Rouville Apple Tree
- Zone 3
Characteristics of the tree
Rouville is a large, tasty all-purpose apple. It is high in sugar and tannin, making it popular with cider makers. This apple tree also stands out in terms of its disease-resistance, being resistant to both scab and fire blight.
Rouville is a large, tasty all-purpose apple, measuring generally from 7 to 8 centimetres in diameter. It has greenish yellow skin mostly covered with red blush. The flesh is a creamy white with a consistency that is pleasantly crunchy and slightly coarse. It has a well-balanced sub-acid and sweet flavour that is equally good for fresh eating, baking or making juices and ciders. It is high in sugar and tannin, and measures 14 Brix. The fruit is ready to harvest in mid to late August, and will keep for about 2 months.
Rouville is a vigourous tree with an upright bearing, hardy to zone 3. In terms of disease-resistance, it is excellent: highly resistant to fireblight, with also very good resistance to apple scab. The tree provides good annual production and has a known tendency towards precocity, often bearing fruit a little earlier than most varieties.
Rouville is self-fertile, but will produce more fruit with a pollinator nearby.
The Rouville apple tree was created in 1962 and introduced in 1983 by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s research centre in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. The cross was authored by R.L. Granger and G.L. Rousselle and parents are: Red Melba, Mac, and Wolf River.
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!
