what is your area???

shall we presume that is you zip in lubbock TX???

ken

yes Lubbock TX 79424 is the zip

What about a native plum like Prunus mexicana?

i used to love crabs.. i bought about 10 .... 10 years ago ...

but i am getting so sick and tired of suckers. that i have toyed with the idea of just getting rid of them ...

i have no clue about TX trees... but there has to be so many other options than a tree that has a history of problems ...

good luck
ken

Oh no, Ken! Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and picture Spring without those crabs. Betcha can't do it-lol!

Malus prefer acid soil

Dan

My soil is slightly alkaline is that a big problem.. I thought there were certain species that could do ok with slightly alkaline soil. I know I am going to have to water it a bit more than my red buds but I don't mind if it is a good option.

As for the mexican plum my wife really doesn't care for those.

The nursery selection in those parts is likely bleak from what I remember of the area long ago.

There is a Siberian crab that doesn't mind alkalinity, but I doubt anything out there has it, likely mail-order only and time's a' wastin'.

Dan

Malus performs admirably in alkaline soils...at least in my area.

Maybe Chilopsis.

Or its hybrid, X Chitalpa.

Here is a link that might be useful: Recommended small trees for Lubbock county

I never get tired of my crabapples, and not all of them sucker from the roots. I do clean them up if they do, so give that some thought but not so much as to rule out the beautiful choices. I agree with a response under your other post that Prairifire is a good selection, as is Thunderchild for a purplish bark and leaf color. Adirondack is an upright grower with white flowers. Any cultivar planted in a lawn or garden should have persistent fruit (fruit that hangs on the branches until the birds eat it or it just shrivels away.)

lol.. you are right cyn ....

in spring i love them ... what a show ...

in late summer.. when the suckers show up.. i hate them ...

i suppose everything has its season ...

ken

Chilopsis or x Chitalpa might work out there, they are getting good cold-tolerant varieties these days.

Dan

Called the nursery and they have these 4 types of Crabapples

Radiant
Red Splendor
Snowdrift
Spring Snow

Any advice? Most importantly I want something that doesn't drop fruit and is resistant to disease. Flower color and shape is less important.

Thanks

Most importantly I want something that doesn't drop fruit and is resistant to disease.

Perfect! That rules out crabapple as well!

That is: they like to attract diseases and critters.

However 'Spring Snow' is described as "fruitless", which means that most years there is no fruit, until there is. Some vars are described as 'persistent frs' (eg 'Snowdrift', & if I were to plant one of the above, it would be 'Snowdrift').

Dan

I know Crabapples are not ideal for my climate, but there aren't many trees that are ideal and I am pretty much stuck with some type of crabapple.

My wife wants a pretty flowering tree and doesn't care for mexican plums, desert willows or hawthornes.

She really wanted a bradford pear but I talked her out of that.

I know Crabapples can get fungi and diseases but I also know some types are disease resistant and some types have persistant fruit. Which types I am not sure... I have been trying to research my self on the internet without much luck.

In summary, I am stuck with either a bradford pear or a crabapple and since you guys seemed to really hate the bradford pear I told my wife we could get a crabapple.

So the help I need is Which of these four types would be the best and why?

Thanks

I think what Dan is saying, is that all crab apples will have disease from time to time will varying depending upon the year) and that they by definition (i.e. crabapple) they have fruit. Therefore it becomes impossible to meet all conditions with the addition of the last two conditions. That being said, perhaps there is some mis-communication of intent. Check the link below. It is a pdf guide of crabapples from one of the big nursery growers. It is not a comprehensive list, but it does contain what they grow (a pretty large number), and therefore should be of some help.

Arktrees

Here is a link that might be useful: Schmidt Crabapples

Some crabs are resistant to some things while still being susceptible to others, detailed below.

You are going to be enjoying a plant that attracts critters - for the most part because of the attractiveness of the tree (the compounds it makes to attract insects to pollinate and birds to distribute seed attract unwanted critters as well).

