Ashmead's Kernel apple trees

Best seller
Gardening skill: Average
Picking season: Late
Keeping (of fruit): 3 months or more
Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
Pollination group: 4
Uses: Eating fresh
Uses: Juice

List of other varieties that will pollinate Ashmead's Kernel

Ashmeads Kernel is a very old traditional English russet apple. It remains popular for its distinctive pear-like flavor which is quite different from most other apple varieties.

Although often considered as a connoisseur's dessert apple, Ashmead's Kernel is actually quite versatile. It can be used for cooking, or sliced in savoury salads, and it keeps very well in a cold store.

Ashmead's Kernel is also becoming increasingly recognised for its juice, which adds an interesting fruity component to cider and hard cider blends.

Ashmead's Kernel apple trees for sale

Item

Mature height*

Price

Quantity

1-year Ashmead's Kernel apple trees bare-root
G.11 rootstock

Small (6ft-9ft) mature height

$29.00

1-year Ashmead's Kernel apple trees bare-root
G.890, G.935 rootstock

Medium (8ft-12ft) mature height

$29.00

1-year Ashmead's Kernel apple trees bare-root
B.118, MM.111 rootstock

Large (10ft-16ft) mature height

$29.00

*Find out more about the apple rootstocks we use to control the mature height.

How to grow

Ashmead's Kernel is quite easy to grow, and perhaps because it is such an ancient variety, it is relatively disease resistant. It can be a light cropper and this usually caused by poor pollination at blossom time - planting another late-flowering apple tree or crab-apple tree nearby is a good idea.

Ashmead's Kernel has good winter hardiness on the right rootstock. It is one of the best-adapted of the major English apple varieties to US climate zones, including the warmer zones of the south-east and southern California.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

Historical details

Originated in England in the 1700s, probably in Gloucestershire.

Ashmead's Kernel characteristics

Using

Picking season: Late
Uses: Eating fresh Juice
Cropping: Light
Keeping (of fruit): 3 months or more
Flavor style (apples): Aromatic
Juice style: Sweeter Sweet (cider)
Fruit persistence: Normal ripening

Growing

Gardening skill: Average
Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
Pollination group: 4
Pollinating others: Poor
Ploidy: Triploid
Vigour: Average vigour
Bearing regularity: Regular
Fruit bearing: Spur-bearer
Organic culture: Suitable

Disease resistance

General resistance: Good
Cedar apple rust: Some resistance
Mildew: Some resistance
Scab: Some resistance
Bitter pit: Some susceptibility

Climate

Cold hardiness (USDA): (4) -30F / -34C (5) -20F / -29C (6) -10F / -23C (7) 0F / -18C (8) 10F / -12C (9) 20F / -7C (10) 30F / -1C
Summer average maximum temperatures: Cool ( 20C - 24C / 68F - 75F) Warm (25C - 30C / 76F - 85F)

Identification

Country of origin: United Kingdom
Period of origin: 1700 - 1749
Fruit color: Russet
Awards: RHS Award of Garden Merit

Similar varieties

Egremont Russet
Egremont Russet is the most popular English russet variety, and a good apple tree for the garden.
Pine Golden Pippin
A classic English russet apple from the Victorian era, notable for its pineapple-like flavor.
Saint Edmund's Russet
Not as well known as other russets, St. Edmund's Russet is nevertheless one of the best.