, but the best selection is available in winter, when trees are sold bare-rooted at garden centres. Prepare your planting site with plenty of composted manure, organic matter, and a sprinkle of blood and bone or slow-release fertiliser. Water in well.
Prune newly planted trees back hard to encourage strong, healthy growth - but if you’re buying from Stoneman’s Garden Centre, there’s no need to worry! When you purchase your bare-root fruit trees from us, our expert team has already given them a professional first prune, so they’re ready to plant straight into your garden.
Standard trees are usually spaced 4-5 metres apart, but there are other options like espalier or step-over planting if space is limited.
Potted apple trees can be planted any time of year - just be sure to water them regularly.
Space-Saving Options
For smaller gardens or patios, dwarf apple trees are perfect in large containers like wine barrels. New columnar varieties grow to just 60cm wide, making them ideal for narrow beds, planter boxes, or courtyard spaces. Always use a premium potting mix, such as Stoneman’s Premium Potting Mix, to ensure good drainage and healthy root development.
Pollination & Fruit Set
Most apple trees will produce fruit on their own if conditions are right, but planting a compatible pollinator nearby will increase your crop size and quality. Some varieties, like Gravenstein and Mutsu, have sterile pollen and require a second variety for successful pollination.
Bee activity plays a vital role in this process, as bees transfer pollen between flowers. To encourage strong pollination, create a bee-friendly garden with other flowering plants nearby and avoid using insecticides during blossom time. More bees means better fruit set!
Feeding & Thinning for Better Fruit
Once your apple tree begins producing fruit, it’s important to support its health and productivity. Apply a quality fruit and citrus fertiliser or blood and bone with added potash (around 200g per tree) in early spring or after harvest to encourage strong growth and a reliable crop.
To get large, healthy apples and maintain regular harvests, proper fruit thinning is essential. When apples are about the size of a walnut, thin each cluster to leave just one fruit per bud, spacing them about 15cm apart. This helps prevent overcrowding and improves both size and quality.
Winter Pruning for Productivity
A few simple snips during winter can lead to a stronger, more fruitful apple tree in the growing season ahead. Apple trees bear most of their fruit on short spurs found on two-year-old wood, so winter pruning is all about shaping the tree while preserving these productive branches. Always use sharp, clean tools, and disinfect them between plants to help prevent the spread of disease.
Five Simple Winter Pruning Steps for Healthy Apple Trees
Winter is the ideal time to shape your apple tree and set it up for a productive season. Follow these straightforward steps to keep your tree healthy, manageable, and fruiting well:
- Reduce Tree Size – Trim back any overly long or hard-to-reach branches to make future pruning easier and keep the tree more compact.
- Open Up the Centre – Remove any upright or vigorous shoots growing into the centre of the tree to allow better airflow and sunlight to reach all parts of the canopy.
- Remove Crossing or Crowded Branches – If branches are rubbing, crossing, or growing too close together, choose the stronger one to keep and remove the rest to prevent damage and improve structure.
- Cut Out Damaged or Diseased Wood – Prune away any branches that are dead, broken, or show signs of disease, cutting back to healthy wood.
- Thin Fruiting Spurs – On older trees, reduce the number of fruiting spurs to avoid overcrowding and promote larger, better-quality fruit in the next harvest.
With just a little winter maintenance, your apple tree will reward you with strong growth and an abundant crop.
Popular Apple Varieties in Tasmania
- Bramley – Large, tart green apple. The world’s most popular cooking apple.
- Cox’s Orange Pippin – Superb flavour. Yellow with red stripes. Mid-season.
- Crofton – Excellent flavour. Sweet, crisp red apple. Late season.
- Gala – Mid-season, red-striped apple with excellent flavour. Good keeper.
- Golden Delicious – Mid-season. Sweet, golden skin. Great pollen donor.
- Gravenstein – Very early season. Needs a pollinator. Best when picked promptly.
- Granny Smith – Crisp, tart green apple. Great for storage. Late season.
- Jonagold – Golden Delicious × Jonathan. Excellent crisp flavour.
- Jonathan – Juicy, aromatic and crisp. Mid-season favourite.
- Lady in the Snow (Pomme de Neige) – Early, red apple with snow-white flesh.
- Pink Lady – Late ripening. Crisp, juicy, and full of flavour.
- Red Delicious – Large, sweet and aromatic. Mid-season.
- Red Fuji – Maroon-skinned, late-season apple. Excellent flavour and stores well.
Visit Stoneman’s Garden Centre to explore our wide range of bare-rooted and potted apple trees — from classic heirloom favourites to space-saving modern varieties. Whether you're planting an orchard or a single tree in a courtyard, we’ll help you choose the perfect fit for your garden.
Shop in-store or
online and let us help make your apple-growing journey a fruitful success!
