Johnafree Apple Trees

[flowerbug]

Gosh, @flowerbug I wish I Could grow a crabapple. Problem is that it could make my horses sick---I looked into it. I will study up and find something that blooms at the same time and buy cheap clearance, plant in my tree pot--the really big, plastic one, and winter it in my garden bed, the plant next Spring. Should be the same age as my baby trees.

i don't see any indication that crabapples are poisonous to horses:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_plants_poisonous_to_equines


but these are the type i was thinking of:

https://luv2garden.com/crabapple_edible.html

 

[thistlebloom]

They are not poisonous, but the quantity consumed can cause colic. Apple seeds also contain cyanide, but a lot would have to be consumed to be fatal. A crab apple is just an apple tree, so not toxic. But a horses intestine is long and convoluted so you want to avoid feeding anything gassy.

As @ducks4you knows, there are trees that are toxic and should not be in a pasture with horses. I commend her for her caution.

http://veterinaryteam.dvm360.com/top-5-trees-poisonous-large-animals?pageID=5

 

[ducks4you]

Shame, but I think my DH's may be planting a non fruiting crabapple bc she wants spring flowering. Crabapples are native, so they are pretty hardy.

 

[ducks4you]

Finally got pictures of my caged trees. I have secured the chicken wire to the ground in 3 spots for each tree AND they have survived one "inner sanctum horse mowing", so far.

 

[ducks4you]

Fruit tree report:
My old apple tree has NO flowers. Some time this year I will be chopping it down.
My two Montmorency Tart Cherry Trees were aGAIN covered with blossoms and I should get aNOTHER bumper crop in June.
The horses' GD apple tree had a quite a few blossoms. I did some late winter pruning, but it needs more.
My survivor pear tree had a bunch of blossoms, so we will see which ones survive to fruit.
I was upset that my peach tree had no blossoms. It is a beautiful tree, but has been a disappointment. I pruned it in March and may have pruned off the few blossoms for 2019, but I let it get tall and gangly, so I took as much as I could, opened up the middle more and will take more next March to try to prune it back to manageable.

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks, I currently do NOT have them attached to any stake, just stakes around them. I am satisfied that their cages will protect them.

 

[ducks4you]

Correction: the old apple tree produced ONE apple this year. Time for the chain saw.