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Fruit & Orchards

Can I straighten these trees?

8 years ago

We recently moved into a new home, with a pair of trees in the back garden. The owners think they're apple trees, and I've been fertilizing them with fruit tree spikes for the last eight months or so, but I've been wondering if they should be straightened.

My grandfather was a great gardener, but alas he's passed on, so I can't ask him for advice -- and I don't know much about caring for trees myself. Because of that, I'm hesitant to just give it a try -- I've seen articles about letting them straighten by growing, using wire inside of hose, but I don't know enough to tell if these trees can or should be straightened. The first one seems to be growing up, despite the base of the tree growing out sideways, so I'd be tempted to leave it unchanged -- but I'm hoping someone can give me an opinion based on experience, since I haven't got any...

Pictures follow -- two pictures of each tree, hopefully enough to show what I'm talking about!

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Comments (3)

Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
8 years ago
You could put a sturdy stake about 2 feet away and pull them straight with a rope. Is there fruit? They could be wild seedlings that never amount to anything. You might be better just starting fresh with new trees. I know you don't want to hear that. Sorry.
Bad timing for me. It's harvest time for my Anna apples, and I'm in the process of peeling, coring and slicing a ton of them. Almost no room left in the freezer.
Rob W.
Original Author
8 years ago
The first tree is starting to show fruit at the moment, but the second one's not showing anything so far. That's part of why I was wondering if I should leave the first one to grow just as it has been -- the second one seems to be doing the worse of the two, and its growth angle doesn't look like it'd be able to hold much fruit even if it started showing.
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FN, I think he may be talking about a dislodged tree and not a crooked one. For this problem there are so many variables that the only practical advice I can offer is to have an easily detachable staking system so you can test the anchorage and reattach if anchorage is not yet achieved. I had many trees blow over in a hurricane a year ago and some anchored after one growing season while others are still wobbly. The time it takes It depends on if roots were torn or simply pulled free but still intact along with a half dozen other factors, including soil, species, variety, rootstock and size of the tree.
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Yes, yes, all these horrible things could happen. Yet every direction in which one looks, there are trees near houses. There must be just millions of ruined foundations, trip hazards, etc, etc. everywhere you go! I don't deny that trees can do all these things-I deal with same for a living! I just find that quite often on this board, there comes to be a bit of myopia wherein only worst-case scenarios can result. For example, in each and every case where a tree or tree part is growing over a building or other potential target, couldn't that tree or tree part fail and cause damage? Yes, it could. But in remedying this, millions and millions of trees would need to come down.....now! A little overboard, if my decades of watching and interacting with the urban forest means anything. So how's that for a guy that did-after 30 years-decide he just couldn't live with his city's largest silver maple over his home...and the neighbor's home...and the other neighbor's home!? +oM
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"Something isn't right with the timeline of this plants life...11 years? The caliper of that trunk isn't even as thick as the stake.. I dunno..." I'm inclined to agree. There is no way that looks like an 11 y.o. graft! I also have a great deal of reluctance in accepting that a large growing conifer.......not that these individuals appear to be growing all that quickly.........can remain in a 1G nursery pot for that length of time without being densely rootbound. Even if it had been root pruned (and I have no idea how likely that would be with the repertoire of a conifer grafter) a couple of times, the roots would still fill the pot. Heck, my dwarf conifers will do that in a single growing season!! There IS something kinda fishy here....... btw, a "straight" trunk is a human construct, not necessarily a natural one :-) Plants will grow in response to their environment in addition to their genetics, both of which can encourage bending, twisting, drooping or contorting of any or all parts. They are living organisms afterall and differing appearances and growth habits or tendencies just add to their individual characters. Other than a few vines, I have never staked a plant but aways allowed them to assume whatever form or natural growth habit they were inclined to follow. It smacks to me of something akin to plant bondage..............
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A personal preference that may very well spell long term harm for your trees!! A buried root flare is a primary cause of tree failure. It may not be immediate (as a friend says, think in 'tree years', not human years :-)), but it will happen. It is ALWAYS preferable to plant high, never too deeply. If you do not care to see the root flare, just cover it lightly with a coarse mulch.
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Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
8 years ago
If the first one is a seedling, it may take years for it to fruit, and even then, the fruit may not be really tasty. It will be fun for you to taste the fruit of the first when ripe. You might need to replace the other with a good grafted tree. I have so much fruit, I'm making apple wine! You could look at pruning apple trees on You Tube.
Rob W. thanked Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b

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