you're best bet is to dig in and learn about apple trees and their habits, keeping in mind that they can grow fine for decades with no help there are thousands of named varieties of apples, most either red or green - here's just a few hundred to consider the probable reason you had "high yield" one year and "hardly any" the next is that apples are generally biennial, some extremely so, some not much .... meaning if you allow them to have the maximum crop the bloom and weather allow, they put all their energy into growing this years fruit and no energy into growing next years buds .... with little last year, you can expect another large crop this year, and if you don't thin it heavily and early, no crop again next year :) the most basic plan for pruning is to open the tree to allow good air circulation and light penetration, and for a mature tree to do the pruning during the last half of the growing season, NOT when the tree is dormant I would recommend for starters, no pest sprays until you learn a lot about the particular problems possible in your area, and for a mature tree, NO fertilizers beyond top dressing with a mulch of mature compost [others here may disagree on that] Bill

I'm not sure what the beetle is, but the "soapy cup of death" works with any insect that you can catch and immerse. Just fill a plastic cup halfway with warm water, and add a few shots of hand soap or dish detergent. The idea is to flick the insect off the leaf, and into the cup below. Once in the soup, they can't get out, and they die in a few seconds.

i think you just have new father paranoia ... crimminey.. its august.. leaves look battered ... and there is nothing to do about it ... and frankly.. your leaves do NOT look battered ... and i see little or no JB damage .... put down the sprayer.. and walk away ... your new vines.. are growing roots .. so as to mature .. and eventually fruit... they .. nor i .. really care about their leaves ... frankly.. you need to take a course on IPM this winter ... contact your local extension office and see if a class is offered in your area .... otherwise.. i fear you are on the road to excessive chemical usage leading to pollution ... BEEN THERE ... DONE THAT .... do as i say.. not as i used to do ... ken ps: same goes for the lawn.. if jean is right .... Here is a link that might be useful: i used to be the same way ....

Fascinating, all this discussion. I hope participants aren't too tired to continue, because I have questions. First question: what are the names of the beetles that are devouring my garden (in Italy). There are two kinds: a large (2cm) green-gold beetle, very handsome, and a smaller (1/2") kind, black dusted with white, that eats the stamens of the roses. Okay, we have the same kinds of problems everyone on this thread has been describing. Beetle infestations that go on and on. I don't spray or do any kinds of biological controls, hoping to see predators arrive that will deal with the beetles, but, so far at least, in the five years since we started our garden, it's not happening. We're in farm country, surrounded by fields, woods, scrub, so any possible difficulties caused by a suburban environment don't come into question. We have an abundant insect population: bees, flies, wasps, butterflies, praying mantises, and, of course, beetles good and evil. We also have lizards, though the numerous farm cats like to dine on them, and starlings and other birds. Still, the beetles keep coming, and I see that no one on this thread has a pesticide-free solution for them. However, I do want to cite a letter to Mother Earth News, printed in the June/July 2006 issue. The writer, Milt Fusselman, described how he had dealt with Japanese beetles when he lived in an area that suffered infestations. The pheromone trap he bought filled up immediately. So he took the pheromone trap, cut a hole in one bottom corner, ran a length of 1 1/2" PVC pipe down from the bag, attaching it with duct tape, and hung the whole shebang in his hen house, with a plate underneath the pipe. He wrote that the JBs emerged from the pipe onto the plate and made a meal for the enthusiastic chickens. Mr. Fusselman said that it worked very well. So, I pass it along, and hope that I haven't violated any copyright laws and that author and magazine will approve of my reporting his solution. I'm interested in the bantams for pest (specifically, beetle) control: anybody have any more to offer on the subject? The main question on my mind is: why the ecological imbalance? Why do no predators appear to feed off this abundant food supply? I grow a mixed garden--no monocultures--in an environment free, as far as I can tell, of pesticides, and with woods and brushy areas close by that can shelter birds, and yet the beetles multiply with impunity. Why? Melissa