Tag: Apple Trees

If you’ve ever noticed that your tree produces a ton of fruits one year and hardly any the next, thinning helps prevent that, too.

In our guide to growing apples, we discuss everything you need to know about cultivating these trees in your landscape.

We’re now going to discuss one important aspect of apple tree care that might seem counterintuitive: thinning.

Trust me, it’s worth it. Here’s what I’ll cover:

Why Thinning Is Important

Modern apples (Malus x domestica) are bred to produce a lot more and much larger fruits than their wild cousins.

This abundance is great for us gardeners, but it has consequences for the tree. A large number of big fruits requires a lot of energy and nutrient resources.

Commercial growers thin their fruit because they want to produce larger, more flavorful and colorful fruits to please consumers.

Some home growers don’t care if their apples are large and visually appealing, and if that describes you, then you don’t need to worry about thinning.

There are only a limited number of leaves on each tree, and these can only support so many developing fruits.

As a result, if there are more fruits than the tree can support the individual apples will be smaller than they could be otherwise. They also tend to be less flavorful, and the color might not be quite as perfect.

If you don’t thin the pommes intentionally, the tree might do it for you, by dropping some immature fruits if there are more than the tree can handle.

The other reason for thinning is to prevent biennial bearing. This is when a tree has a huge crop one year and then produces hardly any the next. If you thin out the fruit, the tree will bear more evenly from year to year.

If you’ve left your tree to its own devices in the past, then you know that if you leave too many fruits on the tree, it can weigh the limbs down and even cause breakage. That’s especially true if you live in an area that receives early snow in the fall.

So, thinning can also help protect your tree from breakage.

It’s also important to keep up on your pruning, which you can read about in our guide. An appropriately pruned tree will require less thinning.

When to Work

Thinning has the largest impact if the task is completed when the fruit is smaller in diameter than a quarter – which is about 25 millimeters or just under an inch.

If the fruit is larger than this, the process will not be as effective.

The best way to determine when to thin is to wait until the petals have fallen from the tree and then start checking every five days.

Once the pommes are large enough to handle, you can start snipping or pinching them.

Typically, your window for thinning ends about 30 days after petal drop, with the window closing rapidly after the developing fruits reach about 15mm or just over a half inch in diameter.

If you miss the ideal timing, you can still thin the fruits, but just know that the impact on the growth and next year’s bearing will be minimal.

The Process

In some regions, commercial growers use chemicals to thin their apples. By spraying a lime sulfur mixture, carbaryl, ethephon, or 6BA, they can stop pollination in some of the flowers, which results in fewer apples.

For us home growers, we’re going to need to use good, old-fashioned manual labor.

Wipe your tools using a 10 percent bleach solution (nine parts water to one part bleach), roll up your sleeves, grab a ladder, if necessary, and head outside.

Examine each branch, looking for each cluster. Most trees will have individual clusters of developing fruits coming off spurs or the branch tips depending on whether the apple is tip-bearing or spur-bearing.

You want the clusters to be about four inches apart – or one per spur – and each cluster should have two or three pommes at most. You can thin to just one fruit per spur without compromising quality if you wish.

As you work, retain the pommes that look the healthiest. Any shrunken, malformed, or particularly small fruits should be removed.

When removing clusters or individual fruits, snip them off carefully with your pruners.

Try to cut right at the stem. It can be hard to access the area between the individual fruits, so you might find that it’s easier to pinch them off with your fingernails or use a pair of scissors.

Use caution as you work because you don’t want to break the spur or tip as you’re removing the apples.

While you can remove as many as you want, be careful of overdoing it which can result in overly large fruits with a mushier texture.

Resistant to cedar apple rust and powdery mildew, ‘McIntosh’ apples dodge common problems while growing piles and piles of classic red fruits.

If you have dreams of growing your own ‘McIntosh’ in your garden, I totally get it. This is one of my favorite apples and when the fruits start to ripen in my garden, I feel like throwing a party.

