Zestar!® Apple Tree

With the Zestar!® Apple (Malus x 'Minnewashta'), you do not have to choose between a cooking Apple or a fresh-eating Apple. This cold-hardy tree offers a large crop of sweet-tart taste and early season harvest!

The Zestar!® Apple ripens between August and early September and comes alive with deep-red bushed Apples with honey-yellow highlights. Often with some yellow speckles over the skin, and the side of the Apple receiving the most sun has the best red blush!

With hints of brown sugar flavor, crisp texture, and a zesty bite, the Zestar!® Apple is a great go-to Apple tree for the home orchard. This stunning apple is as crisp as it is beautiful (unlike many other early-season Apples). Great for baking and fresh eating, as well as adding to your savory cooked dishes.

Nice round apples with ample amounts of juice! You will love trying out all the different ways you can prepare your Zestar!® Apples.

Luckily for those wanting to try out as many apple recipes as possible, the Zestar!® Apple has a long shelf life, often staying crisp for over a month unrefrigerated and two months refrigerated, and still retaining its fantastic flavor and crunch.

How to Use Zestar!® Apple In The Landscape

The spring bloom display and handsome foliage make these fantastic ornamental trees for dual-purpose and edible landscaping!

Plant near your garden to help attract beneficial insects and have butterflies and hummingbirds arrive in droves for the early spring nectar resource!

Use another Apple variety to pollinate your Zestar!®. You can even snuggle up your two Apple trees to save space.

This fun tree also makes a great addition to the backyard where your kids can collect Apples and rest beneath the shade on sunny days.

As versatile in the home garden as the Apple orchard, these fruit trees mingle beautifully among orchards of their pollinator Apple varieties.

Good-sized trees, Zestar!® trees will have an incredible impact on your landscape and can be pruned smaller if needed. The brilliant display of blooms each spring and the red gems dangling from the branches each fall, and are gorgeous landscape features!

• Red Apples with Yellow & Green Highlights
• Creamy Yellow-White Flesh
• Zesty, Tart, & Sweet Apples
• Crisp Apple with Crunchy Texture & Lots of Juice!
• Early-Season Ripening
• Deep-Pink Buds Burst Open into White Blossoms
• Pollinators Galore!
• Fresh Eating or Cooked

#ProPlantTips For Care

Provide Zestar!® Apple with plenty of sunshine, full sun all day for the most blooms and resulting fruit! Cold hardy down to zone 3 and up to growing zone 7.

Fertile, organically rich soil that is also well-drained, and consistent watering throughout the growing season is best to protect your investment.

A thick layer of mulch over the roots keeps them insulated from both heat and cold, while also retaining consistent soil moisture.

Prune your Zestar!® Apple in late winter to remove dead limbs, and disease and to keep the canopy open to ward off fungus and pests, while allowing more air circulation and sun into the interior.

Featuring some resistance to Fireblight and Cedar Apple Rust and Mildews, these are best known for their incredible cold hardiness.

• Full Sun
• Most Rich Well-Drained Soil
• Moderate Regular Moisture
• Easy Care & Low Maintenance
• Cold Hardy Apple
• ~800 Chill Hours
• Needs Pollination Partner

The Zestar!® is one zesty, peppy, fun apple tree to grow and enjoy for years! Please your local bees, neighbors, and kids with great-tasting apples that are as striking as they are tasty!

Order yours from Nature Hills today before this fantastic variety is gone!

Zestar!® Apple Tree Frequently Asked Questions

When to Plant Zestar!® Apple Trees

Planting Bareroot trees as soon as you can dig a hole in spring and until hot weather, the earlier the better. Plant container Apple trees throughout the growing season with complete success - that is the benefit of container plants - to extend the planting season. Your County Agricultural Extension Office is a great resource for first and last frost dates in your area.

How to Plant Zestar!® Apple Trees

Dig a large hole only as deep as needed to accommodate the bareroot or container root ball, and twice as wide. Add Nature Hills Root Booster to speed root establishment. Remove the pot or bag and situate it into the hole so the top of the soil (soil line if bareroot), is level with the new location's soil being careful not to plant too deep. Water in again very well and backfill with the same soil you dug up, tamping down gently to ensure there are no air pockets.

Top off with a 3-4 inch thick layer of Arborist mulch. Consider staking your tree to keep its trunk growing straight for the first year to ensure it stands tall against strong winds and drifting snow.

When to Prune Zestar!® Apple Trees

Trim off any broken branches from delivery as soon as you take them out of the box. Prune and trim apple trees while dormant, in late winter or early spring, before you see new growth.

How to Prune Zestar!® Apple Trees

Dormant prune to:

• Remove any double leaders or narrow crotch angles
• Eliminate any crossing branches
• Thin interior branching and leave the fruiting spurs and strong branches in place opening up the canopy
• Branching at least 24-36 inches above the ground

Prune Apple trees in the summer to:

• Control size and shape by reducing the length of longer new growth on vigorous trees
• Remove water sprouts on the main trunk or older branches in the crown
• Remove suckers at the base of the trunk
• Thin fruit during heavy years on established trees

How to Care for Zestar!® Apple Trees

Growing an Apple tree is easy when proper soil, good drainage, attention to moisture, and regular fertility are maintained. Once you've chosen an apple tree that works for your climate, in the size you need for your landscape, and its pollinator (if needed), then you've accomplished half the battle!

• Apple trees do best in full sun and well-drained soil
• Water your apple trees when they get dry - especially during the fruit production stage, and drought periods to keep it stress-free
• Use arborists' wood chips to mulch over the roots of your apples and have your soil tested to see what your soil may be lacking before adding fertilizers
• Maintenance pruning and shaping

Apple trees will tolerate a wide range of soils, so long as water and nutrients are not limited and the pH level is adequate.

How to Fertilize Zestar!® Apple Trees

For the first year, water alone is most important. It is always best to get a soil test to see what your soil is lacking before adding more fertilizers. Once established, a fertilizer routine may be beneficial. We do offer some excellent slow-release organic options, applied according to the package directions.

Fruit trees need more phosphate and it's possible to apply too much nitrogen which affects the soil's pH. Test soil acidity or alkalinity using a pH Tester.

Fertilize in spring when you first see new growth emerging.

• Don't overdo it
• Phosphates are your friends
• Pay attention to pH in areas with extremely high or low soil pH
• Follow the directions

Zestar!® Apple Tree Pollinating Info

Zestar!® is not self-pollinating and  bears more fruit when paired with these varieties:

• Dolgo or Wickson Crabapples
• Anna
• Domaine
• Duchess
• Idared
• McIntosh
• Sunrise
• Williams' Pride

Harvest Times for Zestar!® Apple Trees

Zestar!®’s are typically ready to harvest in late August through early September.

Early-Season? Mid-Season? Late-Season? The terminology can be confusing for new apple tree growers. Weather, climate and your tree determine when it's ripe.

For Apples:

• Early-season is usually June-July
• Mid-season can be August-September
• Late-season can be from late September-November

The growing season consists of spring, summer, and fall, and varies with climate and weather. Areas with longer growing seasons in the warmer hardiness zones can greatly affect the harvest times for each particular apple variety grown in your area. Learn which growing zone you are in.