In Victoria in 1915, 226 varieties were listed in Farell’s ‘Apple Culture in Victoria’. Today the market is dominated by just four or five varieties. Fortunately, heirloom apples offer home gardeners choice and flavour over shelf-life, and there are many available in Australia. Low chill apples enable gardeners in inland Sydney, Toowoomba and Perth with 240 and 270 growing days to grow apples. It is desirable to have cross pollinators. Choose a different variety of apple that flowers at the same time, to produce high yields. The Diggers range of apples are all pollinated by ‘Jonathan’ but if in doubt, please see our harvest chart for more information. All our heirloom apples are grafted onto dwarfing rootstock, making them ideal for espalier training or even growing in pots. With a bit of patience and the right advice, you can grow a year’s supply of fruit in just 10 square metres. Dwarf trees are easier to prune, spray and net and have full-sized fruit from an early age. They have all the flavour that is missing from the long storage, supermarket offerings.