Apples · 2027 season
Cortland Apple Tree
Malus domestica
Needs a partnerSweet with a mild tang. Crisp white flesh that's slow to brown, great in salads and pies.
- #7 container
- About 1.25" caliper
Pick up in Pittsgrove, NJ, typically in March. Pay cash, check, Venmo or PayPal at pickup.
Cortland is an old New York variety (a McIntosh cross from 1898) and still a favorite. The apples are large and red, with bright white flesh that's slow to turn brown once cut.
That makes it a great salad and snack apple, and it's good in pies and sauce too. The flavor is sweet with a little tang.
It's an easy, productive tree that bears young.
Cortland was crossed in 1898 at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva (McIntosh × Ben Davis) and introduced in 1915. It prefers cooler summers; in South Jersey the apples ripen a little earlier and softer.
How it tastes
Sweet with a mild tang. The white flesh is tender-crisp and juicy, and it stays white long after you cut it.
At a glance
- You get
- #7 container, about 1.25" caliper (trunk thickness 6 inches above the soil; each tree varies a little)
- Hardiness zones
- USDA 4–7 (best in cooler summers) (Salem County is 7)
- Blooms
- Early to mid season
- Ripens
- Early to mid September
- Starts bearing
- Usually 2–4 years after planting
- Mature size
- Depends on rootstock; ask us
- Pollination
- Needs a partner
- Botanical name
- Malus domestica
- Price
- $88 each, paid at pickup
- Pickup
- Pittsgrove, NJ, typically in March
The fruit
- Looks
- Large, red with darker stripes, snow-white flesh
- Flavor
- Sweet with a mild tang
- Best for
- Fresh, Salads, Pies, Sauce
- Keeps
- Several months in cold storage, though it softens
Pollination
Needs a different apple (or a flowering crabapple) blooming nearby. Any of the partners below will do it.
Good partners from our list
Growing tips
Watch for: Very susceptible to apple scab and powdery mildew; also fire blight and cedar-apple rust
- Full sun (at least 6–8 hours) and soil that drains well. Avoid low spots where water sits in spring.
- Mature size depends on the rootstock the tree is grafted onto. Ask us if space is tight.
- Water deeply once a week through the first summer, more often in heat waves.
- Pick off all fruit for the first two years. After that, thin the young fruit to one apple per cluster in early summer for bigger apples and a crop every year.
- Prune in late winter while the tree is dormant to open up the center to light and air.
Spray schedule: Apple Pest Control Schedule for New Jersey Home Orchards (Rutgers Cooperative Extension, fact sheet FS112)
New to planting fruit trees? Read our step-by-step planting guide: square hole, graft above the soil, native soil, and no fruit for the first two years.
Photos show the variety, not the exact plant you’ll get. Reservations are for the 2027 season, picked up at our farm in Pittsgrove, NJ, typically in March, and aren’t guaranteed until we confirm them. Questions? Ask us or call or text (856) 345‑4538.
