Belle de Boskoop: smaak en teelt
Stevig, wat grover vruchtvlees met aangenaam aroma; voor bereiding en vers gebruik.
By Redactie MoestuinApp · updated
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Stevig, wat grover vruchtvlees met aangenaam aroma; voor bereiding en vers gebruik.
By Redactie MoestuinApp · updated
Firm, slightly coarser flesh with a pleasant aroma; for cooking and fresh use.
An apple tree lets you choose between a first summer apple by the back door and a supply of cooking fruit for autumn. Start with what you enjoy eating. Then decide where the crown can grow, and only then choose the combination of variety and rootstock.
Compare refreshing dessert apples, firm cooking apples and aromatic russets; texture and acidity vary at least as much as sweetness.
Sun, room for the eventual crown and soil that retains moisture without becoming waterlogged. Keep the graft union above ground; support a young tree and water during dry weather.
Usually needs another suitable cultivar. Triploid trees are not suitable reciprocal pollinating partners.
M9 and M26 restrict growth; MM106 produces a larger tree. The cultivar name alone says nothing about eventual size.
Training an espalier: Set horizontal support wires 35–45 cm apart, the lowest about 40 cm above ground. Tie the central stem to a vertical bamboo cane. Choose one healthy side shoot to the left and one to the right. Let young arms grow at an angle first; lower them gently to horizontal only once growth stops. Secure the cane firmly and the shoot with soft material. Adapt summer pruning to the cultivar's fruiting spurs or terminal buds; do not remove every short tip.
A low-stem tree with a reachable crown: Plant with the graft union above ground and put necessary support in place before roots risk damage. Let light between well-distributed framework branches; remove crossing, damaged or inward-growing wood. Thin an overloaded fruit cluster, retaining healthy fruits. Assess ripeness by release and flavour; keep dessert and cooking fruit separate by cultivar.
Free-standing trees during dormancy; prune trained forms according to their own summer schedule. First check whether the cultivar bears on spurs or shoot tips.
Lift a fruit gently and twist: ripe apples come away more easily. Taste them and distinguish picking ripeness from eating ripeness.
Allow space for the mature tree, not just the plant currently in the pot. The cultivar determines part of your fruit choice; the rootstock and tree form also help determine how much space the tree needs. Draw the crown, harvesting reach and support on your garden plan. Before buying, check whether a suitable pollinating partner is needed and whether one actually flowers nearby.
Where necessary, support a young tree with a suitable stake and a wide, soft tie. Do not let the tie rub or constrict the tree, and check it as the trunk and crown grow. Water must reach the root zone; a small wet patch on the surface does not tell you whether the rootball has enough moisture. Take care when planting and follow the species instructions for the correct planting depth.
Keep samples of the different cultivars separate. Record picking ripeness, eating ripeness, texture and the preparation you used. Fruit that tastes pleasant straight from the tree may behave differently in a pie or during storage. For perennial plants, your own flowering and harvest observations are more useful than a fixed countdown from the planting date.
Checked on 2026-10-12. This guide was originally written using the listed sources. Growing advice from other countries is not a local weather forecast.