It Takes Two-Fruit Tree & Berry Bush Pollination

It Takes Two-Fruit Tree & Berry Bush Pollination

Wondering why you aren't getting fruit on your apple trees or berry bushes aren't producing as much as they should? The answer may lie in pollination.

Many fruiting plants require pollination to produce fruit. Pollination happens when the pollen from one flower's anthers (male part) is transferred to the stigma (female part) of another flower. Pollination can occur by wind or mechanically through bees, insects, and birds.

Many plants, like winterberry hollies and apple trees, require two different species to pollinate. If you only plant one species of these plants, you'll see lots of pretty flowers but it will never fruit. We also recommend planting two varieties of any self-pollinating plant together to increase fruit production. Below are the cross-pollinators for the varieties of apples and other fruiting plants that we carry.

frostbite apple

Apple Trees:

We do not carry any varieties of self-pollinating apple trees. For successful cross-pollination, choose two varieties that bloom at the same time. Crabapples can pollinate eating apple trees if they bloom at the same time. For best pollination results, we recommend planting the trees about 15-20' apart.

Below are some popular varieties of apple trees we carry along with their cross pollinators. The 3-in-1 Hat Trick apple is self pollinating, as it is three varieties of apple grafted onto one stem:

Cortland Apple:

  • McIntosh
  • Gravenstein
  • Honeycrisp
  • Frostbite
  • KindercrispLiberty
  • Macoun
  • Red Prairie Spy
  • Sweet Sixteen

Empire Apple:

  • Gala
  • Granny Smith
  • White blossom crabapples

Freedom Apple:

  • Liberty
  • Cortland

Frostbite Apple:

  • Cortland
  • Macoun
  • McIntosh
  • Red Prairie Spy
  • Sweet Sixteen
  • Empire
  • Freedom
  • Fuji
  • Gala
  • Granny Smith
  • Winecrisp

Fuji Apple:

  • Empire
  • Dolgo Crabapple
  • Freedom
  • Frostbite
  • Granny Smith
  • Honeycrisp
  • Macoun
  • McIntosh
  • Sweet Sixteen
  • Winecrisp

Gala Apple:

  • Liberty
  • Fuji
  • Most crabapples

Granny Smith Apple:

  • Cortland
  • Dolgo Crabapple
  • Empire
  • Freedom
  • Frostbite
  • Fuji
  • Honeycrisp
  • Macoun
  • McIntosh
  • Sweet Sixteen

Gravenstein Apple:

  • Granny Smith
  • McIntosh
  • Liberty
  • Red Prairie Spy

Honeycrisp Apple:

  • Sweet Sixteen
  • Frostbite
  • Granny Smith
  • Cortland

Liberty Apple:

  • Freedom
  • McIntosh

Macoun Apple:

  • McIntosh
  • Sweet Sixteen
  • Red Prairie Spy
  • Frostbite
  • Cortland

McIntosh Apple:

  • Macoun
  • Red Prairie Spy
  • Liberty
  • Cortland

Red Prairie Spy Apple:

  • McIntosh
  • Liberty
  • Kindercrisp
  • Cortland

Sweet Sixteen Apple:

  • Red Prairie Spy
  • McIntosh
  • Macoun
  • Frostbite
  • Cortland

Winecrisp Apple:

  • Cortland
  • Empire
  • Freedom
  • Frostbite
  • Gala
  • Honeycrisp
  • McIntosh

Winesap Apple:

  • Empire
  • Freedom
  • Kindercrisp
  • Gala
  • Granny Smith
  • Macoun
  • McIntosh

 

pear trees

Pear Trees:

Parker Pear

Parker pear is a good pollinator for Luscious. It is technically self-pollinating, but will produce more with another variety of pear planted nearby. 

  • Summercrisp

Luscious Pear

Luscious pears have sterile pollen, and are not good pollinators for other varieties. They do, however, need a pollinator. 

  • Parker
  • Anjou
  • Summercrisp
  • Bartlett

Tawara Pear

Tawara pears are partially self-pollinating, but will do best with another pollinator.

  • Bartlett

  • Seckel

cherry trees

Cherry Trees:

We carry both Lapin and Sweet Cherry Pie cherry trees. While both are self-fertile, you will see a high crop yield if you plant them together to cross-pollinate.

 blueberry bushes

Blueberry Bushes:

 All blueberry bushes that we carry benefit from pollination. While some, like Duke, will produce berries even without pollination, you'll see higher and more consistent yields if you plant two varieties together. 

raspberry bushes

Raspberry & Blackberry Bushes:

All of the raspberry and blackberry bushes that we carry are self-fertile. They rely on bees and other insects for pollination, and more insect activity  will mean more berries!

 elderberry bushes

Elderberry Bushes:

Two varieties of elderberry are needed to produce fruit. You'll see beautiful flowers but no fruit if you only plant one variety.

 gooseberry

Gooseberries:

Gooseberries & Jostaberries are self-pollinating, but they rely on insect activity to pollinate. It is best to 

winterberry

Holly:

To produce the bright red berries that birds snack on all winter, evergreen and winterberry hollies need both a male and female plant. The female plant produces the berries. These can be planted next to each other in a grouping, or at least within 20 feet of each other to ensure pollination.

Winterberry (deciduous) Holly:

Jim Dandy

  • Red Sprite
  • Afterglow
  • Wildfire

Southern Gentleman

  • Sparkleberry
  • Winter Red

 

Evergreen Holly:

Plant Blue Prince & Blue Princess together to get those bright red berries against glossy semi-evergreen leaves.