woodencloud: Plant a Yellow Transparent tree. This is an antique variety that has very sour apples, right up to the time they begin to turn yellow. Unless you have a very sour tooth, they will be sufficiently sour for you. We use Yellow Transparent as our #1 applesauce variety, although it requires a little sugar, and it is also great for pies. Like many of the tart apples, it ripens very early -- around July 15 here in Northern Virginia -- and we pick them just before they begin to turn yellow, at which point they can begin to turn mushy. I also have a much later-ripening sour apple of English origin called Foxwhelp, which is a real mouth-puckering experience. Foxwhelp is not so good for sauce, but it is great for blending in cider. You would probably like it right off the tree. Older apple varieties like these are available at specialized nurseries around the country. You would have to do a little searching with your Google mechanism to find them. I think Cummins Nursery in NY State carries the Perrine type of Yellow Transparent, which is reported to be better than the original. You would be better off with a known grafted variety on a size-controlling rootstock like M-7 than trying to start a tree from seed, which is a real crapshoot. You would get fruit much sooner, and would know what you have. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I may be late with an answer. Humber nursery might have it. There is also Siloam Orchard, look them up on line. They are around Barrie, I think. Dominion Seed house sold columnar apple trees for a long time, the business was sold to a Quebec company. They are only selling seeds now. There are many nurseries in Canada that sell fruit trees. You can find information on line. Look up Cindy's catalogue, which lists nurseries in Canada and U.S. There are columnar fruit trees and to aid in pollination there is a columnar crab apple with beautiful pink flowers.

bebe-3 - Sorry, I'm just seeing your question. I've been trying to come up with my own color, as Limonata is WAY too bright! A quart of white paint later, it's finally looking better. Anyways- The aqua color on my 13 year old's room is a shade by Olympic (Lowes) called Aqua Chiffon A58-3. I took the paint chip to Sherwin Williams & they color matched it in their Supreme Satin finish. It's a great color - Don't let the Chiffon name full ya - it's bright enough for my teen, but not too bad that it sent Mom in a panic! LOL persnickety- thanks for the suggestions! I think this might be a good time to try those framed initials I've seen on here. Now to find some paintable frames! Thanks! Here is a link that might be useful: Olympic paint

Beesneeds: I have 11 apple trees on various rootstocks. I prune with Felco pruners, loppers and a pruning saw. I also use a stepladder. I try and keep my older and larger trees no taller than 15' as I cannot pick ,spray or prune anything taller than that with the equipment I have. I feel your pain as I had one very wide apple tree that is difficult on one side to even work my ladder into. I ended up just cutting out a few large limbs to make this happen. I figured that was the best way as what use are apples that I cannot get to and pick when they are ripe (unless you are letting them drop and picking up the windfalls for harvest). Saw away is my advice and open up the tree a bit. Better light penetration will give you apples with better skin color and better flavor. Also a more open canopy promotes better air flow so the fruit/foliage will dry off quicker so hopefully less prone to scab, mildew, sooty blotch ect. IF you have not pruned much the past few years, I would advice not removing LOTS of wood the first year. Pruning old trees too heavily can result in a lot of water sprout formation. Best to remove lots of wood over a period of several years instead of all at once. I often summer prune out water sprouts when I see them instead of letting them go and doing it during the dormant season.