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| 'Louisa' |
My header depicts 'Mary Potter' in the third of the four seasons of the malus year. In certain cultivars, bloom season in spring and fruit season in fall may be gorgeous whether a tree is well maintained or not. This particular tree is heavily pruned every other season with the result being a beautiful structure in foliage season or winter, making it a four season plant.
I shot the photo below of 'Mary Potter' on this "foggy, wet, looks more like the coast of Washington State than Wisconsin" winter day. (By the way, the older I get, the more I appreciate days like this… I can almost feel the plants in my garden being nourished with life giving moisture.) Note that even after the fruits are taken by the birds, the form and structure of this plant will remain interesting. Suckers will be removed after bloom this coming spring since it will have been two seasons without significant pruning. Given the opportunity, this tree would easily be twice as tall and thirty feet wide. I try to keep it to between twenty and twenty-five feet in width, making it possible to maintain paths around it.
At the top of this post is an outstanding weeper called 'Louisa'. My attitude regarding this plant is entirely different since the branch structure tends to rest upon itself in layers. As the tree ages, I may have to rethink this but for now I am not pruning this specimen. Below is a photo from this morning… the birds have pretty much removed the orange fruits for this year. A weeper such as this needs to be evaluated and pruned in the winter, watching for crossed branches that would spoil the overlaid branching pattern.
I have to admit that pruning flowering crabs is one of my least favorite garden tasks. It makes it no easier when I let the work go for years. Pictured below is 'Spring Glory'… I didn't quite get to this tree this season and there is a lot of wood that needs to go. Crab apple branch removal is a difficult process because the branch spurs catch on each other in the most inconvenient ways. Hauling the branches away is an horrible experience, especially when twenty-five pick-up truck loads needs to be disposed of over the course of a few days (been there, done that)… it's times like that that I wish I owned a good chipper machine. Here then this a project that I fully intend to procrastinate on for as long as possible!…
The old adage regarding the pruning of apple trees is that a robin should be able to fly through the branch structure without touching its wings on the branches… such an attempt by the proverbial robin with the tree above would be almost certain 'Hara Kiri'!
Pruning can take on different forms… see the photo below as an example…
It may seem drastic, but some trees just aren't worth the bother and we removed three very large specimens this fall that were well over thirty years of age… these were 'one season wonders' and when coupled with their propensity for apple scab and leaf drop, they simply didn't meet the standard for valuable trees.
Other crab apples also have been suffering from leaf drop, but with pruning, have demonstrated structural beauty that I would like to keep in the gardens. It is my hope that with increased air flow and fallen leaf removal these trees will have less of a problem with leaf drop, and will earn their place in the gardens.
Pictures from this dark morning of trees heavily pruned this past fall. (Yes, I agree that late winter pruning is probably best, but some times I just do it when the spirit moves me and the results have been ok.)
There are presently fourteen flowering crab apples in the gardens at Oak Lawn Cheese factory. This is down from about thirty-five a few years ago. My best advice when considering flowering crab apples is that you research, research, research… and keep in mind that over time, disease resistance can change… dramatically. Make certain that your info in this regard is up to date… very important. In fact, the three large trees removed this fall were considered very disease resistant when planted… things can change over time and one needs to get one's head wrapped around that, disappointing as it may be. Also, crab apples require maintenance and a lot of it… do keep that is mind or you may live to regret it as I did after putting off the pruning chores for a few years.
In closing, 'Tina' with its sargentii ancestry has been a very beautiful and disease resistant variety for me. I've always grown it as a large 'ball' in the center of a garden bed. I love its bloom period in this form and have compromised my own rules to keep it a very interesting one season wonder…
After recently considering its structure, or lack there of, it became obvious to me that it has tremendous potential for a pagoda style layered look. Check out a photo from today and look past the 'jungle canopy' referred to in the title of this post. There is an even more beautiful style hidden away in this specimen and I'm planning on searching it out this spring as time allows. Remember… it's definitely ok to change directions in the garden… it keeps things fresh!
Larry
Pruning can take on different forms… see the photo below as an example…
It may seem drastic, but some trees just aren't worth the bother and we removed three very large specimens this fall that were well over thirty years of age… these were 'one season wonders' and when coupled with their propensity for apple scab and leaf drop, they simply didn't meet the standard for valuable trees.
Other crab apples also have been suffering from leaf drop, but with pruning, have demonstrated structural beauty that I would like to keep in the gardens. It is my hope that with increased air flow and fallen leaf removal these trees will have less of a problem with leaf drop, and will earn their place in the gardens.
Pictures from this dark morning of trees heavily pruned this past fall. (Yes, I agree that late winter pruning is probably best, but some times I just do it when the spirit moves me and the results have been ok.)
There are presently fourteen flowering crab apples in the gardens at Oak Lawn Cheese factory. This is down from about thirty-five a few years ago. My best advice when considering flowering crab apples is that you research, research, research… and keep in mind that over time, disease resistance can change… dramatically. Make certain that your info in this regard is up to date… very important. In fact, the three large trees removed this fall were considered very disease resistant when planted… things can change over time and one needs to get one's head wrapped around that, disappointing as it may be. Also, crab apples require maintenance and a lot of it… do keep that is mind or you may live to regret it as I did after putting off the pruning chores for a few years.
In closing, 'Tina' with its sargentii ancestry has been a very beautiful and disease resistant variety for me. I've always grown it as a large 'ball' in the center of a garden bed. I love its bloom period in this form and have compromised my own rules to keep it a very interesting one season wonder…
After recently considering its structure, or lack there of, it became obvious to me that it has tremendous potential for a pagoda style layered look. Check out a photo from today and look past the 'jungle canopy' referred to in the title of this post. There is an even more beautiful style hidden away in this specimen and I'm planning on searching it out this spring as time allows. Remember… it's definitely ok to change directions in the garden… it keeps things fresh!
Larry
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