Good varieties to grow in the UK: Depends on the desired fruit -Cox's Orange Pippin, Idared and Jonagold are good for eating, Monarch are good for cooking Plant in: October to March Harvest in: Autumn, winter, early spring
Type of soil needed: Most are OK Favoured climate: Reasonably bright, but trees are hardy

Apples are a long-term project. As they grow on trees, the likelihood is that you'll not get much of a harvest for a few years if you start from scratch, but if you tend the tree well, you'll provide your children and grandchildren with abundant fruit for decades.

Your choice of tree is largely governed by factors such as the type of apple you want, and the amount of space you have in your garden; the four most common type of trees, and the space they'll need, are:

• Cordon - a one-stem tree which needs constant support, for very small gardens
• Espalier - common variety, small, requires a lot of attention and pruning
• Bush - for medium gardens
• Standard - a full tree for large gardens

You will buy the trees as saplings - potted, and either a year or two years old already - from a nursery. The precise size of the tree, and how long you'll need to wait and tend to them before you can harvest the fruit, is governed by the type of "rootstock", or bottom part of the tree - ask the nursery for advice.

Choose a bright spot with enough space for the type of tree, and
prepare the soil thoroughly - dig a hole 70 cm deep and 1.2m across, and
incorporate plenty of organic matter - including compost and bark to keep the soil crumbly - and then leave it for a month.

When you get the tree, dig a hole in the same spot large enough to take the roots, and plant it to the depth that it was originally planted in the nursery. Cover the roots, don't add any fertilizer for fear of making the tree outgrow its spot, and water it well. Certain trees will require tying to a stake, so seek advice from the nursery.

Pruning should take place each year, preferably in winter or spring; for all types of tree apart from a cordon, ensure that you prune the tree to about a third of its original size. Prune above outward facing buds and ensure that you have a 50/50 balance between new shoots that have grown in the year of pruning, and well-established branches from the last year and before. For cordons, seek advice from the nursery you bought the tree from.

The fruit is ready to harvest when it can be removed from the tree with a light twist.