Hello,

We have a very old, very big apple tree that doesn't produce any apples. Every year it flowers beautifully and then little, tiny 'fruits' cover the entire tree. We were told that this type apple tree is one that needs another tree close by to produce apples. We were also told that this tree is the type where you had a 'male' and a 'female' tree, could this be correct??? What type of apple tree should I be looking for to get this one to produce? Can I use the tiny 'fruits' produced by this tree to start a new one? There are other small 'trees' under this one, could they be replanted nearby to help this one??
Thanks,

Sandie

 

Hi Sandie,

I hate to be the one to bereak this to you. Your Apple is ready to go where all good Apple trees go when they reach a certin age.

My Wife & I own a small specialty Farm & one of the things we grow is Antique Apples. When we started we had to decide if we wanted alot of some or some of alot of Apples.

Our house was born the same year as I was in 51 & we had to remove 7 old Apple Trees that were doing the same as yours.

So since an apple need to be grafted to a Scion (A special root system ) in order to be a Dwarf, Semi Dwarf, Full Size.

An Apple tree does not need another Apple tree near by Pears yes Apples no. You will find more Semi Dwarf Choices today due to the large amount of land needed for a large full sized Apple tree.

Many home Gardeners can choose a few semi dwarf trees & have a good taste of 3 or more tastes. My recomendation would be to fell the tree & if you can have it ground into multch it is really good unlike acid old Pine.

Now that you have the space you can put as many as 3 or 4 Semi dwarfs in it's place & enjoy great Apples for about 15 to 17 years. That is about 7 to 9 years less that a Large Apple Tree produces for. Most are best if replaced at 15 years, those last five years can be very unproductive.

If we can help you find a good Nursery for Apples, the Time is nearing soon for your window, that you have to plant your new Spring trees.

At 51, I have tried more than once to make an old apple trees bear fruit again. All the old Apple trees I have felled were rotten inside, if that gives you some Idea Of what is happening in Nature to your tree.

Marturo

 

Marturo,

Thanks for the reply. That is not the news I wanted to hear

It is a very large tree, approx. 20' wide and 35' tall. Far enough away from the house so as to not damage it should it fall. The flowers are simply beautiful and literally cover the entire tree each year. It will be a shame to see it go.

Okay, now I'm really confused. We do have a (yes only one) pear tree that bears great baking/canning pears every year. It is almost as old as the apple tree and is within 15' of the apple tree. Honest, there is no other pear tree in our yard, across the road, or next door. The next closest pear tree is up at the grandfather's house 0.25 miles NW of our house. What is going on here????????

Lastly, when we chop down the apple tree, how close can we plant the semi-dwarf to the original root system and what is the window here for me in west GA (85 or so miles south of TN)?

Thanks for your help,
Sandie

 

Firstly : When we chop down the apple tree, how close can we plant the semi-dwarf to the original root system and what is the window here for me in west GA (85 or so miles south of TN)?

Cut and order NOW! No kidding you need to huba huba In order to get your Babies started & growing good this season.

Questions? Organic? Antique Apples or Conventional 2003, Are you able to dig a 5 foot Diameter hole with a depth of 3 feet and, 1 or 2 foot center hole past that, of say 1 foot dia?

Yes you can plant as close to the trunk as you can bust or cut the fat surface roots out of the way. Remember the 5 foot circle you are going to dig to 3 feet down.

Lucky for us Apple Trees have large fat east to chop surface roots that's why the hole for the new tree must be wide around.

Depending on variety you can replant 4 or 5 SemiDwarf Trees so as to have a variety.

Now you know what they say about the better half? Well mark your Calanders today Marturo was wrong!

Most Apple Trees need Cross pollenators, & some pears do or do not need a pollenator. Thanks to my Western NY, Farmer Partner of 30 years, who was raised on a 200+ year old Farm, Linda.

Can't win them all So get back with me on what you want & I'll give you a good honest source to get your Trees.

We never buy anything including potting soil at the Majior Discount centers, I don't have enough time to tell you all the horror stories but trust me.

We gave anywhere from $20.00 to $25.00 per tree. Shipping a percentage of order. There is a Guy in GA that has a very large selection of Antique and conventional.

I check him out.

Marturo
PS: Sorry about your tree I know how it feels as I said I have spent years trying to beat nature at the end I think she knows better. Just watch the Babies grow & you understand the circle

 

Marturo,

Thanks for the info and the correction! I know it must have been hard, but you must be a good man, after all you put it in writing!!


I don't like buying fruit trees from discount centers either. Mainly because they are overcrowded and the selection seems meager at best.

There is a nursery close to where I live and the operators are part of the Georgia Native Plants Society which is a group that operates rescues. I have not known them to sell any of the rescued plants either, it is against the societies ethics. I would like to get Antiques, which they don't have, so please tell me about the person you know of here in GA.

We will plan to chop the old guy down this Saturday and use the tractor for the roots, tractor with post hole attachment to help us dig those 5'x3' holes and get the new 'old' ones in the ground by Sunday or Monday. We'll probably chunk the old guy in the pine thicket to help the Lady Slippers! (That would help the circle too, right?)

Could you give me a link to this guy so I can also see if I can buy any pear trees too? Ours is getting pretty out of shape and spare spots in it, and I just love pear preserves!!

You have been a great help!
Thank you so very much,

Sandie

 

The Top link is where we bought our trees over a 3 year period. They have everything as far as Apples & other fruit Trees.

You need to help me find the guy in GA, I rember wanting to buy from him , but his Wife got I'll & for the time we were buying he was down. My Wife thinks it was Lawsons. I don't know if they have a website so it may be a search of GA BBB or someone has heard of them.

I will keep searching for them with some apple People we have met online. Maybe you could ask someone in the Biz around where you live & so we will find him.

One thing I will say about Sonoma the name before the Guys working and learning at Sonoma took over for the Owners who are retiring. Every tree we got did better than any of our Farmer Friends have seen on most new Trees. I will buy again & again from their new owners in future.

Marturo

http://www.treesofantiquity.com/

 

Marturo,

First of all, thanks for all of your great help, you have been excellent!

I found a Lawson's Nursery in Ball Ground, GA. They don't have a website but the link provided gives their address and a phone number along with a very nice comment. Looks like these may be the people.

I travel with my job (construction related) and went through Ball Ground Monday. I'll be going close by there again next week. I will probably call them sometime this week.

I visited the first website you gave and it looks like I have a lot of learning to do about fruit trees!!

Thank you very much

Sandie

 

Marturo,

First of all, thanks for all of your great help, you have been excellent!

I found a Lawson's Nursery in Ball Ground, GA. They don't have a website but the link provided gives their address and a phone number along with a very nice comment. Looks like these may be the people.

I travel with my job (construction related) and went through Ball Ground Monday. I'll be going close by there again next week. I will probably call them sometime this week.

I visited the first website you gave and it looks like I have a lot of learning to do about fruit trees!!

Thank you very much

Sandie

http://gardenwatchdog.com/c/1317/

 

I posted this before with a big list of things to build the soil, under your trees for at least 10 years.

Java is wearing off, so must reboot for about 8 hr & I will come back tommorow, & finnish the list of ammendants

Good Night & your very welcome

http://www.lawsonsnursery.com
_____________________________________

Marturo