Braeburn

Very late and needing a long warm autumn to ripen properly, which most British gardens do not offer. Excellent keeping quality where it does ripen.

A cultivar of Apple. Everything on this page is about the cultivar; how to grow the species is on the plant page, and how big the tree gets is on the rootstock page.

Names and origin

Origin: New Zealand, mid 20th century

Pollination

What this cultivar needs before it will set a crop.

Self-fertility: Needs a pollination partner
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Apple pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
Partner: A compatible partner is required
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Apple pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
Flowering group: 5 on the apple scale
source
Sourced guidancemoderate confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Apple pollination groups
Checked 2026-08-13
Ploidy: diploid
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
NIAB — National Institute of Agricultural Botany: Cultivar ploidy records
Checked 2026-08-13
Partners needed: one

Partners for Braeburn, from the 35 apple cultivars GrowingHQ holds

Computed by the pollination engine from the flowering groups, ploidy and recorded pairings on each record — not a hand-written list. The scope is exactly what the heading says: these are the answers that exist in this catalogue, not the answers that exist.

Cultivar	Verdict	Why
Annie Elizabeth	compatible	Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 5) and both produce viable pollen.
Ashmead's Kernel	compatible	Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 5) and both produce viable pollen.
Ellison's Orange	compatible	Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 5) and both produce viable pollen.
Gala	compatible	Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 5) and both produce viable pollen.
Golden Delicious	compatible	Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 5) and both produce viable pollen.
Laxton's Superb	compatible	Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 5) and both produce viable pollen.
Lord Derby	compatible	Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 5) and both produce viable pollen.
Pixie	compatible	Both flower at overlapping times (groups 4 and 5) and both produce viable pollen.

1 further cultivar returns no verdict, because a flowering group or an incompatibility group is not recorded on one side. The engine reports that rather than assuming a value: Newton Wonder.

The fruit

Season: Very late
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — season
Checked 2026-08-13
Use: Eating
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — use
Checked 2026-08-13
Keeping: Keeps through winter
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — storage
Checked 2026-08-13

The plant

Vigour: Average vigour
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — vigour
Checked 2026-08-13
Habit: Upright
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — habit
Checked 2026-08-13
Cropping: Crops regularly
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Apple cultivars — cropping
Checked 2026-08-13

On each rootstock

The size of the tree comes from the rootstock. What the cultivar contributes is a direction, in words — GrowingHQ does not multiply the range by a vigour factor, because no source supports the multiplier and the resulting number would look far more precise than the inputs are.

Rootstock	Height	With this cultivar
M27	150–180 cm Sourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidence Applies when: In reasonable soil with normal pruning. On poor dry ground an M27 tree can stall well below this and never fill out. Royal Horticultural Society: Apple rootstocks Checked 2026-08-13	Braeburn is of average vigour, so the rootstock's range applies as published.
M9	200–250 cm Sourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidence Applies when: Varies with soil fertility and with how vigorous the grafted cultivar is. Royal Horticultural Society: Apple rootstocks Checked 2026-08-13	Braeburn is of average vigour, so the rootstock's range applies as published.
M26	250–300 cm source Sourced guidancehigh confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Apple rootstocks Checked 2026-08-13	Braeburn is of average vigour, so the rootstock's range applies as published.
MM106	350–450 cm Sourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidence Applies when: Kept smaller by pruning, but this is the size it wants to reach. Royal Horticultural Society: Apple rootstocks Checked 2026-08-13	Braeburn is of average vigour, so the rootstock's range applies as published.
MM111	450–550 cm source Sourced guidancehigh confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Apple rootstocks Checked 2026-08-13	Braeburn is of average vigour, so the rootstock's range applies as published.
M25	550–700 cm source Sourced guidancehigh confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Apple rootstocks Checked 2026-08-13	Braeburn is of average vigour, so the rootstock's range applies as published.

Full profiles for each of these are on the rootstock page.

Cultivar record reviewed 2026-08-13.