For northern gardeners, the relentless winter winds, deep snow, and insidious ice of northern winters are a constant threat to successfully growing fruit trees. I hate to admit how many berry bushes and fruit trees I’ve lost to the freezing temperatures of winter in my zone 4 climate. However, there’s not much I can do to change the weather, and I can’t exactly dress my trees in snowpants – so what I DO put some time and effort into is selecting trees that are extremely cold-hardy.
Believe it or not, there is a great selection of fruit trees that can tolerate the icy winter weather of hardiness zones 4, 3, and colder. To cut down on some of the legwork needed to track down these trees, this post outlines my five top picks for cold-hardy apple trees that can tolerate zone 3 winters.
COLD-HARY APPLE TREES: THE HONEYCRISP
I’m starting with the trees I grow myself, so I’m going to begin with the one I’m most excited about. The Honeycrisp is a nice big apple with great flavor. It comes in basically any size, so if you’ve got limited space to work with, you can still make this tree work for you! One thing to be aware of: depending on what nursery you buy from, the Honeycrisp isn’t always advertised to be cold-hardy to zone 3. Some places guarantee the tree’s winter survivability to zone 3, some only to zone 4. For your own security, I would recommend purchasing from a nursery that advertises hardiness to zone 3; if you purchase from a company that doesn’t recommend planting in your zone, you (rightly) cannot typically request a refund if the tree dies. Hedge your bets and get a guaranteed tree; I know Stark Bros has the Honeycrisp apple tree for sale advertised with zone 3 hardiness, and Stark has a pretty good reputation so you should be safe.
COLD-HARY APPLE TREES: THE WOLF RIVER
The Wolf River initially caught my eye because it is advertised to grow such a fantastically ginormous fruit. Every nursey I’ve seen it posted for reports that the tree can grow fruits as heavy as a pound per apple — and for those of us who are familiar with the work that goes into making pies, it’s pretty exciting to find a tasty apple that you don’t have to peel eight thousand of to get a respectable pie. In addition to this yield, the Wolf River is a highly cold-hardy tree with disease resistance and good kitchen versatility. And hey… I can personally vouch for the tree’s ability to survive being completely neglected, buried in the weeds as a young newly-planted sapling, and then dug up and moved because I changed my mind on located. It’s not just a cold-hardy apply tree… it’s a total hard-core survivor. How can you go wrong?
COLD-HARY APPLE TREES: DUTCHESS OF OLDENBURG
This is an apple I have no experience growing myself (and to be completely frank, I’m a little suspicious that the picture on the right may not be a Dutchess apple. How can I really know for sure if I haven’t read the plant tag myself? It LOOKS like one… but hmmm…). However, although I haven’t yet identified a spot to grow this heirloom hailing from the cold climates of Russia, it’s on my wish list. It’s not supposed to be one of those saccharine-sweet things, and instead has a nice zip to its flavor (I love a tangy tart apple myself). In baking, that zesty flavor really comes through; it’s not a huge fruit, so you may have to peel more than you would for a Wolf River, but we all know a little extra effort typically translates to the best baked goods.
Even better, the Dutchess comes in multiple sizes from dwarf to standard, making it an easy tree to fit in almost any-sized yard.
COLD-HARY APPLE TREES: RED GRAVENSTEIN
The Red Gravenstein deserves a spot on this list for its absolutely stellar cold hardiness. This cultivar blasts right past the zone 3 rating and demonstrates cold-hardiness right down to zone 2. That, my friends, is a tough tree! There are some minor drawbacks; depending on who you ask, the fruit may need to be thinned, and pollination is a little more finicky than most trees (two pollination partners are basically required). Like the Dutchess, gardeners can grow the Red Gravenstein apple in a variety of sizes from dwarf to standard, and it’s a great baking apple. To be frank, this tree has never hit my wish list, but that’s just because I have limited space; since I can experiment with warmer-weather trees, I typically explore those options, but it’s nice to know the Gravenstein is hanging out in the background in case I need a reliably hardy apple tree to grow in extreme winter weather.
COLD-HARY APPLE TREES: THE REDLOVE ODYSSO
Let’s be honest. Half the fun of gardening is socking your neighbors by growing an unusual, completely unexpected plant or tree that just wows them right out of their socks. The Redlove Odysso apple tree fits that bill beautifully, and I mean beautifully. This apple has a unique red tint to the flesh, a unique taste, and nice storage capabilities that make it a highly useful cultivar to stretch out the fresh-eating season. I’ve only ever seen the tree available from Jung Seed, which advertises the Redlove Odysso apple tree for sale as a semi-dwarf variety, but there may be other suppliers out there that I’m not aware of (I didn’t do an exhaustive search – Jung is just one of my favorites, and I see the tree advertised in their catalogs every year). I haven’t purchased it yet, but yeah, it’s on my (very long) wish list.
FINDING OTHER WINTER-HARDY APPLE TREES
This of course is not an exhaustive list, but if you’re looking for an extremely cold-hard apple tree, these are the top five on my wish list. To find apple trees that are winter-hardy to zones 4 and colder, you can look up your favorite online nurseries and filter results by zone, run an internet search for ag university listings of extremely cold-hardy apple trees, or look up your state’s ag extension office and give them a call for recommendations. Do keep in mind that you may need two varieties for pollination or increased yield, so if you’re in a hardiness zone 3, you’re going to need to pick two different trees for your landscape (or add a crabapple. Although less than ideal as an edible fruit, the crabapple is insanely hard to kill, and winter weather barely makes it bat an eye). The bottom line is that there ARE cold-hardy apple tree options for zone 3 fruit gardens, and this is just a small sample of the magnificent cultivars available for northern gardeners.