The 'James Grieve' apple has many qualities for successful cultivation in the home garden. Because of its thin skin, the variety cannot be found in the supermarket. However, we will show you how to grow the delicious apple variety in the garden.
The summer apple 'James Grieve' can be grown in many locations and is popular in home gardens. It was not able to establish itself in commercial cultivation due to its sensitivity to pressure and the resulting low storage and transportability. You won't find this variety in the supermarket. 'James Grieve' bears a lot and regularly and can be used in many ways - so the variety is rightly considered an all-rounder for hobby gardeners.
contents
- Apple 'James Grieve': profile
- James Grieve Apple: History and Origin
- Properties and taste of the apple variety 'James Grieve'
- Cultivation and care: you should pay attention to this
- Harvest time and use of the James Grieve apple
Apple 'James Grieve': profile
| fruit | medium to large; Yellow-green base color with orange-red grained top color |
| the taste | juicy, sweet, spicy |
| yield | high |
| harvest time | late August to mid-September |
| maturity | late August to late September |
| shelf life | bad; can be stored until the end of October |
| growth | initially medium strong, later weak; lots of fruit wood |
| climate | low demands; Wind protection in frost-prone and draughty places |
| diseases and pests | prone to fire blight; on very bad locations susceptible to blood lice, aphids, red spider, fruit tree canker, monilia fruit rot |
James Grieve Apple: History and Origin
A passionate apple breeder and grower named James Grieve grew seedlings from seed of the cultivar 'Potts Seedling' near Edinburgh around 1875. As a pollinator, the palatable variety ‘Cox Orange' suspected, but this is not certain. From the 1880s the local Dickson Nursery popularized the new 'James Grieve' and it quickly grew in popularity. It was not until 1893 that the apple was officially registered as a variety.
Properties and taste of the apple variety 'James Grieve'
The James Grieve apple is medium-sized to large, sometimes very large. Its shape is high or spherical and usually quite regular, without dents or strong ribs. The peel is thin, tender and slightly greasy. The basic color is yellow-green, the top color orange-red veined and takes up only 20 to 50% of the shell surface. The top color is washed out, striped or spotted and only turns dark red with very good exposure and in warm regions. The shell is pressure sensitive.
The flesh is light, yellowish-white and soft. Biting into it, it becomes juicy, sweet, and tangy while acidity is almost entirely absent. 'James Grieve' tastes floury after prolonged storage.
Cultivation and care: you should pay attention to this
With a little care, the apple tree 'James Grieve' is a very reliable and bountiful tree.
It grows moderately vigorously when young, later vegetative growth is slowed down immensely by the heavy load of apples. The natural crown shape is broad pyramidal and stocky with few branches. A lot of fruit wood is formed, so that whorl wood can soon be found everywhere in the crown. Unfortunately, this only produces small fruits. The variety tends to become exhausted and must be kept vital through regular rejuvenation cuts.
In order to counteract aging and exhaustion, a rootstock with at least medium growth (e.g. M7, MM106) should be chosen. For tall stems it should be a strong growing rootstock (like M11 or seedlings). Rootstock A2 is suitable for growing as a bush tree.
Perfectly suitable soils for the apple variety 'James Grieve' are nutrient-rich and sufficiently moist. However, less than ideal locations are also well tolerated. The demands on the climate are low: it can be warm, but also a little cooler. In places that are very cold, drafty and prone to frost, a windbreak, such as a dense hedge or a building, should be available.
The blossom of the apple tree 'James Grieve' opens in the middle of the year, lasts a long time and is hardly sensitive to frost. It is well fertilized by the varieties 'Privy Councilor Dr. Oldenburg‘, ‘Freiherr von Berlepsch‘, ‘gold parmesan', 'boike apple', 'clare apple' and 'bell apple'.
Rejuvenation pruning is part of the regular care of the apple tree 'James Grieve'. This repeatedly provokes new vegetative growth and thus counteracts senescence. An annual cut makes sense, but is not absolutely necessary. If the tree produces a lot of fruit, at least half of it should be removed in May/June. This thinning prevents the alternation from being amplified. Alternating apple trees bear a lot and then almost no fruit in the annual change.
Basically, diseases are not an important issue when growing 'James Grieve', because it is robust and resilient. However, there is a susceptibility to reportable fire blight. Blood lice, aphids, red spiders, fruit tree cancer and Monilia fruit rot appear.
Harvest time and use of the James Grieve apple
The James Grieve apples are ready to pick between the end of August and mid-September and can also be enjoyed directly from the tree. Because the fruits are not all ripe at the same time, they are harvested continuously. The James Grieve apples reach their best taste no later than two weeks after the harvest. Unfortunately, the fruits can only be stored in cool cellar storage until about the middle to the end of October, after which they become increasingly brown and wilted. It is therefore better to soon process all the fruit into mush, cake or juice.
Choosing easy-care, robust fruit trees saves a lot of work in the garden and sometimes frustration. The same applies to the entire garden: a natural garden full of native and hardy plants and with a variety of habitats is the best option for anyone who wants less work and more relaxation in the garden.
