Neglected apple - full of rot....

[Pedroski]

Is it likely to recover.... an apple tree that had been forced in an inverted L shape by an overpowering prunus. Also loads of rot in it. It was maybe about 15ft tall, had been bearing fruit, but the inverted L shape was making it wobbly as hell. In the past it has been really badly hacked and there's a lot of damage in the trunk. The homeowner (a mate of mine) gave me the choice of just cutting it down, or doing what I could with it (and he wanted it done now, not spread over 3 years). So I decided to do what I could which has basically left a trunk and half a dozen more upright branches that are going more or less in the right direction. The trunk is 12 inches diameter, and the branches about 2 to 3 inches diameter. The trunk is about 6ft tall and the branches add another 4 to 5 feet. There is virtually no new growth as this was all at the ends of the tree.

 

I know this is a really heavy prune, and there is going to be epicormic growth and no fruit for a year or two or more, but in your experience, have you been able to make something of a tree like this by selectively pruning the new shoots as they appear?

 

I'm wondering whether it might have been better to cut down and replant another apple.

[Daniël Bos]

Not sure on the pruning, but replanting another apple is a no go I think. In the orchards I've worked in in the Netherlands they reckoned they could not plant apples unless there was a 100 year gap if there had been apples there before.

[agg221]

12in diameter suggests the tree is probably about 50yrs old on crab stock. It is very likely to recover, although you'll get an enormous amount of epicormic 'water shoots' that go straight up. You want to create as flat a top as possible, so yes, remove the water shoots (June/July) and with your selected upright branches, look to take them to a wide spreading shape, like spokes out from an imaginary centre. In a conventional tree this centre would lie along the axis of the trunk, but if your trunk isn't straight you have to create one wherever suits best! If you struggle to imagine one, stick a pole up against it, vertically, and keep things that radiate out from it, ideally at about 45degrees from the vertical.

 

If it dies, you could plant another apple, but dig out a decent area of soil, say about 4ft across, 2ft deep. This isn't commercially viable (which fits with Rover's comment) but for a one off tree can be done. If it does go this way, I would suggest going to the trouble of getting a tree on MM106 stock. It's a semi-dwarf stock which is far more tolerant of neglect of the type they inevitably get in gardens than the really dwarf ones (doesn't need a permanent stake, will survive if the grass grows right up to it and it gets no fertilizer etc). It will also cope with most soil types and will make a tree that's big enough to look like a tree without being unmanageable.

 

Alec

[Pedroski]

Thanks chaps. Alec, that's really useful information and much appreciated. I'm looking forward to summer when we can start to see what water shoots it gets, and I'll make sure I take some pictures. Strangely, I'm feeling quite excited about how it might turn out in time!

[arbmark]

did you remove the prunus then? what about making some bark nicks to encourage a bit of epicormic action from where you want it.....if its now got light it could help to even up the crown?

[Pedroski]

The prunus isn't removed. I know it's wrong time to prune a prunus (in case of frost and poss of silver leaf disease) but what I did do is remove the offending branch which was virtually resting on top of the apple, removed a ton of dead wood and reduced back a couple of other branches that were taking over the garden and blocking light. There is a hell of a lot more light coming through now, and much more head room for the apple.

 

I hadn't considered bark nicks. That's something I'll consider.... just about to read up more!

[arbmark]

doesnt always work man but worth a go. youre gonna get epi'z all over the place i expect anyway - just keep the ones you want and snip out the ones that are going blatantly wrong (or cut back as spurs) - theres a balance though with letting the tree get its xylem function going well again, so tell you mate to be patient and it'll need several visits and cupcakes/babyshamz to boot

[Arob]

Have you considered proving the apple with a little bit of a feed?

Some chicken manure pellets spread at recommended rate around the drip zone might assist its regrowth.