To help you care for yours, we’re going to go over the following:

Cultivation and History

The good old “Mac,” as it’s commonly known, has quite the reputation.

It’s the national apple of Canada, appearing on the Canadian silver dollar, and is one of the classic New England orchard apples.

And, yes, the popular personal computer is named after this fruit. Developer Jef Raskin chose the name after his favorite fruit, but slightly changed the spelling to “Macintosh” to avoid lawsuits.

It’s hugely popular as a parent for breeding new cultivars.

But let’s go back to its origin story. Gather ‘round, children, while I tell you about the history of ‘McIntosh.’

Apples reached Canada in the early 1600s and growers started breeding them, working to create cultivars that would thrive in the local climate.

A farmer called John McIntosh left his home in upstate New York and settled with his wife Hannah on a plot of land in eastern Ontario in a township called Matilda, in the early 1800s.

In 1811, while he was working his land, he came across some seedlings that must have seeded themselves presumably from the imported European apples growing there.

He moved a particularly promising one next to his house and the fruit became a favorite of the family. They also sold the fruits locally and grew new specimens from seed, but none of the new trees had the stellar characteristics of the original.

John’s son Allan learned about grafting from an itinerant farmhand and started to propagate more of what they called “granny’s apple.” He started selling the trees in 1835.

The vigorous plant grows extremely well in cold climates, producing reliably as far north as USDA Hardiness Zone 4.

In fact, the fruit takes on the best color when it is exposed to cold weather in the fall as it ripens.

In the right conditions, the medium-sized fruits have thick, dark red skin wrapped around white or pale green flesh.

The flesh is crisp and juicy, with a mild, spiced, and honey-sweet flavor with just a hint of acid. Apple lovers say it has a wine-like flavor, which is one of the reasons why this tree is so popular as a parent for breeding hybrid cultivars.

The trees were sold under the name ‘McIntosh Red’ and available commercially by 1870.

By the mid-1900s, ‘McIntosh’ was one of the most popular apple cultivars in the US and the most popular in Canada. On top of that, dozens of hybrids had already been bred using ‘McIntosh’ as a parent.

Imports like ‘Gala’ slowly started to take over in commercial orchards. While ‘McIntosh’ still remains popular, it isn’t as common as it once was.

‘McIntosh’ Apple Propagation

You can’t grow ‘McIntosh’ from seed. You’ll need to purchase yours from a nursery or graft one from an existing tree that you have access to.

Grafting is a bit of advanced gardening, but it can be extremely rewarding. Essentially, you’ll purchase or grow a rootstock and then purchase or obtain the ‘McIntosh’ scion.

You’ll splice these together and seal them and let the tree grow as you would a purchased sapling.

You can learn more about this process in our guide to propagating apples.

If you purchase a bare root or potted plant from the nursery, dig a hole big enough to accommodate the roots.

Remove the plant from its container, if applicable, and put it in the hole so that the graft joint sits about an inch above the soil. Firm the soil up around it and water well. Add more soil if it settles after watering.

Space your specimens five feet apart.

How to Grow ‘McIntosh’ Apples

‘McIntosh’ does well in cold climates, but it’s not the right cultivar for warmer areas.

Don’t try to grow this cultivar further south than Zone 7 unless your region has mild summers and winters with about 800 to 900 chill hours.

If you aren’t familiar with chill hours, that’s just the number of hours below 45°F. Apples and many other fruit trees require a long period of cold to set fruit.

For pollination purposes you’ll also need another apple tree that flowers at the same time of year to ensure that your specimen will develop fruits.

‘Anna,’ ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin,’ ‘Cripp’s Pink,’ ‘Fuji,’ ‘Granny Smith,’ ‘Idared,’ ‘Jonathan,’ ‘Novaspy,’ ‘SunCrisp,’ ‘William’s Pride,’ and ‘WineCrisp’ are all good companions.

If you don’t have room for two trees, you might want to consider a different option. Of course, if your close neighbor has the right kind of tree, you can rely on theirs for pollination.

