Dead Apple Tree ?

unrecordings

I've got a very very old apple tree Lord Lambourne I think. In the six years I've known it, it's cropped reasonably well only a couple of times, but always blossoms and comes into full leaf.

This year it blossomed, but what few leaves did appear eventually dropped off

Some of the branch twigs are brittle (apple is like that anyway ?) but some are still very supple. The question is: Is it dead, or just resting ?

It needed a good pruning anyway, and I'm wondering whether to do it now or leave until the winter to conserve what energy is still in it

pinklady21

[QUOTE=unrecordings;74743827 The question is: Is it dead, or just resting ?

Has it drawn up the curtain and joined the Choir Invisible?

Lorian

Really needs to be pruned every year to crop, I do mine in late Autumn/early winter.

Can you take a photo of a leaf, front and back? and one of the whole tree ideally.

unrecordings

Lorian wrote: »

Really needs to be pruned every year to crop, I do mine in late Autumn/early winter.

Can you take a photo of a leaf, front and back? and one of the whole tree ideally.

No leaves I'm afraid - I identified it a few years ago as Lord Lambourne via FruitID. Let's see if I can rustle up an old photo

In the meantime, thanks, yes, waiting till a lot later in the year would be better

Edited to add: I've not really pruned it that much through one thing and another, last good prune was probably autumn 2016 (I was on steroids then :beer:)

Jnelhams

The easiest way to tell if any shrub or tree is still alive is to find a small stem, and scrap the bark off with your finger nail. If you see any green it's alive, if not try another stem, and if it is also brown looking then it cut through a slightly larger piece, and look for any green. No Green - DEAD!

If you tree has no leaves at this time of year it sounds very much like it's dead, did you have any small brown mushrooms growing near to it this year? Honey Fungus is a big killer of trees and shrubs.

Davesnave

Lorian wrote: »

Really needs to be pruned every year to crop, I do mine in late Autumn/early winter.

My apple trees haven't been pruned since 2014. I've never seen most of them crop so well as they've done this year.

unrecordings

I checked a few weeks ago and most of the tips I tried were still supple rather than brittle - bit I'll find a supple one and check for green too. Yes honey fungus is creeping up that side of the garden in the privet. Although it's done nothing to stunt the growth of young blackthorn & jostaberry which sit between the privet & apple tree

I'm just going to give it a prune anyway in the winter and see what happens in spring

unrecordings

Since I couldn't do a great deal about it, I thought I'd leave it till this spring. It's definitely dead, some branches drooping even (which I assume is a complete absence of moisture in the wood). So I'm going to start taking it down - it's just a stepladder job...

But, leave it partly standing - Bladerunner 2049 style - if nothing else the local woodpeckers will love it apparently...

maisie_cat

When we moved into our house we were told by the previous owner that the apple trees were rubbish croppers. They did not look well and we thought we might lose them as they had not been pruned for decades. My husband took it upon himself to look after them and they are really healthy now. Don't give up on them without a bit of TLC

unrecordings

It has been declining for a few years - honey fungus, the beast from the east and last year's heatwave all took their toll - and there's a lot of bark coming off. I'll be lopping down to about 12-18' and see how it goes from there (well someone else might be doing the lopping & ladders, since I can barely do either)

Farway

unrecordings wrote: »

It has been declining for a few years - honey fungus, the beast from the east and last year's heatwave all took their toll - and there's a lot of bark coming off. I'll be lopping down to about 12-18' and see how it goes from there (well someone else might be doing the lopping & ladders, since I can barely do either)

Of course, if you are made of money you could get a chainsaw sculptor in to make it an artwork, or at least a talking point


https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/17572588.royal-victoria-country-park-unveils-new-fairy-garden-this-easter-weekend/