Not the plant you're looking for? Search over 300,000 plants
TreesFruit Edible

Malus domestica 'Christmas Pippin'PBR (D)
  • RHS AGM
  • RHS Plants for pollinators

apple 'Christmas Pippin'

A late-season apple, with thin, yellow skin flushed and streaked with red, and sweet, juicy, crisp, creamy, aromatic flesh. This variety is not self-fertile and is in pollination group 3. Fruit is ready to pick in mid-autumn, and keeps until Christmas

Buy this plant
Size
Ultimate height
2.5–4 metres
Time to ultimate height
10–20 years
Ultimate spread
4–8 metres
Growing conditions
Clay
Loam
Sand
Moisture
Well–drained, Moist but well–drained
pH
Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Colour & scent
StemFlowerFoliageFruit
Spring Pink White Green
Summer Green
Autumn Green Red Yellow
Winter
Position
  • Full sun
Aspect

South–facing or West–facing

Exposure
Sheltered
Hardiness
H6
Botanical details
Family
Rosaceae
Native to GB / Ireland
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Bushy, Spreading branched
Genus

Malus are small to medium-sized deciduous trees with showy flowers in spring and ornamental or edible fruit in autumn; some have good autumn foliage colour

Name status

Accepted

How to grow

Cultivation

Prefers a deep, fertile, moist but well-drained, neutral soil in a sheltered, sunny position. Will not thrive on very acid soils, shallow chalk soils or with shade for more than half the day. May require fruit thinning to improve fruit size and quality. See apple cultivation

Propagation

Propagate by grafting in midwinter or budding in late summer. Fruit grown from pips will not resemble the parent

Suggested planting locations and garden types
  • City and courtyard gardens
  • Cottage and informal garden
  • Wildlife gardens
  • Wall side borders
  • Edible fruit
Pruning

Prune according to chosen training method. See apple pruning

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids, including woolly aphid and rosy apple aphid, fruit tree red spider mite, codling moth and other caterpillars

Diseases

May be susceptible to apple canker, apple scab, blossom wilt, brown rot, fireblight, honey fungus and powdery mildews

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.