Spring 2024Last few weeks for orders for Spring 2024 planting season.
Orange Pippin Trees USA logoSpecialist fruit trees for your orchard or back-yard

Liberty apple tree

Liberty
Liberty is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Late
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 2

Liberty is one of the most disease-resistant apples currently available. It is particularly resistant to scab, fireblight, and cedar apple rust, and regulary features in online listings for disease resistance. It is a good choice for a no-spray orchard.

It's also a great-tasting apple. It gets its clean well-balanced flavor from its immediate parent Macoun and grand-parent McIntosh. It also has the bright white flesh and sweet "vinous" flavor which is a characteristic of almost all apples which are descended from McIntosh, but with perhaps a bit more tartness. Overall the flavor can be considered first class with no compromise for being disease resistant.

Although primarily an apple for eating fresh, it can also be used for applesauce - which will be pink if you leave some of the skin on.

Liberty apple trees for sale

Our inventory is up to date, you can pre-order now for the spring 2024 planting season.

  • 1Dwarf 1-year bare-root tree $37.95
    Mature height: 6ft-9ft after 10 years
    G.11, G.16 rootstock
  • 2Semi-dwarf 1-year bare-root tree $37.95
    Mature height: 8ft-12ft after 10 years
    G.890, G.935 rootstock

How to grow

Liberty is a great choice if you live in an area where cedar-apple rust (CAR) is prevalent, as it is very resistant to this disease - although note that "disease-resistant" does not mean "disease-proof".

Liberty trees are fairly vigorous and precocious. The fruitlets will require thinning in most seasons, to avoid a very large crop of very small apples. The apples ripen over a period so you do not have to pick them all at once.

Liberty will grow in most climates - it is probably better in cooler regions, but performs well in warmer climates including southern California . It is generally a fool-proof and reliable apple.

There is some evidence that Liberty might be a triploid variety - with 3 sets of chromosomes instead of the more usual 2 sets (diploid). Triploid varieties often have good disease resistance, but Liberty does not have some of the other physical characteristics associated with triploid varieties, such as very large size and vigour. There is also some evidence that Liberty might have a degree of self-fertility, and again this is sometimes seen in other triploid varieties. However there is also contradictory evidence that Liberty is a good pollinator of other apples. Most other compatible apple and crab-apple varieties will readily pollinate Liberty.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Liberty was developed at the Geneva Experimental Station, New York and introduced in 1978. It is related to Macoun.

During the research program which led to this variety, seedling trees were exposed to scab spores, cedar apple rust spores, and fireblight.

Liberty characteristics

  • Gardening skillBeginner
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Pollination group2
  • Pollinating othersAveragePoor
  • Picking seasonLate
  • UsesEating freshJuice
  • Keeping (of fruit)1-2 months
  • General resistanceGood
  • FireblightSome resistance
  • ScabVery resistant
  • Cedar apple rustVery resistant
  • MildewSome resistance
  • Cold hardiness (USDA)Zone 4 (-34C)
  • Summer maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)Warm (25-30C / 76-85F)Hot (>30C / 86F)
  • Country of originUnited States
  • Period of origin1950 - 1999
  • Fruit colorCrimson

Similar varieties

  • Triumph
    Also known as MN80, Triumph is a new release from the well-regarded University of Minnesota apple breeding program.