Greensleeves

A popular garden variety which produces regular heavy crops of sweet golden yellow fruit.

Origin: Kent UK, 1966

Pollination: Greensleeves is partially self-fertile and would produce some crop without a pollinator but would benefit considerably from a pollinator.Find pollination partners >

British-grown All our bare-root trees are personally hand-grafted by our Nursery Manager and grown on at our nursery in Kent. We have Defra and Plant Healthy certification. More ...

We are now closed for the season. Ordering for winter 2026/27 will be enabled from Friday 1st May 2026.

History and description of Greensleeves

Raised by Dr F Alston, East Malling Research Station, Kent, UK 1966 from James Grieve x Golden Delicious. Awarded the RHS Award of Merit 1981. Not grown commercially on any scale but a very popular garden variety.

Medium sized, round fruit. Pale green skin ripening to bright yellow. Creamy white, crisp, juicy flesh. Pleasant refreshing flavour. Sweet but with some balancing acidity. Should be eaten fairly soon after picking as it tends to go soft and lose its flavour in storage.

Small compact tree. It is partially self-fertile and early bearing. Crops very heavily without significant loss of fruit size. Trees look very attractive in the early autumn with their heavy crop of golden yellow fruit. They also have attractive and long lasting blossom. A good garden variety which can be grown successfully in most parts of the UK.

Characteristics of Greensleeves apple trees

Use	Dessert
Colour	Yellow
Flavour	Sweet
Fruit size	Medium
Picking time	Mid Sep
Season of use	Oct
Tree vigour	Small
Tree habit	Upright-spreading
Fruit-bearing	Spur-bearer
Cropping	Heavy
Disease resistance	Scab - Resistant
Suitable for	Hardy Late Frost Northern Britain
Special features	Attractive Blossom Good for Cider Good Pollinator Good for Juice
Pollination date	7
Pollination group	B
Self-fertility	Partially self-fertile
Pollinators	Pollination partners
Parentage	Golden Delicious James Grieve
Progeny	Nuvar® Gold Nuvar® Golden Hills Nuvar® Home Farm