Goodland Apple Tree
- Zone 3
Characteristics of the tree
Goodland is a sweet and mildly acidic apple, creamy yellow-green in colour, flushed with red. It is a rather large apple, on average between 6 and 8 cm in diameter. Its white flesh is tender and juicy with a fine texture, and is slow to oxidize. The fruit is delightful to eat fresh, but we also find it to be marvellous in compotes and applesauce, thanks to its pleasantly aromatic flavour.
Goodland keeps well in a cold room, up to 20 weeks after the date of harvest. It is an early apple, which can begin to be harvested from mid to late August.
The Goodland apple tree is hardy in zone 3. It can also be grown in zone 2, but here, some of its branches will probably suffer damage in very cold winters, and will need to be pruned. It is a productive apple tree, giving a good harvest every year. The Goodland apple tree is also precocious: in good conditions it will start to produce as early as 3 years after it is planted. It displays some resistance to fire blight, but can still be somewhat affected if there are other trees heavily infected nearby, and the conditions for the spread of the disease are ideal.
The Goodland apple tree was developed by the Morden Research Centre in Manitoba. It was born from a seedling of the Patten Greening apple. Before being given the name Goodland, it was identified as Morden 354. It was selected in 1925, and introduced to the market in 1955.
The illustration shows different stages of our apple trees growth up until the age of 20 years (as one rarely plans a landscaping arrangement with a longer time period in mind). At 100 years old, the apple tree will be even larger than shown here – it can reach 7 m in height and spread over 9m – while the house might no longer exist!
You should note that this illustration is meant only to give a general indication of what you can expect, and the growth of your tree might look somewhat different. The development of a tree depends on the soil type, irrigation, fertilisation and climatic conditions. What we show here is based on our observation of observations of the growth of apple trees in zone 4, in rather poor soil. In zone 2, growth will probably be slower, while in a rich soil it would be faster.
All our apple trees are sold bare-root, without pots. They have been cultivated directly in our soil. Bare-root trees must be taken out of the ground and shipped during their period of dormancy, which is why we only ship trees in the spring. A big advantage with these kinds of trees, is that they take up very little space, and can therefore be easily shipped by mail all over Canada!
This photograph shows a 2-3-foot apple tree, just like one that you might receive. Depending on the height you choose at the time of purchase, the tree might be a little smaller (1-2 feet) or somewhat taller (3-5 feet.)
All our apple trees are grafted on standard-sized rootstock, which we grow ourselves at the nursery. Trees that are grafted on standard-sized rootstock will become full-sized apple trees (as opposed to dwarf, or semi-dwarf.) While the life expectancy of a dwarf apple tree is only about 20 years, full-sized apple trees such as those we propagate have a lifespan of around 100 years. We believe it is of the utmost importance to plant for future generations, which is one of the main reasons we prefer these kinds of trees.
Besides this, standard-sized apple trees also have many other qualities that set them above dwarf and semi-dwarf trees in our view. For example, their deep and well-developed root systems allow them to draw water from deep underground during periods of droughts. They are more vigorous and resilient, which in turn also makes them more disease-resistant. They are very hardy, and last but not least, much more productive!
To learn more about grafting and the role of rootstocks, see our article here!