Learn more about apple pollination in our guide.

When it comes to watering, your tree’s needs will vary based on your local conditions, including how well the soil drains, relative humidity, the time of year and the weather, and the amount of rainfall.

On top of that, established specimens with healthy root systems are able to withstand more drought than a young or stressed tree.

It’s generally recommended to provide an inch of water per week, but just use that as a starting point and take your cues from your tree.

If you water and the soil is immediately dry several inches down, you should probably water more. If you water and the soil stays moist for days, you can probably water less often.

Read more about watering apples in our guide.

Make sure your trees receive full sun, at least six hours per day, but more is better. If half of your tree grows smaller or has thinner foliage, watch the sun throughout the day one day to see if part of the tree is shaded.

The soil should have a pH around 5.8 to 6.5. The reason this is important is because the wrong pH will restrict the amount of nutrients that the plant can absorb from the soil.

Test your soil every few years to ensure that the pH is in the right range. If it isn’t, amend the soil. Lime or wood ash can raise the pH.

Speaking of soil testing, do a test before you begin your fertilizer routine.

‘McIntosh’ tends to bear heavily one year and lightly the next. If you want to avoid this, be sure to thin the fruits in the spring.

Essentially, you’ll head out into the garden when the fruits are under the diameter of a quarter and you’ll remove some of them.

You also need to prune your tree regularly to ensure it produces well and to maintain its health.

Most of the pruning should be done when the tree is dormant. Many people opt for winter or early spring. That’s when you’ll give the tree some shape and ensure a good ratio of young and old wood.

You can remove dead, diseased, or deformed wood anytime of year. You can also remove water sprouts anytime, but during the dormant season is best.

Learn more about the pruning process in our comprehensive guide.

And then there are the various diseases and pests. Let’s look at the creepy crawlies that might devour your plant, first.

Insects

When it comes to insects, all the usual suspects apply. Aphids, apple maggots, various borers, codling moth larvae, fruitworms, various mites, scale, and thrips are all common.

In my region of the Pacific Northwest, codling moths are a constant problem, while warmer areas are usually more troubled by apple maggots.

It’s worth reaching out to your local extension office to find out what the most frequent pest problems are in your particular neck of the woods.

Disease

‘McIntosh’ is one of the cultivars that is highly susceptible to apple scab and moderately susceptible to fireblight.

Both are common and extremely damaging diseases, so if these two are a frequent problem in your area, keep that in mind.

Read more about scab in our guide and all about fireblight in apples, pears, and plums in our article.

On the bright side, ‘McIntosh’ is resistant to cedar apple rust and moderately resistant to powdery mildew.

Learn more about common apple tree diseases and how to manage them in our guide.

Harvesting

One of the great things about ‘McIntosh’ is that the trees can start bearing fruit the year after you plant them. Of course, it won’t be a huge crop, but you’ll have some to harvest!

When mature, the fruits are about two to three inches in diameter. The apples that come off the tree earlier in the year tend to taste a bit more acidic.

As they age on the tree, they take on a sweeter, more mellow flavor, a bit like a glass of cider.

Expect them to start maturing around late September through mid-October, depending on where you live.

If you’d like a more thorough rundown about how to harvest apples, we have a guide that will walk you through it.

Preserving

‘McIntosh’ fruits hold their shape and texture well in storage but the flavor fades quickly.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that they won’t taste quite the same as when they are eaten fresh.

They’re also easily bruised, so store them carefully and don’t move them around unnecessarily. Though the fruit has thick skin, it’s relatively soft.

Store them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator so the flesh doesn’t become mealy.

They can last two or three weeks this way without degrading at all, and for up to three months, though they might lose some texture.

Otherwise, store your harvest in a cellar or other cool spot for up to three months. Find out more about storing apples in our guide.

Of course, ‘McIntosh’ apples can be processed into applesauce or butter and they work nicely for these purposes, as the flesh breaks down easily.

