Crabapple trees, when to prune
diversif
Hi,
My crabapple trees have been badly neglected since having my baby last
summer and now they have all sorts of suckers coming up from the base of
the trees. The trees are about 4' tall overall. Also, the branches
themselves are pretty weird, they seem to come out from the trunk at almost
90 degree angles. I can't imagine that they will ever be pretty trees
(this is not my fault as the previous owners did this). Okay, so my
question is: can I hard prune them now? I know I can prune out the
suckers, but I am thinking of making some serious structural changes too,
do I have to wait? I live in zone 6, shoreline Connecticut. Oh, and one
other thing you should know, I have no idea what I am doing. Just a little
background for you. Thanks in advance.
Karyn
Nick LaRocca
diversif wrote:
Hello Karen:
> My crabapple trees have been badly neglected since having my baby last
> summer and now they have all sorts of suckers coming up from the base of
> the trees. The trees are about 4' tall overall.
Four feet?? These trees are babies themselves. I would be very careful about pruning
until they have put on some size. However, you *can* remove suckers and rub off any
undesirable trunk growth.
> Also, the branches
> themselves are pretty weird, they seem to come out from the trunk at almost
> 90 degree angles.
Most crabapples have considerable horizontal growth since they are spreading trees.
They usually do not form the crown-type growth of shade trees. Multiple trunks are
also fairly common, and it is not always apparent what are suckers and what are
potential additional trunks. It depends on the variety.
>I can't imagine that they will ever be pretty trees
> (this is not my fault as the previous owners did this). Okay, so my
> question is: can I hard prune them now?
Not advisable even if they were more mature. Definitely not on young trees like
these. Actually, the less you prune them, the better they will be because they will
tend to aquire their natural shape.
>I know I can prune out the
> suckers, but I am thinking of making some serious structural changes too,
> do I have to wait?
Wait until winter.
>I live in zone 6, shoreline Connecticut. Oh, and one
> other thing you should know, I have no idea what I am doing. Just a little
> background for you. Thanks in advance.
Please get some material on caring for these trees. Try your local library or your
County Extension service. Also, try to find out what variety you have.
--
Nick - NJ - Zone 6b/7a
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
-— Albert Einstein
Paul Wang
"diversif" wrote:
> My crabapple trees have been badly neglected since having my baby last
> summer and now they have all sorts of suckers coming up from the base of
> the trees. The trees are about 4' tall overall. Also, the branches
> themselves are pretty weird, they seem to come out from the trunk at almost
> 90 degree angles. I can't imagine that they will ever be pretty trees
> (this is not my fault as the previous owners did this).
I don't have specific advice on pruning, but wanted to comment on
the branch angles. The most beautiful crabs that I've seen (at least
by my taste) have a gorgeous, extensive, lateral spread, with many
branches travelling horizontally like arms. They're quite strong,
and don't seem to split frequently at all. So my advice would be
to prune the suckers, but to leave those branches alone. You won't
get a tall vase-shaped tree, but that may be good.
--
Paul Wang
wa...@mail.med.upenn.edu
Christine A. Owens
diversif wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> My crabapple trees have been badly neglected since having my baby last
> summer and now they have all sorts of suckers coming up from the base of
> the trees. The trees are about 4' tall overall. Also, the branches
> themselves are pretty weird, they seem to come out from the trunk at almost
> 90 degree angles. I can't imagine that they will ever be pretty trees
> suckers, but I am thinking of making some serious structural changes too,
> other thing you should know, I have no idea what I am doing. Just a little
> background for you. Thanks in advance.
Please don't prune until fall, after the tree has lost its leaves. If you are pruning
for appearance:
1. Cut off any crossing branches.
2. Cut off any branches with more than 60 degrees, or less than 30 degrees, angle from
their branch [but not the main trunk].
3. Cut off all branches on the inner 1/3 of any branch.
4. Cut off all suckers.
5. Prune the exterior to a pleasing shape.
Chris Owens
Krieger
Go ahead and prune them.
Actually, having branches coming out of the trunk at 90 degree angles is
very desirable as they will be much stronger than if they had narrow branch
angles.
If you have your trees growing in sod, you will find they grow much faster
if you can till or mulch around them. Even though grass is very short, it
is very competitive. I learned the hard way. (The runt trees I planted in
my garden a few years ago thinking they would probably die anyway are now
more than twice as large as the healthier crabs I planted in the lawn, even
though I kept a circle of black dirt around them of about 1 foot in
diameter.)
diversif <dive...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article
<01bc4de6$3480bbc0$4898b8cd@peterhub>...
> Hi,
>
> My crabapple trees have been badly neglected since having my baby last
> summer and now they have all sorts of suckers coming up from the base of
> the trees. The trees are about 4' tall overall. Also, the branches
> themselves are pretty weird, they seem to come out from the trunk at
almost
> 90 degree angles. I can't imagine that they will ever be pretty trees
> (this is not my fault as the previous owners did this). Okay, so my
> question is: can I hard prune them now? I know I can prune out the
> suckers, but I am thinking of making some serious structural changes too,
> do I have to wait? I live in zone 6, shoreline Connecticut. Oh, and one
> other thing you should know, I have no idea what I am doing. Just a
little
> background for you. Thanks in advance.
>
> Karyn
>