Name:	Malus domestica (Dwarf Pink Lady Pinkabelle, Dwarf Granny Smith, ‘Gala’ & ‘Fuji’)
Planted:	January 2011 & July 2012
Pruning:	Winter (according to some things I’ve read, but others say after fruiting)
Further Info:	Burke’s Backyard and HomeLife

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September 2014

Over the past couple of years, I’ve planted three apple trees. One of which is a fancy (possibly gimmicky) dual-varieties-off-a-single-root-graft type of thing. The four types of apples we should get from these three trees are Pink Ladies, Granny Smith, and the multigrafted Gala and Fuji.

The initial two trees were sold as dwarf varieties, but I’ve now come to realise that dwarf apple trees can still grow pretty bloody big. Both trees have been particularly vigorous and were wonderfully bountiful last year. The apples were tasty in February, but had started to discolour by April, at which stage we had them stewed and accompanied by ice-cream for desert. The fruit was even more popular with the local birds, with currawongs, bowerbirds, indian mynors and king parrots all having a go at them at various times.

The dual variety tree has been in for two years, but has yet to produce fruit. Both leaders have headed straight up, with only a few tiny branches showing thus far. Something had a go at ring-barking one of the leaders last autumn (a cockatoo or other bird with a taste for young bark I guess), but other than having an indentation 240° around the lower trunk, the tree seems to have survived. I gave both leaders a pruning one third down in July, so hopefully the tree will be more inclined to branch out into an apple tree shape this spring.