Inherited Apple Tree - advice?

Kimonokawaii

Hey guys,

My new allotment has an established apple tree on it. it's about 8ft high - too high for me - but someone has taken a lot fo care over trying to train it and prune it.

My neighbours on the allotments tell me it has never been very productive despite the obvious effort put in.

I HATE waste and I am VERY reluctant to cut down any tree, ever!

So I guess I have 2 problems...

Might it be possible to cut the tree down the ground and just start again in the hope of making it more productive and in order to shorten it somewhat so I can reach it!

Alternatively, is it a better idea to chop about 3 or 4 feet from the height of the tree and hope to keep it smaller and make it slightly more productive over the years with adequate pruning?

My fellow allotmenteers all seem to want me to cut it down completely.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

Charco_2

Keep it a while! If they want rid of it perhaps they are not being all that honest about it's produce, it could be the apple tree equivalent of the magic porridge pot for all you know!

Are there other apple trees in the vicinity? If not, then that might perhaps explain why the yields are small! Might just need a little help touching it up when the flowers appear next year to encourage apples... the bees might not be doing it well enough!

Kimonokawaii

No there isn't another apple tree nearby...

does touching it up mean what I think it means?!

RAS

If there is no other apple tree within easy bee distance, yes, you need to get some blossom from elsewhere and hand pollinate your tree. It is worth knowing that a lot of people had a very bad year this year; the weather was very poor in early May.

There are a couple of other things;

1. If it is a tip bearer, then heavy pruning will reduce production massivley unless you know what you are doing.

2. You can get apple pickers on telescopic handles for about £5, or just cshake the tree.

Any idea what variety it is?

Kimonokawaii

I haven't the foggiest as to what variety it is unfortunately. I have taken on my allotment from a couple who are no longer in the area, no one seems to be in touch with them so I havent been able to ask.

I have also inherited a plum tree on the other end of my plot but that one I've been reliably informed is a goldmine! but I guess that isn't going to help my apple tree.

I'll have a look at 'tip bearers' I've never pruned a tree before so that it very good advice!

A telescopic handle seems a fab idea

RAS

Apple pickers can be found in Lidl in the spring!

If you have one of the apples still, can you piccie it and post the link?

if not, can you give a basic description.

Rikki

Fruit trees are pruned differently from normal trees.
It will be worth finding some-one who knows what they are doing as pruning correctly will improve yield.

I have pear trees, apple trees, cherry trees and plums and you can get a really good year followed by a poor yield the following year. One of my pear trees had no fruit last year this year its been teeming with fruit.

Kimonokawaii

There is still an apple left on the top of the tree. I'll take apiccie and post it at the weekend. It's a huge apple and yellow but I guess thats due to the length of time it's been stuck up at the top of the tree!

Maybe I need to source an experienced fruit tree pruner and pay them a little for their time to show me the ropes...and my method of payment could possibly be in gooseberries, i hate them!

Mojisola

It may be the pruning was wrong and the previous owners kept cutting out the parts that fruit. Don't do anything to it this year and see where the blossom forms next season.

Bees travel a long way in search of nectar so as long as there are other apples or crabapples flowering at the same time as your tree within a mile or so, pollination should be okay.

The height an apple tree grows to is controlled mainly by the type of rootstock it is grafted onto. You can't cut it down and keep it small if it's on a larger rootstock.

Kimonokawaii

Okay..no cutting down. That takes care of that problem and a telescopic apple picker from Lidl in spring takes care of the other!

The key now is variety, pruning and pollenating - maybe I could plant other things around my tree to attract bees?

Maybe finding out the variety of plums I have would be beneficial too even if it is a plentyful tree.

For now I will leave it well alone and see what happens...but I'll post a piccie at weekend.

Davesnave

I expect your fellow allotmenteers are worried that your tree will cast shade and rob the soil of nutrients. If they can't tell you what kind of apple it is, then I suspect their other info needs treating with caution.

I inherited over 50 apple trees at my property, none of them named. As others have said, take time to see what yours does. That's what I'm doing, though I've given mine numbers and written notes, because I can't remember them.

The things you need to know are:

• when it crops
• what the average yield is
• what the apples can be used for/ are best for
• how long you can store them
• how vigorous it is as a tree

Until I started finding out about apples, I never realised how much variation there can be after the basic separation into dessert apples and cookers. Some of mine are stunted, or appear so, but like you, I hate to cut something down before I know for sure it's a lost cause.