Fruit Trees
Latvia boasts a rich tradition of fruit tree cultivation. Many homes have preserved old fruit trees, some dating back over a century. According to Edgars Rubauskis and Laila Ikase, experts from the Horticulture Institute, fruit varieties introduced before World War II hold significant cultural and historical value due to their long cultivation history.
Register your heirloom plant!
If you have an old fruit tree in your garden, even if it is in poor condition and you are thinking of cutting it down, it is worth first identifying its variety – what if it is an old and valuable one?
In the past, gardens were planted not only with long-storing dessert fruits but also with very sweet and aromatic juice apples that quickly brown but produce incredibly sweet juice without any added sugar. Or apple trees whose taste is close to wild apples and does not seem suitable for eating but, when added to homemade wine, enrich it with a unique aroma and flavor notes.
Before cutting down an apple tree - find out what variety it is!
To identify the variety of an old apple tree, you can use the information on the Horticultural Institute's information page, which contains stories about the apple varieties in the institute's collection.
Information about the history of horticulture, about apple, pear, cherry, plum, and grape varieties, as well as various vegetables, aromatic plants, herbs, and ornamental plants can be found here.
If you are not able to do it yourself, an expert can help identify the variety. Where to find one and what to do? You can meet experts or at least get information about them at fruit exhibitions.
On a daily basis, experts who can help with old apple varieties can be found at the Horticultural Institute.
Laila Ikase (laila.ikase@llu.lv) works in Dobele, and Inese Drudze (inese.drudze@llu.lv) can be found in Pūre.
Before going to meet an expert, it is advisable to contact them by email beforehand and arrange a meeting. You need to prepare for the meeting – photograph the tree, its leaves and shoots, as well as flowers and fruits, determine the age of the tree, and be able to describe the tree – what is the crown like, the branching, etc. When the fruits have ripened, take the prepared photographs and fruits (a sample of up to ten characteristic ones) to the expert.
Often, varieties are known and are in collections. If there is a rarity, the expert will know what to do and how.
To preserve the old tree itself, it can be grafted onto the crown of a young tree.
You should not bring a graft from an old tree to a nursery because you cannot guarantee the health of the material.
Together with the expert, you can also go to the Horticultural Institute's garden in Dobele, observe and compare. The garden collection has labels with descriptions for historical variety trees.
It should be emphasized that both the growing location – region, relief, soil, and the specific climatic conditions of a particular year – can affect the appearance and color of the fruit. The same variety can differ in color in different regions. Only an expert can distinguish them.
The oldest Latvian apple variety is considered to be 'Ničnera Zemeņu' – the place of origin is "Kārkli" in Brukna.
It is best to look for information about historical varieties in German archives.
As Laila Ikase pointed out, the apple variety 'Vilhelms' is being sought.
For strawberries, the variety 'Senga Sengana' can be considered a cultural and historical variety.
Read more about apples in Issue No.13 of the publication "Profesionālā dārzkopība":
