Gala Apple Tree

The Gala apple is a tree for everyone. It tolerates spring frost that can damage the flowers and new growth of other apples and it is happy in hot regions that other apples cannot take. The fruit is ready in the middle of the apple season, so you won’t have to wait too long to be picking ripe apples straight from your tree. No matter how big your harvest nothing will go to waste as these apples will store well in a cool place for at least 3 months and become sweeter while they wait to be eaten.

If you have a small garden and want to have an apple tree it can be difficult. Almost all varieties of apples need a second tree of a different variety that blooms at the same time growing nearby to pollinate the flowers and give you a good crop. Some varieties even need two pollinators and things can get complicated. If you are looking for a straight-forward solution and just want an apple tree, then the Gala apple tree is a perfect choice. It is self-fertile, meaning that it will produce apples from its own pollen and has no need of another tree. So with this tree you need nothing else and you can get ready to enjoy these beautiful apples that you have grown in your own garden.

Growing Gala Apple Trees

The Gala apple ripens its crop in the middle of fall, so it will not be long before you are picking apples. Your tree should begin to produce fruit after two growing seasons and the harvest will grow and grow with each passing year. The Gala apple is a red-skinned apple with white flesh and besides being a great eating apple it makes some of the best apple juice around. So pull out your juicer and all the smaller, odd-shaped apples go straight in to give you delicious sweet, healthy apple juice that everyone will love to drink.

Always plant your Gala Apple tree in a sunny location. It will grow best in a well-drained soil and prefers a slightly sandy soil to one with a lot of clay. If you have clay soil, add plenty of rich organic material to it and grow your tree on a raised mound to give better drainage. The Gala apple tree does much better than many other types of apple in drier areas, so if you have dry summers and not much rain-fall, this is a great choice when you want to grow an apple tree.

Pests and Diseases

Like all apples, Gala may be attacked by several pests and diseases, but there are both organic and traditional methods available to control them so you can choose which method suits you best. You will know exactly what has been done to your trees when you bring in the crop for your family to eat.

Hardiness

The Gala apple was developed in New Zealand in the first half of the last century. It grows from zone 5 to zone 9 and does well in both cool and hot regions. It flowers well in hotter areas as it does not need a lot of chilling hours below 45⁰F to develop properly. It is also very tolerant of, and even prefers, drier regions that other apples will do badly in.

Planting and Initial Care

When planting you tree, prepare the soil well with rich organic material. Dig a hole three times as wide as the pot. If you are planting in winter shake the soil from the roots and spread them out evenly around the hole. If you are planting a tree in leaf, make a cut an inch deep with a sharp knife from top to bottom of the root-ball at 3 or 4 places around the roots. This will encourage new roots to spread out from the tree.

After you have done that, replace most of the soil, keeping your tree at the same depth it was in the pot. Do not cover the ‘kink’ you will see low down on the trunk which was where the tree was grafted. Fill the hole with water and when it has drained away replace the rest of the soil. Apply mulch over the root-zone, leaving the area against the trunk free of the mulch. Keep your tree well watered especially during the summer months.

Care and Maintenance

Apple trees need pruning and training from the beginning of their life with you. Plan to develop a tree with a central stem and side branches radiating out almost horizontally. Use string tied to stones to pull the branches down while they are young.  Upright branches can easily break when the trees are older and your tree will be damaged, so start training early. It only takes a little time. Older trees should be trimmed to control their height.

Buying Gala Apple Trees

Apples trees are grown by grafting a stem of the correct variety onto the root system of a special apple grown only to make the roots of your tree. This is a skilled operation and must be done by experts. It is also very important that the tree used for the grafted stems really is a true Gala Apple and so only specialized nurseries can create these trees. Trees that do not develop strongly are sold-off cheaply, so beware of buying cheap trees which will not become sturdy and healthy apple trees.

We sell only trees that are true to the original form and we have a wide range of sizes to give you the best plant for your purpose. However we are constantly renewing our stock so our customers get fresh, healthy plants, so supplies of this tree may be limited. To avoid disappointment order now.