This subject is often overcomplicated.

Most fruit trees need pollen from another tree of the same species in order to set fruit.

Different varieties flower at slightly different times. Some early flowering apples can flower up to five weeks before some late flowering varieties.

In many gardens, there will be enough trees in the locality for successful pollination to take place.

Fruit tree flowering times are grouped into categories  1-5. Flowering group 1 represents early flowering and group 5 late flowering.

Trees will cross pollinate with varieties in the same pollination group and those in the group before of after.

A tree in group 3 will pollinate another variety in group, 2,3 or 4.

Even varieties listed as self fertile (SF) will set fruit better if they are pollinated by another variety.

Some trees are ‘Triploid’ (T), this means they need to be pollinated by two other varieties and their pollen will not pollinate other trees.

All trees in the catalogue will have their pollination group listed next to the variety name.

There are a few apple varieties for which I don’t know the pollination group. This is due to the fact they are quite rare and there is not much information written about them. For more info on those varieties without a pollination group, please contact Tom.