Need advice about wild apple trees

[sandyullom]

We have three good size wild apple trees growing on our property - no idea how old they are. They produce some, but the apples are never very healthy looking (worms eat them, brown spots on them, etc). Was wondering if anyone has any advice on what to do with them to improve them?

 

[journey11]

When you say wild, do you mean they are some kind of mutt that came up on their own, or something planted so long ago that nobody remembers what it is? Do they have a good flavor or are they good for a purpose (pies, sauce, apple butter, etc)?

If they're worth keeping, first thing I'd do is prune. Then try spraying with dormant oil to help keep the bugs down.

You'd also be surprised how much fertilizer can help with the size of the apples. I get those fruit tree fertilizer stakes that you pound into the ground around the drip line.

 

[vfem]

Yeah, have you eaten these? Are they of food flavor, have you been able to figure out what kind they are?

I haven't done anything to our trees yet... but I was suggested Neem oil in the spring. After the blooms pollinate and fall off.

 

[sandyullom]

They are decent for eating. No Honeycrisp, but good enough that my kids eat them up! Two years ago we got a decent crop and I did some baking with them (muffins, applesauce, etc). This past year the crop was pretty bad - just fed them to the pig! I'm pretty sure they are really wild - dropped by a bird or something

I've thought about trying to figure out what kind they are, but not sure where to even begin there. So for now I don't know that.

I've looked at the Neem Oil and may try that this spring. Looks like good stuff to have on hand for other fruit trees and the garden too.

I'll have to check into fertilizer too. I hate to not take advantage of good fruit just sitting there.

 

[Rosalind]

If you get a tolerably warm day, now is a good time to do any pruning. Easy to see the shape of the thing, what needs done.

On older "wild" trees that haven't been maintained, the usual issue is a whole lot of sprouts and branches need to be hacked out of the middle, any diseased limbs taken out, any "whips" trimmed off. When done, give it a good double-dose of dormant oil and wait for spring.

Re: wormy apples, depends on type of worms. They may be plum curculio larvae, which leave a sort of crescent-shaped hole in the skin of the fruit that is the female's mark from egg-laying. Generally sticky red ball traps (available at most garden centers, probably online too) do the trick for most apple tree pests.

 

[ducks4you]

Good thread for me. I have 2 older and one fairly old (maybe Golden Delicious?)apple trees, and one really old peach tree that have DEFINITELY grown out of control. They all have/have had dead limbs, but they all produce every year, even the one that got fenced in and now belongs to the horses!
I have read that you shouldn't prune off more than 10% off of your fruit trees at one time. What do you think?
Also, I saw a program recently about pruning young fruit trees--I have 4 of those, 2 cherry, one Johnathan Apple and 1 pear--yes, I KNOW that I need another pear tree for fruit, and I'm buying it this Spring.
They suggested pruning young trees so that the tree spreads outward, rather than upward, so that it will be easier to retrieve fruit in the future. Any suggestions along this line?

 

[journey11]

Good thread for me. I have 2 older and one fairly old (maybe Golden Delicious?)apple trees, and one really old peach tree that have DEFINITELY grown out of control. They all have/have had dead limbs, but they all produce every year, even the one that got fenced in and now belongs to the horses!
I have read that you shouldn't prune off more than 10% off of your fruit trees at one time. What do you think?
Also, I saw a program recently about pruning young fruit trees--I have 4 of those, 2 cherry, one Johnathan Apple and 1 pear--yes, I KNOW that I need another pear tree for fruit, and I'm buying it this Spring.
They suggested pruning young trees so that the tree spreads outward, rather than upward, so that it will be easier to retrieve fruit in the future. Any suggestions along this line?

You'll need to get a little more in depth on pruning techniques for different species of trees. Research them individually or get a good book on the subject. Peaches you want a bowl shape. Apples, generally roundish or kept low (not shooting up in the middle), and Pears are more pyramidal. The main thing is good light and air circulation and not allowing branches to cross, rub or intersect each other.

Apples are bad about watersprouts that choke up the middle. Most of the pruning I ever do on apples is taking out the yearly watersprouts before they get big. To be effective, pruning really needs to be addressed every winter. January/February is go time. On a really old apple tree, it is difficult, if not impossible to get it to an ideal shape because any inappropriate growth that has been allowed to grow for so long that if you cut it out you leave a very large wound on the tree and even with wound paint you run a very high risk of rot, bugs or disease setting in and then your tree hollows out. I have had to make such cuts before and I found that it helps to make sure the cut is at an angle or vertical to let the water run off/dry quicker. On old trees your best bet is to stick with cutting only on limbs less than an inch in diameter and take out watersprouts and overcrowded/intersecting growth. I always let the cuts dry for a day or two and then apply a very heavy wound paint (not spray-on, but the brush-on thick stuff).