A guide to fruit tree pollination

The science (and sometimes the snake-oil) can run deep when it comes to fruit tree pollination.

You could read endless books and research studies on how to optimise your orchard with a diversity of cross-pollinators to achieve a bumper crop.

For most growers, it’s actually pretty straightforward to get the right results. This guide should take the confusion out of how best to pollinate your fruit trees.

In the pollination tables below, first find the variety you’re interested in. Then, any tree in the same group, or a group either side, will be a good pollination partner. For example, a group D tree is compatible with trees in groups C, D, and E. And where there are important exceptions, we’ve noted them. Simples!

Jump to:

• Apple trees
• Pear trees
• Cherry trees
• Plum trees (including gage, damson and mirabelle)

We hope this guide helps, and here’s to some bumper fruit crops in the future.

Apple tree pollination

Apple trees invariably give heavier crops when they are pollinated by other suitable varieties. Generally, apple trees that flower at about the same time will cross-pollinate one another.

There are, however, some rather selfish exceptions! These are called “triploid” apples, because the minimum number of varieties required (including the triploid itself) so that all bear fruit is three; two pollinators to pollinate one another, either or both of which to pollinate the triploid.

Just nine of our apple varieties are triploid, however they do include favourites such as Bramley, Jupiter and Blenheim Orange.

Confused yet? We hope not, and you need not be… below is a really clear cross pollination chart for apples!

The superstar apple pollinator!

Introducing the superstar pollinator… the crab apple!

If you’re already set your heart on varieties that don’t pollinate each other, or if you’re planting a large number of trees for an orchard, you can make your life simple (and even more beautiful) by planting a crab apple tree. Just one will help pollinate up to 50 apple trees!

Malus John Downie or Malus Golden Hornet are outstanding for this purpose. These flower freely throughout the pollination season and will partner with any apple in an orchard. As a bonus, Golden Hornet also makes lovely, fragrant crab apple jelly.

Pear tree pollination

All pear trees need to be cross-pollinated with another pear variety to make fruit.

As with the apples above, to help you choose the right pear trees to pollinate each other, we have put them into a colour coded table below.

It’s worth pointing out something quite interesting (as Stephen Fry might say?!) on flowering dates versus harvesting dates – they seem to be all over the place!

Trees that flower early or late in the season tend to harvest mid-season. Whereas those that flower mid-season crop either are the later croppers.

So, although you’ll be mostly interested in the flowering season in order to ensure pollination, you will still have choices to make as to when you want to harvest your fruits. It’s all part of the fun!

Cherry tree pollination

We grow a good range of self-fertile sweet cherry trees that do not need to be pollinated.

However, more than half of our range, including all of the earliest cropping cherries, will need a suitable pollination partner to bear fruit.

As with apples and pears, cherry trees will cross-pollinate with trees in the same group and one group either side.

Plum tree pollination (and gages, damsons…)

Plums, gages, damsons, mirabelles and bullaces are all very closely related trees in the Prunus domestica group. They will all happily pollinate each other, provided they are in flower at the same time.

You know the drill…!

We hope you’ve found this blog both informative and genuinely useful in helping you choose your fruit trees. We always value your feedback, so please do leave a comment below.

Happy growing!