Moorpark is one of the most popular variety for planting in English gardens, it has also been given the RHS Award of Garden Merit. The succulent sweet fruits of the early Moorpark Apricot have a deep orange juicy flesh which can be ripe as early as August. The skin is an attractive yellow with an orange tinge and red spots. This variety of Apricot is self fertile and is easily grown as a freestanding tree in a sheltered sunny spot but is probably best grown as a fan shaped tree against a sunny south facing wall.

In spring, cover flowers on frosty nights in spring, weed, mulch and compost round the tree and spray it monthly with seaweed solution. Summer, thin the fruit early and protect from the birds. Come Autumn, keep weeded and tie in new shoots. Winter, the Apricot needs protection from really hard frosts. Prune out dieback

Apricots needs a sunny sheltered position and likes moist well-drained sandy or loamy soil., only removing dead and diseased wood as necessary. Cut out all dieback being careful as the wood is brittle. So watch for overladen branches and prop or prune early. On a wall, prune the frame and any dieback in late winter then prune again in summer to restrict growth. Early flowering is useful for bees and beneficial insects.

Like most stone fruit, Apricots need a cold winter period to rest and a warm summer to ripen the fruit. They do not like heavy soil or a wet site. In cool areas they will only crop against a sunny wall.

Suggested uses: Low Maintenance, Specimen tree, Cottage/Informal

History: The first Apricots came from China or Siberia not Armenia where Alexander the Great found them. The fruits were loved by the Romans (me too) but never succeeded in transplanting them to Northern Europe. Apricots first reached Britain in the thirteenth century but were reintroduced more successfully in the sixteenth. Bredase may be the oldest variety in cultivation as it closely resembles descriptions of Roman apricots.