Omni, I thought this might be some helpful literature on the general maintenance of multiple budded varieties, from the Dave Wilson site: In comparison to a single fruit tree, multi-budded trees require special consideration. When selecting a multi-budded tree, look for one that has an even distribution of limbs around the tree. If the different fruit varieties (the limbs) are not well-spread on your trees, use a spreader to separate them. Multi-budded fruit trees are grown close together in the nursery rows and this can result in some of the budded selections receiving less-than-optimum sunlight during their development. Always plant the smallest limb (the "weakest" bud) to the south/southwest to insure that it gets plenty of sun.. Cut back the strongest growing varieties by 2/3rds. Cut back the weakest variety by 1/2 " or not at all. During the summer, watch the growth-rate of the smaller limbs to determine if pruning is necessary at that time. If the weakest variety is 1/2 the size of the others, it's best not to cut it back. Do Not! let one variety take over - or one or more of the the others may fail. Prune back the more aggressive limbs. Summer-prune when necessary in order to let sunlight get to all the developing varieties. The primary reason for the failure of multi-budded fruit trees is letting one variety take over which can cause the others to fail. This is most often due to lack of summer pruning when needed. remember to keep even sunlight available to all the developing selections. After the third season, maintain the multi-budded tree so that each fruit-type grows in balance with the others. Hope it helps! Jay

This is a very old post but I would just mention that where the OP lives, killing raccoons is illegal and any trapping must be done only with live or Hav-A-Hart traps. And then you have the issue of what to do with the trapped coon........ Electrified fencing is effective and relatively easily done. Friends who lived almost in downtown Seattle - a highly populated urban area - had a small fish pond in their entry courtyard that was decimated by nightly visits from raccoons until they installed an electrified fence around it. Urban dwelling raccoons are highly adaptable and intelligent animals. And with few natural predators aside from cars and the occasional dog. I live in a much more rural area very close to Seattle and raccoon issue are much less of a concern here as the coyotes keep populations in check (as do cars....too many raccoon bodies along the side of the road). I rarely have any issues with raccoons in my garden but the deer are another problem altogether!! And do far more damage than any raccoon!!

Thanks for the responses. How toxic is Immunox/myclobutanil? The warnings of course make it sound horrible and our water comes from a well not far off. Unfortunately, there will be no getting rid of the cedars, for family reasons. And while the area around the trees is mowed and underneath is kept mulched and weeded, the rest of the field (and the surrounding fields) are basically tall weedy grass that gets mowed once a year. That's not going anywhere either unless someone gives me a brush hog and a tractor to pull it with. I guess the best bet moving forward is to try to spray at the right time(s) in the future. I'll look into the suggested sprays for this year, though. Randy - My William's Pride isn't bearing yet (just put it in this year). I've had them from farm stands though and thought they were good enough to try planting. I don't have any tasting notes or anything, though :) Anyway, I hope they're good. Thanks again. Sam

I use wire fencing to keep critters away from certain plants. I collect throwaway rolls of wire fencing with a 2 x 4 inch grid. I like it a little rusty, because it's nearly invisible in the garden. I cut pieces, usually about 2 feet high, and encircle the plants to keep out critters like woodchucks. Woodchucks can dig under and climb over a fence that high, except that I cut the fencing so that pokey wire ends stick out of the top and bottom. They are very sharp, so nothing has tried to climb over it. I have to watch out not to skewer myself in the garden, and it's probably not the best method to use if you have little children running around. Maybe something like that would work around your apple tree?