What Is the Pollinator for an Apple Tree?

Apple Pollinators

• Honeybees are the primary pollinators for apple trees, and springtime competition is fierce for these busy insects. For the best chance at capturing the hive's attention and ensuring effective cross-pollination between trees, plant your apple cultivars 20 to 50 feet apart, depending on the trees' mature size. Don't spray insecticides before or during your apple trees' bloom time. If bees are scarce in your area and you have a relatively large number of apple trees, consider renting a beehive.

Apple Pollinizers

• Orchard veterans don't consider most apple trees to be self-fruitful. Apple trees need another apple cultivar to act as a pollinizer to produce plentiful, high-quality fruit. Two trees of the same cultivar won't effectively pollinate each other, but remember that pollen doesn't stop at your property line; your neighbor might have a 'Fuji' or a 'Braeburn' that will pollinate your new 'Honeycrisp.' If you do plant two or more cultivars, choose those with similar bloom times for the best results. Also keep in mind that certain ornamental crabapples are very efficient pollinizers, especially when your trees have varied bloom times. 'Manchurian' crabapple is an early bloomer, while 'Snowdrift' crabapple trees bloom in mid to late spring.

Sterile Varities

• Certain apple trees don't produce viable pollen. They won't pollinate other trees, and, to make matters worse, they won't produce fruit without a nonsterile apple nearby. Winesap, 'Jonagold' and 'Gravenstein' are a few of the sterile varieties and must have another apple or crabapple cultivar to provide pollen. Although these cultivars produce delicious fruit, don't plant these cultivars unless you have other apple trees nearby; the tree will provide shade, fall color and spring blooms, but you'll be sadly lacking in apples.

Self-Fruitful Varieties

• In contrast to sterile cultivars, nurseries market certain apple cultivars as self-fruitful. It's true that these cultivars will produce fruit without a pollinizer, but a pollinizer improves the quality and amount of fruit your tree produces. These self-fruitful varieties include the popular 'Granny Smith' and 'Golden Delicious' along with lesser-known cultivars such as 'Jonathan' and 'Gala.' Plant a pollinizer alongside these varieties for the best harvest.