A-peel-ing orchards

As well as many favourite apple varieties you’ll certainly recognise, we grow hundreds of heritage types, fantastic and tasty alternatives to what’s generally on offer in the supermarkets. Across our gardens, there is a wide range of tree forms – from freestanding unpruned trees to wall-trained espaliers, fans and cordons.

Here are a few of our orchard highlights:

Priorwood Garden, Melrose

With views across to the abbey, it was once thought that the orchard may have been part of the kitchen garden for the monks of Melrose Abbey. We do know that an orchard existed here in the Victorian era as there are records of Priorwood fruit being displayed at the Royal Horticultural Society in London in 1879.

We now grow over 70 varieties of apples in the orchard at Priorwood Garden, as well as various other fruits including plums, peaches, mulberries and pears. The many different apple trees (all labelled) range from heritage to present-day varieties, and originate from all over the world. One of the oldest and more unusual varieties is Court Pendu Plat, which was brought to Britain by the Romans, who preferred its sweet taste to that of our indigenous crab apple. We also grow the local White Melrose, possibly first grown by the monks at the abbey. This large cooking apple has a sweet-sharp flavour and keeps its shape when cooked.

Our Apple Day is always popular in autumn, when we sell many varieties as well as juices, cakes and jams.

Apple Weekend at Harmony Garden

Friday 11–Saturday 12 October, 10.30am–3pm

As well as the chance to buy apples from our orchard and browse the market stalls from local traders (Sat 12 only), we’ve arranged lots to see and do including alpaca walks (Sat 12 only), apple displays in the Harmony House dining room, Britannia XIV re-enactment group, Gaita medieval music (Sat 12 only), nature activities and printing workshops.

Entry is £1 (including booking fee) – you can book in advance or pay cash on entry.

Find out more in our event listing

Pitmedden Garden, Aberdeenshire

We believe that apple trees were grown at Pitmedden Garden as far back as 1603. But in the winter of 2014 we created a new orchard on the site of a former paddock, next to the walled garden. The new orchard contains over 170 espalier and fan-trained fruit trees, as well as nuts, soft fruits and rhubarb. Of the fruit trees, there are 112 different apple varieties, 5 varieties of pears, 4 varieties of damsons, 4 plums, 2 gages, 1 bullace, 2 medlars and 1 morello cherry! Soft fruits include red and black currants, raspberries, gooseberries and jostaberries (a cross between a blackcurrant and a gooseberry).

Most apple varieties are English or Scottish and originate from the 18th and 19th centuries. They were primarily selected for their suitability for the climate in Aberdeenshire, but there are some exceptions, which we planted as a challenge! As well as favourites like the Golden Pippin, there are also a number of rare varieties, including the Dog’s Snout and Catshead, which were planted in order that they will be conserved for the future.

Apple Sunday at Pitmedden

Sunday 29 September, 10.30am–4pm

Enjoy an autumn day packed with fun for all ages and treat yourself to some of the delicious varieties of Pitmedden Garden’s own apples and pears. Among the entertainment this year will be storytelling, face-painting, family lawn games, trails, a craft area, woodturner demos, live music, Pitmedden Garden home baking, and much, much more.

For entry, we just ask for a donation to our charity – please bring cash for any purchases.

Check our Facebook page for further details

Brodie Castle & Estate, Moray

There are 30 fruit trees in the walled garden at Brodie Castle, mostly apple trees but a couple of pear trees too. Almost all are late Victorian and early Edwardian varieties. Several were grown for their keeping qualities to ensure availability of fruit throughout the winter, namely Sturmer, Pippin and Wagener.

Most of the trees are labelled with the variety name and show if it is a cooking apple (C) or dessert apple (D). Fruit for the castle was so important that a storeroom was specifically built next to the Bothy. The best tasting apples straight from the tree are Worcester Pearmain and Norfolk Royal but these do not keep so well.

Usually around the middle of September we start to notice the branches bending with the weight of apples, so it’s around now that we have a first pick. The picked fruit is stored and used by the castle seasonally, just as it would have been hundreds of years ago. October is our true apple season when most of the crop falls or is picked. Not all the apples are harvested; those that remain on the tree (and a good number of windfalls) provide a great source of food for bees, butterflies and birds.

Visitors can sample the delights of the harvest in the Castle Café (open Wed–Sun), where there are often recipes containing local produce.

The Hill House, Argyll

The apple orchard at the Hill House was first planted in the winter of 1984–85. It’s on the site of the former kitchen garden, which provided vegetables, fruit and cut flowers in the Blackie family’s time.

We planted a mix of culinary and dessert apple varieties in nine rows, including well-established older cultivars such as Egremont Russet, Arthur Turner, Early Victoria, Lord Derby, Fortune, James Grieve and Reverend W Wilks. Unfortunately, all these trees have now been lost, some after they were damaged by gales and the rest had to be removed before construction of the Box in 2018. Years ago, local schoolchildren would come and pick the apples, put them through an apple press and enjoy a drink of fresh apple juice!

The trees in the newly restored orchard are a mixture of modern and older varieties. They’re all dessert apples, including Katy, Greensleeves, Braeburn, Blenheim Orange, Sunset and Worcester Pearmain.

*Please note that there are no events taking place at the Hill House this year.

More apple-related events around the Trust

The apples of Kellie

Saturday 19 October, 7–8pm

Join us at Kellie Castle for a fun-filled talk from Colin Wren, Gardens & Designed Landscapes Manager, National Trust for Scotland, celebrating all things apple!

Book your ticket now