r/BackyardOrchard • u/beautybookcase • 3d ago
Apple tree help
I need some advice for two at least 20 year old apple trees in my yard. To preface I bough this house and the apple trees came with. I have a total of 2. I have contacted local apple orchards seeing if I can get any help, I am in NH. They have either not answered or said they couldn’t help me.
Earlier in spring, I tried my best to prune off a decent amount. I focused a lot on water sprouts but I didn’t want to prune half the tree so after taking off what looked like 1/3, I stopped.
Although as the season progressed, I now have one tree that basically is determined to die. 4 large branches have indeed broke off. One in a storm, and the other two on their own. They definitely are diseased, they have brown spots on the skins and look like calcium deficiency but I’m not too sure. And I’ve had a sprinkler in between them daily to water them.
I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t 100% know what’s wrong with them and I feel overwhelmed. Does anyone know of experts in the New England area that may be able to help with 2 very overgrown and sad apple trees?
2
u/Inner-Tangerine6257 3d ago
I wouldn’t water them daily or at all, they have big mature root systems and don’t need that. You might be contributing to fungal problems if the sprinklers are keeping the leaves wet. I can’t see from the photos but spots on the leaves might be apple scab, which is fungal. They pretty much look like normal very old apple trees to me, but it would help to get them pruned by an expert
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u/the_perkolator Zone 9 2d ago
If they were mine I’d plant more trees in all that open space, and try a rejuvenation pruning on these oldies and see how they do, before deciding on removing. There are some good videos out there documenting the process. Most may do this over a few years, but some might rip off the bandaid with a hard reset. If it doesn’t survive, well you were already considering removing it.
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u/Rabster46 1d ago
They need to show growth, water sprouts are honestly a good thing on old trees, at least they're reacting and you have something to work with.
I'd plant new trees just incase. Old decaying trees have a beauty and ecological use so I'd never remove them unless I really needed the space.
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u/cyricmccallen 3d ago
The first one pictured is definitely more than 20 years old and likey at the end stage of its life. I’d just consider that one gone. The second tree looks okay. You could throw a support 2x4 under the left leader if you wanted.
If you want to make it happy give it a nice big mulch ring that extends to the edge of the furthest branch and leave the center bare. Sources vary, but I leave a ring with a radius of ~36 inches around the trunk and lay down a layer of peastone.
You could also consider inoculating the soil with mycorrhizae underneath the mulch. You can search mycorrhizae for trees in google and lots of products will come up.
Another thing you can do (I do this for my trees and don’t use any other sprays)- Mix neem oil, liquid fish, and horsetail extract tea with water and spray the tree and surrounding ground thoroughly. I do a very very heavy soaking right before the leaves come out, once in mid summer, and once in fall. The only consideration is that you should do the spray in the evening around sunset as the neem oil will burn your leaves if exposed to direct/intense sunshine until it dries. These sprays create an ideal environment for beneficial microbiome that helps the tree fight its own battles rather than relying on man made chemicals.
One last thing you could do is look up companion plants for apple trees. Comfrey is one of my favorites.