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Orange Pippin Trees USA logoSpecialist fruit trees for your orchard or back-yard

Domaine cider apple tree

Domaine is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 2
  • Uses: Hard cider
Domaine is a traditional French bittersharp cider apple variety.

Domaine cider apple trees for sale

  • Small 1-year bare-root tree $37.95
    Mature height: 6ft-9ft after 10 years
    Dwarf rootstock
Next deliveries

We are now accepting pre-orders for the spring 2024 planting season.


Domaine is a traditional French cider apple, producing a bitter juice (usually classed as bittersharp, although it can be quite sweet). It is one of the primary varieties registered for cider production in the Pays d'Auge in Normandy.

The apples ripen mid-season, and should be pressed within a few weeks of picking.

How to grow

Domaine is not particularly disease-resistant, but is a vigorous tree. It is prone to biennialism, so be sure to thin the fruitlets in the "on" year to ensure regular cropping.

It blooms very early for a cider variety, but can be readily pollinated by most other early-blooming apple varieties.

Domaine seems to be more resistant to fireblight than some other French varieties. (Fireblight was unknown in French cider orchards until recently, so it is not a disease which traditional French varieties would have been selected for resistance to).

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

Domaine characteristics

  • Gardening skillBeginner
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Pollination group2
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • Bearing regularityBiennial tendency
  • Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
  • WildlifeRHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking seasonMid
  • UsesHard cider
  • CroppingGood
  • Keeping (of fruit)2-3 weeks
  • Juice styleBittersharp (cider)
  • General resistanceAverage
  • FireblightSome resistance
  • CankerSome susceptibility
  • ScabSome susceptibility
  • MildewSome susceptibility
  • Cold hardiness (USDA)(5) -20F / -29C(6) -10F / -23C(7) 0F / -18C(8) 10F / -12C
  • Summer maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)
  • Country of originFrance
  • Period of origin1800 - 1849
  • Fruit colorOrange / Red
  • Fruit sizeAverage