Greensleeves is the result of an interesting experiment, crossing the crisp sweet flavours of Golden Delicious with the juicy acidity of the famous Scottish apple variety, James Grieve. The result is a mid-season apple that crops heavily and grows very easily.
The flavour is, as you might expect, simple and straightforward - basically sweet but quite a bit sharper than Golden Delicious. Even so, since Golden Delicious prefers a warmer climate than is found in much of the UK, Greensleeves can be considered as a reasonable substitute.
As with many varieties that have James Grieve in their parentage, Greensleeves is a notably juicy apple, and useful for juicing and cider.
**All prices include delivery. We offer a discount on orders of multiple bare-root trees for delivery at the same time - this will be shown at the checkout.
Delivery period: Pot-grown trees can be delivered from September onwards. Bare-root trees can be delivered from mid-November onwards. Within those periods you can specify your preferred month of delivery during the checkout process. It is best to order as soon as you can to ensure items are reserved for you.
*Mature heights: Height shown is the approximate height of the tree when mature (after 5-10 years), not the height when supplied. See photos of trees as supplied. Actual mature heights may vary considerably dependent on your local conditions and training and pruning regime.
Stock availability: Items showing as 'sold out' will probably be available again next season. If you would like to reserve in advance use our enquiry form - this does not commit you to anything.
Greensleeves is partially self-fertile, but fruiting will be improved if there is a compatible tree of a different variety nearby. Since it flowers in the middle of the blossom season it can be pollinated by most other apple trees.
Our online pollination checker lists suitable pollination partners for this variety.
More advice about pollination.
Greensleeves is one of the easiest apple varieties to grow, and is partially self-fertile, and this probably accounts for its steady popularity amongst gardeners.
Greensleeves is also a very good pollinator for other apple varieties because its blossom is unusually long-lasting (a quality it inherits from both Golden Delicious and James Grieve, which are both good pollinators).
Planting instructions.
Pruning instructions.
A cross between Golden Delicious and James Grieve, developed at the famous East Malling Research Station in Kent, UK, in the 1960s.
