How To Maintain An Apple Tree

Apple Tree Care Apple trees unfortunately are susceptible to many insect and disease issues and require special attention. By properly controlling insects and disease, fertilizing and regularly pruning the trees you can enjoy the beauty and fruit of this tree on your landscape for years.

Are apple trees high maintenance?

A.: I am trying to think of a gentle way to put this, but there is none: Fruit trees are high-maintenance. Apples, cherries and peaches (like most fruit trees) are susceptible to a wide variety of insect and disease pests and seldom is it possible to eradicate them.

How do you take care of an apple tree naturally?

Caring for Fruit Trees Organically: 5 Things You Must Do

1. Mulch. Mulch helps improve fertility and health of your soil and should be applied in the spring or fall as it protects trees from cold winters, keeps moisture in and weeds down.
2. Prune Fruit Trees. ...
3. Test the Soil. ...
4. Thin Fruit & Support Branches. ...
5. Treat any Diseases.

How do you prune apple trees?

This is what you should aim for when pruning:

1. Remove weak, diseased, injured, or narrow-angle branches.
2. Remove the weaker of any crossing or interfering branches, and one branch of forked limbs.
3. Remove upright branches and any that sweep back inward toward the center of tree.

What happens if you don't prune an apple tree?

Your fruit tree should be pruned every year for it to produce and perform at its best. If you don't prune your fruit tree, you're leaving it susceptible to disease and over-fruiting, which damages the tree's health and reduces the quality of fruit.

Should you cut back apple trees?

Apple and pear trees trained as free-standing bushes are best pruned every winter to ensure a good cycle of fruiting wood. Trees that are not pruned become less productive and congested with old branches. The aim is to create an open goblet shape with a framework of four to five main branches.

Do I need to winterize my apple tree?

Winterizing fruit trees is a no brainer. And it's worth taking a few extra minutes in the fall to ensure that these valuable assets to the landscape are well protected until spring.

What is the lifespan of a common apple tree?

The average healthy and well cared apple tree can live from 50 to 80 years. However, there are striking exceptions to this rule. Some apple trees have been reported to live for more than a century.

Do you need 2 apple trees to produce fruit?

Apples are self-unfruitful. Plant at least two different apple tree varieties within 50 feet of one another for a good fruit set. Some apple varieties, such as Golden Delicious, will produce a crop without cross-pollination from a second variety.

What helps apple trees grow?

As with most fruit, apple trees produce best when grown in full sun, which means six or more hours of direct summer sunlight daily. Apple trees need well-drained soil, but should be able to retain some moisture. Light- to medium-texured soils are best.

What do apple trees need to thrive?

Apple trees need full sun, a good amount of space, loamy soil, and a neutral soil pH. A soil test can be obtained for a small fee through your local USDA cooperative extension office.

How do I keep bugs off my apple tree naturally?

5 Organic Ways to Foil Fruit Tree Pests

1. Protect Against Winter Moth Using Glue Bands.
2. Winter Wash Fruit Trees. ...
3. Expose Overwintering Insect Pests. ...
4. Prevent Ring-barking by Rabbits and Other Rodents. ...
5. Encourage Pest Predators.

What is the best month to prune apple trees?

Standard apple trees - those with a central trunk - should be pruned when the tree is dormant in winter. Ideally between November and early March. Trained apple trees, like espaliers and fans, should be pruned in summer.

What time of year should apple trees be pruned?

- You can prune an apple tree any time of the year without hurting it, but late winter, just before spring, is probably best. The worst of the cold weather is past, so you won't be subjecting the fresh cuts to severe icing, but you'll still be able to influence the tree's spring growth.

What month do you prune apples?

Although apple tree trimming may be accomplished any time of the year, late winter to very early spring is most advisable (March and April), after the worst of the cold snaps to minimize possible injury due to frost.

How far back do you prune an apple tree?

It is important to make a good, clean pruning cut about 1/2cm above a bud facing in the direction of desired growth.

Is there a wrong way to prune a tree?

Don't cut off leaf and flower buds. Fall pruning may remove the leaf and flower buds that a tree has already set during summer growth. These buds stay dormant through winter months and bloom the following spring.

Do you trim dead branches off apple trees?

The first step in pruning an old apple tree – or any tree at all - is to remove the dead, damaged or diseased branches. Dead branches won't have living buds, blossoms or leaves. They may have died of natural causes or as a result of disease. Damaged branches may be broken or may have a wound on them.

Can you cut the top off an old apple tree?

Pruning can bring an old tree back to health and let you reap the fruit of your labor. Start by making cuts at the top of the tree, and work downward so that falling wood doesn't break limbs you've already pruned. A clean, smooth cut will heal quickly. The wood behind the cut is diseased and also needs to be removed.

How do I prepare my apple tree for winter?

For apples especially, it's important to rake up fallen leaves around the tree. It's not a bad idea to do this for pears and stone fruits as well, but it's most important for apples because a common fungal disease, apple scab, overwinters in the leaf debris under the trees.