Bart: Sorry you didn't get the quality of tree you paid for. Bay Laurel isn't cheap and all those branches shouldn't be broken...but the tree will be just as good in a few yrs if you do your part. It doesn't take a perfect tree to produce just fine. But you do need the wide crotch angles the original branches would have provided.

I struggle with these questions sometimes myself because this is a common problem on a newly arrived bareroot tree. My biggest concern is that branches 2 and 4 will dominate the tree forever if left in place. Guess that I would remove the broken branches, cut the tree back to 24-30 inches, and cut back 2 and 4 to about three buds. Then see what happens when the tree starts growing. You may need to continue to prune back or completely remove a branch that wants to dominate the tree. If you can select 6-8 branches with good crotch angles, the tree will be fine.

Others might have a different approch depending on whether they prefer open center or central leader. You need to decide that and proceed accordingly.

The Fruitnut

The above is reasonable advice.
Getting trees mail-order is a gamble at best. Always be prepared for major surgery after arrival. I prefer to get only whips this way, but I don't usually have that option.

Try this... look down below branch number 1. You will find buds or locations where buds used to be. I think I can see one on the right side of the trunk. If there are living buds available I would use those, in which case I would cut the tree off just below branch number 1. That's not as radical as it may sound, it's a very typical way of starting off an apple tree. But I would make sure you and at least two live buds on opposing sides of the trunk. Three would be better, and four would be better still. But even if there's only two, these branches will be lower down in the tree and better balanced than what you have now. And they will be able to branch out nice and low and spread out into a decent tree. If there are lots of buds you should try to select 4 buds spaced evenly around the trunk. Cut the trunk just above the topmost of the 4 selected buds. The top one may try to dominate and become a new leader so you should take restraining action to bring this branch down to around 45 degrees from the trunk. Or let it go if you prefer a central-leader type of tree.
I prefer apple trees to branch as low as possible within reason. I hate receiving a tree in the mail with broken and eneven branches and now buds lower down.

I don't think it's a problem at all. Do what fruitnut recommended. Any branch that dominates should be bent over as tcstoehr has noted, it slows down the growth of that limb; this is typically done with espaliers to control the rate of growth of all branches evenly. The weaker ones are allowed to point straight up, the stronger ones pulled over to slow their growth. The nutrients and hormones go straight up to the top, it's apical dominance. Bending a branch 45 deg. or more usually encourages laterals to break along that branch as well.
I am new to fruit trees but old to roses; roses and apples are closely related. Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery told me/recommends when planting a new tree to whack it off a couple feet above the ground to force new branches to grow low. This is if you intend to keep the tree pruned within reaching height. So, I no longer pick the tree with the nicest branch arrangement because most if not all will be on the compost pile anyway. As the new branches grow you can spread/train them for wide crotches and placement/spacing on the trunk. You can control the shape of your tree instead of getting the luck of the draw.

> Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery told me/recommends
> when planting a new tree to whack it off a couple feet
> above the ground to force new branches to grow low.

This is what I was recommending as well, as long as there's enough live buds to make new branches.

Thanks for the fantastic advice everyone.

I like the idea of hacking the thing off and letting all new branches grow to get it started with the best shape, but "live buds" question is confusing me.

I looked at the lower part of the trunk and there are a bunch of places where buds may have been or may still be, but I'm having a hard time telling which. The presence of buds on the small branches is very easy to detect, but on the trunk, there are "marks" where the bud should be, but I don't see the bud itself sticking out. One of those areas even looks like a branch started to grow but was cut or broken off.

Will all of these "marks" form branches regardless of what they look like now? (sorry for my non-lingo with words like, "marks").

Or could I do some of the pruning suggested above, and wait to see if lower branches form and if they do, then do some more drastic pruning, like cutting it off 24 inches from the ground?

Any thoughts?

Thanks again for all your help,
Bart

A tree such as this is known as a feathered tree and those limbs are known as feathers. The point of feathers is to have early fruit production. The point is to grow fruit and not wood. To give you the best advice you should have told us what root is involved here. All of the above is good advise and will work well. Myself, I would tie down the vigorous and stub back the others to one inch. I want to grow a French Axe tree and I want all of the scaffolds I can get. But a French Axe can really only be grown on a rather dwarfing root.
If it is M7 or bigger I would remove the vigorous and stub the others.
If it is a larger root it wouldn't be the worst thing to head the CL to about thirty four inches or so, and remove the strong limbs.
that's my two cents.

Thanks Geraldo.

The rootstock is M111. How does that effect the choices you laid out above?

Thanks again,
Bart

MM111 is like my least favorite rootstock. I have had trees go five years before they fruit and I am just not going to wait that long any more. If it was on 7 I might say head it back and start over, but with MM111 it would take too long; so I guess tie down the vigorous limbs and stub back the broken ones. Those you tie down will sprout all along the top of the limb in the spring. when those sprouts are small just rub them off with your hand. Maybe try to orient some to the side. Difficult, but not impossible. Ideally you would remove those stronger limbs, but those are the ones that will have fruit soonest for you, so see if you can keep them from getting too darn big in relation to the central leader. I would stub those broken ones and not prune it again for several years, and then only in the summer.
My two cents.

Thanks Geraldo. My only other choice for rootstock was M27, would that have been a better choice? Should I just drop another 20 bucks for an M27 or stick with this one? Or both?

M27 makes an extremely small tree. M7 makes a good compromise, but can still make a very large tree if a vigorous scion. In that case EMLA 9 is a good choice but will need to be staked. Actually all of them will need to be staked if on poor soil, wet soil and wind comes up when you have a heavy crop load. I've had many MM111/Galas go over.

Thanks.

I avoided the M27 because of the small size and the only other choice was M111. I ordered from Bay Laurel because they had the Original Gala which I heard good things about in here.

As far as staking goes, how long do these trees need to be staked? I'm thinking just the first few years, but I don't know. It seems the more I learn about fruit trees the less I know!

> One of those areas even looks like a branch started to
> grow but was cut or broken off.

Yes, this is where a branch was cut off all the way back to the trunk. No more branching will occur here. :^(
This doesn't bode well for any other potential branches lower down. To identify live buds, look at the branches throughout the tree. There are dozens of buds that will leaf out and are potential branch sites. I can see at least eight live buds on branch 2 alone, in your picture. Live buds on the trunk will look much the same as these. If you can't find anything that looks quite similar, chances are there aren't any viable buds.

Thanks tcstoehr.

Sadly it looks as though most of the places where buds should be do not have a bud forming (on the trunk). The one execption that I found was only about an inch or two above the graft union. Do you think that's too low to have a branch forming? Or is it ideal in that it will form a nice, low, workable branch?

Bart

I have had, and do have, a number of Gala strains and I can't say the Kidd's D=8 is any better than Royal, Imperial, Pacific, or the others I sampled. Not if grown and picked at the prospective proper times.
Oddly enough M26 and M7 stand up better for me than MM111. If they do tip over it is easier to pull up the 26 or 7 as they are smaller trees. I guess how long they have to be staked depends on your specific growing situation.
One rootstock that I have always liked is MM106. On a a spur tree or a smaller tree like a Braeburn or Empire it just makes an attractive tree of just the right size for me. Just don't let water pool up around it and you won't have the crown rot for which it is famous. Plant it on well drained soil or on just the smallest of high ground or ridge and it will make a very productive and free standing tree. I mean just a few inches.
Keep the ground around your Gala/111 not too darn wet when it is heavy with apples and you should be alright.