Knip apple trees wholesale, grades 1+, 3+ and 5+ on M9.

What a knip apple tree is

A knip tree (Dutch knipboom) is a two-year-old fruit tree with a one-year-old crown. Russian trade texts write it as “knip-baum” or “knip-sazhenets”, and the nursery site uses the second form. Both words mean the same tree.

The word “knip” goes back to the Dutch word for cutting: the crown starts from the cut made at the end of the first year. The technique was developed in the Netherlands in the 1980s for high-density orchards and has long been routine in Dutch nurseries. The tree is grown in three steps:

1. First year. The cultivar is grafted on the rootstock, and the tree grows at ordinary nursery spacing as a single shoot without side branches.
2. End of the first year. The shoot is cut back, keeping only the top bud. The cut height depends on the cultivar and is around 50–80 cm above ground.
3. Second year. The top bud grows into a central leader, and side branches form on it during the season. These branches are called feathers, meaning branches that grow in the same year as the leader.

How a knip tree differs from a one-year whip

A one-year whip is a single stem without side branches, while a knip tree arrives in the orchard with its crown already formed. Trees with side branches start bearing sooner than whips, but they cost the nursery more because they are harder to grow and carry more risk.

The high cost of establishing an orchard makes early cropping important for payback, and in dense plantings branched trees earn their price. In the first year after planting knip trees may crop lightly, but they fill the orchard space with crown quickly and need less formative pruning.

Grades 1+, 3+ and 5+ and how to choose

Grades 1+, 3+ and 5+ are the nursery’s own grading by the number of branches in the crown: 1+ is one or more, 3+ is three or more, 5+ is five or more. The higher the grade, the more branches the tree carries and the higher the price. No common standard exists for such grades, so the buyer checks saplings against the description in the contract.

The more side branches a tree carries, the higher its early yield, a conclusion reached in a HortTechnology study of apple. For a dense orchard in Ontario, Canada, the recommendation is a tree at least 1.7 m tall with 6–10 branches of 12–25 cm, the lowest no closer than 60 cm to the ground.

• Grades 3+ and 5+ suit a dense trellised orchard where early yield matters and branched trees are the norm.
• Grade 1+ has the lowest price and suits lots where the cost of the lot comes first.
• A mixed lot helps when the cultivar you need is not in the grade you want, because several grades can be combined in one order.

Prices and stock by grade

All 17 cultivars in stock are grown on M9 rootstock, which is covered in the article M9 rootstock for intensive orchards, while the page rootstocks for apple and cherry covers the other rootstocks. The price depends on the grade, not on the cultivar; the full cultivar list is in the apple sapling catalog.

On the minimum lot of 6,000 saplings the gap between grades 1+ and 5+ is RUB 540,000. The overall price list for all crops is on the sapling prices page.

An orchard on the typical 3.5 × 1.0 m scheme takes 2,857 trees a hectare. At the prices of 9 October 2026 the saplings for one hectare cost the following (without a replacement reserve):

Between grades 1+ and 5+ the gap on a hectare is RUB 257,130. A lot of 6,000 saplings covers about 2.1 ha at this scheme. How to calculate density for other schemes is worked out in the article how many saplings per hectare, and the share of saplings in planting costs is shown in what a hectare of intensive orchard costs.

Not every cultivar is in every grade. Grade 1+ is available in all 17 cultivars (381,643 saplings), 3+ in 12 cultivars (200,389) and 5+ in 8 cultivars (133,152). The split on 9 October 2026 is as follows:

• grade 1+ only: Granny Smith, Inored Story, Jeromine, Golden Delicious Rangers;
• 1+ and 3+: Modì, Fuji, Gala Devil, Gala Schniga Red, Red King Roat;
• 1+, 3+ and 5+: Royal Gala, Crimson Crisp, Ambrosia, Williams’ Pride, Green Star, Geneva, Red Delicious Mema;
• 1+ and 5+: Pink Lady.

How to order knip trees

An order starts at 6,000 saplings; cultivars and grades can be mixed as long as each cultivar is ordered in multiples of 250. Send cultivars, grades and volume to the trade desk at +7 905 405 15 68 or through the contact page form. Lots for fall 2027 are accepted in advance, and the terms are on the pre-order page.

The prepayment is 30% on signing the contract, and the balance is due 10 days before shipment. The nursery hands saplings over only as pickup from the yard in Sunzha in October–November and March–April with a phytosanitary certificate, and the handover is described on the yard process page. On the choice of planting season see spring or fall planting.