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Fruit & Orchards

New property with large apple trees

15 years ago

We have recently purchased a home with 3 very large and dangerous apple trees in the backyard. There are a ton of apples, not sure what kind though. The trees are dangerous because my young children like to play under them but they keep dropping branches. I'm assuming these trees are way overgrown (as is the rest of the property). Can I save them by getting someone to give them a wicked hard prune (how many feet?) And what are the chances a prune would kill them completely? Something I definitely want to avoid. I also have a very tall and mostly dead pear tree on the property. Would pruning that save it as well? Thanks for any help.

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Comments (4)

david52 Zone 6
15 years ago
I live in an area where there are lots of old (100+year) apple orchards, and some massive trees. Someone who knows what they're doing can *rejuvenate* many of the old trees, depending on how healthy the main trunk is. Unfortunately, the guys who know what they're doing can be expensive - like $200 + a tree.

Some guys I know here had it done to their entire orchard, say 50 trees, and they're very happy. Others try to do it on the cheap, by themselves, with mixed results.

But all in all, having full sized, healthy, producing fruit trees is worth a lot, I'd say.
afss
15 years ago
My suggestion would be to go out and remove all of the dead wood and go from there. pruning isn't too difficult and likely with a bit of help you can do a lot of it yourself. If you can take some pics and post them. you will have to have the photos hosted somewhere else like photobucket.
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It is almost surely a transplant issue and also may have something to do with the state of the tree when you bought it. BB's are hard to store once dug up and are best planted shortly after digging before they begin to leaf out. The tree may have been weakened well before your purchase just by a single drying out of the ball. The BB soil is probably of a different texture than yours and watering can be tricky if this is the case- you have to be sure that the ball is thoroughly watered as well as the soil the roots need to grow into. That soil outside the ball often needs to be broken up a ways to insure easy penetration of new roots. BB'd trees are always a risk because you don't know how much root you're buying- if the roots are very spread out at time of digging the tree may not be worth much. Best trees usually come from nurseries with soil that has high clay content so roots are condensed.
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silentlou...i'll get out there today and take some pics for you, and post them tonight. The trees on the east side are farther away (maybe 20 feet), but the trees on my south side are probaly 12 feet from where my plantings of all kinds start.I have deer and bear, coons,possums, skunk, fox...you name it, i've got them running through my orchard..it's a freeway! I get the majority of my damage from moles, though..haven't seen too much damage from other animals. I know what you mean about the hickory nuts dropping...mowing in the fall sounds like ping pong balls under your deck! My ground is littered with little holes where the squirrels bury them... My hickories didn't give me anything to speak of this year..they have one huge bearing year,(last year for me), then they rest for a year or two..so this was going to be light year for them anyway, then along came the hail storms and knocked a ton of them down early. I love my woodpeckers..I have the smaller (6" or so) kind in my hickories, and I have a big (14") woodpecker that comes to a dead tree I have on another fenceline..he's been going to that tree for 2 years, so I leave it there for him..it drives my neighbor nuts, he wants the tree for firewood, but I won't give it to him!! Are you Upstate N.Y.? I am between Albany and Syracuse. One other question..how old are your Hickories? I was told by an old timer that years ago, the government(don't know if fed. or state) had a program either during the depression or just after to give people fruit and timber trees if they would plant them, to help people have a future source of food and/or timber. Most of my neighbors have huge stands of pine trees..I guess the people that lives here wanted nuts! Donna
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If there are any leaves left, perhaps you can locate the culprit by close observation at all times of the day and evening. What size is the tree? Since most people don't plant just one apple, can we assume that there are others already on the property? If so, are they being affected? Lastly, pictures can help. Sometimes, we can tell what type of critter is causing the damage by what that damage looks like.
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anything you add.. like foam.. cement.. etc ... will actually trap moisture inside... and speed the decomposition process .. that it probably usually dries out is actually a positive ... if you have the space ... i would plant another apple tree .. to invest in your future... as long as the tree wont fall on anything important ... then there is no reason to remove it ... not unlike randomly appearing mushrooms ... this is a free show from ma nature ... as she reclaims it ... a pic would be interesting.. if you can add one or two ... i wouldnt worry about the wasps or whatever.. they usually move on year after year .;.. but a healthy respect for them.. never hurts ... ken
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marknmt
15 years ago
My guess is that the old pear will be a challenge. It's likely grown pretty straight-up, and has several dead trunks. I'll bet the lower third is a mess of growth and that it's crowded with small fruit. If you want to grow a pear (and they are wonderful) you might be happier if you start fresh. But you probably wouldn't see much fruit for at least a few years.

I hope you have some pics to share. It'd be fun to see what you're dealing with.

Good luck,

M

Good luck,

M
lucky_p
15 years ago
There is a Cooperative Extension bulletin, "Renovating Old, Abandoned Apple Trees', that you can purchase - only 50 cents - online, or your county Cooperative Extension Office can get it for you - that gives a good overview - and nice line drawings, if I recall correctly - of how to go about renovating/reinvigorating old untended apple trees. After reading it, you may or may not decide that you're capable of attempting it yourself.
Be careful - it can be dangerous work, but also be aware that even if you cut every limb back to the main trunk, it probably won't kill the tree(I'm not advocating this, and yes, I've seen recommendations against removing more than 1/3 of the branches/leaves in a single year) - but the regrowth would probably be difficult to manage and re-train into something you'd care to look at.

Big, old standard apple trees can be great climbing trees for kids - though most folks anymore would be mortified about their kids climbing trees like many of us did 50 years or more ago; yes, some of us fell out, and occasionally got a broken arm as a result, but most survived - but you'd certainly need to remove any dead or unsound branches beforehand

Here is a link that might be useful: Renovating Old Abandoned Apple Trees

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