Any tree can be "saved". An old tree such as this may be a seedling tree and as such has unique fruit like no others. I would save it by taking scions and grafting new trees from it, thus saving the genes; this will continue the tree's effective life should you lose the mother tree. For best results on saving her, please consult a certified arborist in your area. Paul.

Mike:

I am not certain just what you are looking for in the way of helpful advice. Can you save the tree? I don't know, but if it is important to you it is worth a try. Surely, you can try to prune it down, and that might rejuvenate it, but pruning is a series of judgment calls that you make while you are up in the tree, and I can't do that from here. If the objective is renovation, it might be best to prune in the dormant season, which might encourage healthy new growth. Summer pruning tends to slow growth. If the tree is out of balance, removing wood from the heavy side would seem the sensible thing to do. Since your photo does not provide the perspective of the whole tree, I can't get a feel for just how large it is, but it appears you will have quite a job getting up there. Use a good, sharp pruning saw, preferably something like the Corona razor tooth saw, that you can carry easily while you move around the tree. On this tree, I would probably spread the pruning over two and possibly three dormant seasons. But you have to start somewhere.

For what it's worth, I did some dormant top and thinning pruning to some 100 year old trees out in Western Maryland several years ago, and they came back strongly and resumed apple production. Diseases are a different issue, and if they are a problem you will have to identify them and figure out how to deal with them.

If you are concerned that the tree might die and want to preserve the variety, take a few scions in the dormant season, store them in refrigeration, then try grafting to a new rootstock in spring.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

first, you need to prune a great deal off of that heavy side. do it in middle of summer. I would place some posts on the side with little growth and anchor the tree. Be careful how you do it and don't use wire without having a hose covering. Bare wire will cut into the tree. You could also get a big cedar post and place a brace under the tree. do both. If a big tree like that wants to go over the posts will be little help, but it will slow the process if done correctly.
Institute an annual spray program. Institute an annual pruning program. Do nothing and the tree will not survive.
And you best take some cuttings and get some grafts going, because that tree might very well be hollow and/or decayed inside.
If and when it does go over it will continue to grow. It will show you the principle of apical dominance. That is, everything wants to grow up. So it will be laying on its side, but it will direct new growth straight up. I have seen trees like this often and when pruned up they look very neat and interesting. You eventually take the side limb that was the furthest down the trunk (when the tree was standing up) and make a new main tree trunk out of it. You will eventually only have what was the old trunk laying on the ground for four to six feet or so. It will root and strengthen the tree. If done right it will look ok.

Thanks for the advice all.

With the permission of my neighbor I'll contact our university botanical garden and see if I can convince someone to come down and check it out in case they'd like to collect scions from it. Who knows, maybe it will become someone's pet project or the subject of a paper.

As interesting as it might be to experience the principle of apical dominance if/when it eventually falls that would put the new trunk somewhere around the middle of my dining room. Al fresco dining but not necessarily at it's best.
;-)

Cheers,
Mike

I would also collect and plant a bunch of seeds from that old tree. Good genes can be passed on! Seed collecting from worthy specimens is rewarding.

I would start by taking some scion and grafting it to some other tree or rootstock, so that you can save the variety, in case you can't successfully save the tree. You could start over with a new tree.