Liberty Apple Tree
$113.99
Begins shipping spring 2025
Zones 4 - 7
Pollinator required to bear fruit
An abundant tree that performs where McIntosh won’t.
Its disease-resistant nature means it’s low-upkeep—no need to spray for apple scab, cedar apple rust, fire blight or powdery mildew. The fruit is partly yellow, with overlays of scarlet red that look so pretty on the tree. The fruit flesh is snowy and crisp, with a pleasant balance of sweet and tart. Excellent for fresh eating, cooking or canning. Keep some and use them later—storage actually improves the flavor! Originated in Geneva, New York in 1955. Cold-hardy. Ripens in September. Pollinator required: Choose any other apple variety. A licensed variety of Cornell University.
Characteristics
Bloom Color | White |
Ripens Harvest | September |
Fruit Color | Red |
Fruit Size | Large |
Soil Composition | Loamy |
Taste | Moderately Tart |
Texture | Crisp |
Soil pH Level | 6-7 |
Soil Moisture | Well Drained |
Shade Level | Full Sun |
Years to Bear | 2-5 |
Bloom Period | Early – Mid |
Hardiness Zone Range | 4-7 |
Size & Spacing
Pollination
This variety requires another one for adequate pollination.
Cross-pollination by a different variety is key to its growing and bearing success. Plant a different variety within 15 meters (50 feet) for best pollination.
Recommended Pollinators: Buckeye Gala, Cortland, Empire, Royal Empire, Honeycrisp, SnowSweet, Granny Smith
How do I find my Hardiness Zone?
Canada’s Plant Hardiness Zones will tell you which plants will do well in your particular climate. Each zone is determined by the lowest average winter temperature recorded in a given area. Hardiness Zone information is included on all tree and plant product pages, so you know instantly whether a certain plant is likely to succeed where you live. Natural Resources Canada provides helpful options to find your zone:
Dan Dixon –
I’ve got about 10 of these in our orchard. I have 30ish other varieties. This is my FAVORITE. I spray only with very mild stuff (soap, BT, serenade, surround clay). We lose the whole orchard crop here between Dayton and Columbus Ohio, about 2 out of 5 years, to late freeze/frost. Last year we lost the whole orchard to 26F on 5/14. Cedars are everywhere here. Cedar apple rust is a huge problem here. Our soil is loamy and incorrigibly alkaline. It is quite wet here – 40”/year. Our orchard is in the best site on our farm, but it’s not ideal. Too wet and not on a hillside but just up above the “bottom” where all the apples died (but the peaches and pie cherries thrive to this day). My honeycrisps didn’t even bloom this year. The goldrush set an appropriate amount of fruit, but they mostly looks like dog sh*t. The 10 Liberties are bearing for the first time this year (although they would have last year save the late freeze). They are 7-9’ tall and 8-10’ wide (trained yearly). They set an appropriate crop that didn’t need thinned and have brought it to just shy of picking. Having never tasted one, I was worried that I had 10 trees from which I might not like the fruit. To my pleasure, I have discovered that the apples are absolutely wonderful to eat. Sweet tart, crisp, and juicy (still a tad green as I write) Absolutely beautiful and 95% unblemished, given my very mild spray. Of those 10, five are “across the creek” where I do not spray. That is the Cider orchard. The apples on the unsprayed trees are growing and although somewhat blemished, will be perfect for cider. That, with no spray. Most of my other apples, save the redfree and the Orleans antique, suffer some amount of scab and cedar apple rust even given my spray. Not these. These liberty apples are absolutely beautiful and quite large. I’m so happy with these I’m considering cutting the tops off my sorry-@ss goldrush trees (the trees are actually beautiful the fruit is horrible looking) and grafting liberty tops onto to them. I really like that I didn’t have to thin them and I still got appropriate crop of very large apples. This tree gets my only “best tree” rating.
FAY MILLER –
Planted my second Liberty Apple March 4th, 2020. I went to check it yesterday & it is leafed out with two clusters of bright pink blooms. The Liberty I planted last year is one acre away and is growing well but is not blooming yet. I like the hardiness of this apple. We have had some 26-21 degree temperatures last week.
John O –
I planted Liberty (purchased from another provider on clearance) at the tail end of the growing season last year. (Stark trees are absolutely fantastic though!). The planting soil was questionable but I amended it the best I could. Liberty chuckled at those conditions and this Spring it was absolutely covered in blooms – which in my experience growing all sorts of fruit trees? Can mean nothing. If bees don’t show up, late freezes, bugs, or whatever other reasons cause blossom drop. Liberty laughed again and is now pumping out baby apples by the dozens! On a SECOND year planted tree! I plan to prop Liberty up for being so fruitful and see what happens. But regardless, based on the simultaneous vigorous new growth? I can expect even better results next year! WOW! What a tree!
Robin Pritchard –
Rrceived in good shape. Packaged well. Growing well. Survived upstate ny winter.
MASON WHEELER –
I ordered 3 bare root liberty apple trees from stark bros last spring. The day they arrived my neighbor stopped by and he saw them and said those little trees wont amount to anything. He just stopped by to view my liberty apple trees and he couldn’t believe the growth in a years time. A small bare root tree saved me so much time from handling them hole prep and clearly the tree had less planting stress. Thank you stark bros
Richard Cheverie –
These apple trees arrived promptly and seem to be doing quite well. I look forward to enjoying the fruit from them in a few years.
Steven Hughes –
I bought the liberty apple trees because I was having trouble with cedar apple rust. While they show slight signs of the disease, it is nothing compared to my other apple trees. They are growing vigorously and hope to start getting some fruit in the next few years.
Greg Kulus –
A very nice young tree. it came well pruned, with the roots well protected and moist. It has grown well so far, and if it is as rust proof as advertised, I will be very happy with it.
Marianne Gielow –
At this point in its second season of growth, it appears to be doing well. Our last winter and very cool spring hasn’t really helped, but hopefully it will survive and grow heartily this summer.
David Richard –
I’ve had my trees for about a year and when they came in they had not started to green out. By the end of June they had added significant growth, this year they were the first trees to green up even with the cold weather we have had. In just a month of growth they have sent out 6” of new out put. My only reason for not giving a five star rating is because they haven’t produced fruit yet but I’m happy thus far.