- fairygardengirl
- Full Member
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:20 pm
- Location: New england zone 5
need help with apple trees
I have 2 apple trees in my front yard that were planted by the previous owner. They are leaning to one side quite a bit and only one of them had any apples last year. What should I do?
- fairygardengirl
- Full Member
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:20 pm
- Location: New england zone 5
Right...first things first FGG,
Both those trees could be pulled more upright but...it should be done in the early spring, just before the trees start to break bud. This would then allow any broken roots to mend quickly without putting a strain on the top of the tree. I guess the trees will need pruning prior to this but I would suggest that you put a picture on here in the winter months of them when they are leafless so that we can give you some help as to what needs to be removed.
Before pulling up you will need two stakes to be driven into the ground either side of the trunk....so that once the tree has been straightened a cross beam can be put in place across these stakes and the tree allowed to then rest on this beam until it's roots set in their new position.
How upright you can get them depends on two things....how much muscle you can get on them....and how much they will come upright without breaking too much root. You can feel the give in the roots quite easily as the tree is raised.
Now...those varieties.
Firstly you have problem. They are both triploids. That means that they both need a pollinator...but, they cannot pollinate in their turn. So you need another tree to act as the pollinator of them both. Either an apple or perhaps a crab apple ( malus) tree. However, you said that one of them cropped ok, so there must be a tree in the area that is doing the job.
The Macoun is a cross between a McIntosh and a Jersey Black. Prone like its parent to canker. Good taste, very sweet , tough skin but regarded as a lovely Apple. Bred in 1923.
Courtland is an older Apple. Bred in 1898. Ben Davis crossed with McIntosh.
Described as very sweet with soft ,white ,melting flesh with a vinious flavour.
Both those trees could be pulled more upright but...it should be done in the early spring, just before the trees start to break bud. This would then allow any broken roots to mend quickly without putting a strain on the top of the tree. I guess the trees will need pruning prior to this but I would suggest that you put a picture on here in the winter months of them when they are leafless so that we can give you some help as to what needs to be removed.
Before pulling up you will need two stakes to be driven into the ground either side of the trunk....so that once the tree has been straightened a cross beam can be put in place across these stakes and the tree allowed to then rest on this beam until it's roots set in their new position.
How upright you can get them depends on two things....how much muscle you can get on them....and how much they will come upright without breaking too much root. You can feel the give in the roots quite easily as the tree is raised.
Now...those varieties.
Firstly you have problem. They are both triploids. That means that they both need a pollinator...but, they cannot pollinate in their turn. So you need another tree to act as the pollinator of them both. Either an apple or perhaps a crab apple ( malus) tree. However, you said that one of them cropped ok, so there must be a tree in the area that is doing the job.
The Macoun is a cross between a McIntosh and a Jersey Black. Prone like its parent to canker. Good taste, very sweet , tough skin but regarded as a lovely Apple. Bred in 1923.
Courtland is an older Apple. Bred in 1898. Ben Davis crossed with McIntosh.
Described as very sweet with soft ,white ,melting flesh with a vinious flavour.
- fairygardengirl
- Full Member
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:20 pm
- Location: New england zone 5