So. In my view if I were the landscaper on that job and you my client I'd go first with the 'Snowdrift' first and the 'Spring Snow' second (but ONLY if fireblight and rust are not common there [contact County Extension office]). The 'Red Splendor' frs are poisonous. 'Radiant' should be first choice if you have fireblight and scab, but you'll be fighting aphids, caterpillars, scale, and powdery mildew (esp if in lawn).

So you have to pick what you are willing to fight and go with that: bugs or fungi. Each have their + and -.

Here is what Colo State Extension has to say about the matter. You can see most are susceptible to at least one thing, count on multiple things. Lots of crabs are planted on the Front Range as they can take some of the aridity here, but we deal with fruit drop esp in the red-flowering ones (if the birds don't eat the "persistent" fruit, gravity still works, and the frs can harbor critters and fungi).

Good luck in your choice.

Dan

Oh, I missed that Schmidt .pdf. That helps a bit, they say they grow the white ones with some fireblight resistance now. If the nursery has smaller specimens, that helps out a bit, and the 'Snowdrift' less trouble, less fragrance tho...

Gotta go.

Dan

Keep looking...all four of those cultivars are considered inferior to whats available on the market today.

If you really only have those four cultivars to chose from and your worried about fruit dropping you need to look at other species.

Have you considered Magnolia?

Haven't considered Magnolia do they do ok in Lubbock Tx?

What types of cultivars should I be looking for when it comes to crabapples?

Magnolia and Lubbock don't mix.

If you are going to mail order crabs, use the .pdf link above to choose one.

Dan

I think a plastic/silk tree would meet all of the above conditions with maybe the exception of high wind. heh heh.

Seriously though, there are no maintenance free trees used in landscape. You are always going to have to take care of them in some way, shape, or form, especially when they are younger trees.

A beautiful yard is like a beautiful woman. They both need a lot of TLC.. Or cosmetic surgery.

Are you familiar with Sourwood??
Can't think of anything I don't like about em.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sourwood tree

The OP wants a small tree tolerant of alkaline conditions, not an Oxydendrum.

Dan

As mentioned above the .pdf link above has great info.

Consider Sugar Tyme® Crabapple...should be readily available.

I love Crabapples. They are beautiful in blooms and are a great bird tree. If you don't want the fruits hanging around, try to select a tree that has smaller-diameter fruits, which seem to be easier for the birds to eat. There is one twisty old Crab in my backyard that has bright red 1/4 inch fruits that the birds absolutely love. Cedar waxwings, Bluebirds, Goldfinches, Robins, and Starlings hover over this tree for weeks. The birds strip the fruit on this tree (unlike a few others with much bigger fruits), so no mess.

I did tremendous research on trees 3 years ago and finally settled on Crabapples. Purple Prince and Prairiefire were resistant to the diseases affecting some Crabapples and have persistent fruit. The birds pick my fruit off during the winter which is only about the size of a small cherry. I got the Purple Prince and love it. I do have a Prairiefire in a container, only because I have it and don't have any place to put it. :)

I have high neutral soil at 6.8 and clay soil and so far it does beautifully. It does sucker, but all I have to do is prune them out maybe 3 times per year. No big deal when you only have 1 or 2 trees. I couldn't find any tree period that didn't have something I didn't like about it and the Crabapple won out overall for me. I did have to do some searching though to find the one I wanted locally. I don't know how they would do in your area but in Ohio it does great.

Question:
What about Serviceberry or Viburnum? I don't know them well enough to know what species/cultivars would be tolerant or not to Texas. Just a thought at the moment. I would think with my limited experience with Viburnums, that Manchurian viburnum would be all-tolerant.

Dax

The other flowering tree I haven't seen mentioned is ornamental cherry. Can you grow them in texas? All ours are in bloom right now here North of Philly and boy they are gorgeous. Sorry if I missed something about cherry but it could be another option.
Joann