I also find them to be one of the best types for slicing up and dehydrating.

Recipes and Cooking Ideas

Part of the reason that ‘McIntosh’ fell in popularity is that the fruits aren’t very crisp, and modern consumers want a crispy, crunchy apple.

Plus, they have a thick skin, which some people don’t like, though this contributes to making them easy to grow in northern climates.

They have a citrusy sweet flavor, but they are much less sweet than many modern cultivars.

I personally like that, especially for cooking savory dishes. But for a sugary-sweet apple, this isn’t the best choice. To increase the sweetness, let the fruits fully ripen on the branch.

You can, of course, devour them straight off the tree, and since the fruits aren’t huge, they make the perfect snack-sized option.

Or slice them onto your charcuterie board with cheddar, since the flavor works well with meats and cheeses.

The flesh isn’t extremely dense, so they aren’t ideal for pies and tarts since the flesh tends to break down quickly when cooked.

You could mix them with something a little more firm like a ‘Granny Smith’ or ‘Honeycrisp’ for a bit more texture.

If you were to ask 10 apple growers how to prune, you’ll likely receive 10 different answers. But they’ll all agree on a few basic pruning principles.

In our guide to growing apples, we cover how to cultivate these trees in your landscape.

As pruning is an essential part of apple maintenance, in this guide we’re going to discuss what you need to know about the process to increase production and promote the health of your tree.

Here are the topics we’re going to go over:

Apples fruit best on wood that is two years old, meaning the wood that grew on the tree the year before last. Our pruning will focus on promoting lots of healthy second-year growth.

There are two types of bearing in apples: spur and tip. The type that you have will influence how you prune. Don’t worry, we’ll explain how to determine which is which if you’re unsure.

When to Prune

Pruning is best done when the apple is dormant. Depending on where you live, this is anywhere between November and March.

If there is live growth on the tree, like leaves or buds, the specimen isn’t dormant.

That doesn’t mean you can prune any old time during the dormant season.

If the wood is frozen, don’t prune. If the temperature has been below freezing for a day or two, don’t prune until it warms up above 35°F for at least three days.

Pruning to remove broken, diseased, or otherwise problematic limbs can be done at any time of year.

It’s best to take off anything that is potentially harming the tree right away. Having said that, try to avoid pruning during extreme heat and drought.

Offer your apple trees some water a few days before you prune if it’s warmer than usual in your area.

When you’re ready to start trimming, you’ll need a saw, loppers, and secateurs. Make sure they’re clean.

How to Make the Cuts

There are two kinds of cuts that you’ll need to make when pruning apples: thinning and heading.

Thinning is when you remove an entire limb back to the trunk or nearest branch, and it’s how we remove unwanted wood.

Heading cuts remove the ends of limbs to encourage branching and encourage new growth.

For thinning cuts, each time you cut a branch away from the trunk, you want to leave the branch collar intact.

The branch collar is the little raised area at the base of the branch.

If you make a flush cut that removes the branch collar, you leave behind a larger wound than necessary and expose the apple to disease and pests.

To make a thinning cut, first cut halfway through the limb from the underside about six to nine inches away from the trunk.

An inch or two further away from this cut, make a cut halfway through the branch coming from the top down.

These two cuts won’t join, they are just there to relieve pressure and prevent the branch from splitting as it falls away from the tree.

Make one final cut right next to the branch collar. This cut will need to be made parallel to the trunk but at a slight angle so you don’t cut through the branch collar.

So the cut will angle in toward the trunk slightly as it goes upwards. You will be left with a little lump on the trunk, which is the branch collar.

This three-step cutting process reduces the chances of the branch cracking or you making a bad cut.

For heading cuts, you should make the cut just in front of a leaf node at a slight angle. If you picture a clock, the cut should have a two o’clock or 10 o’clock angle about half an inch away from the leaf node.

Never make a heading cut close to the trunk beyond all of the leaf nodes or you will leave behind a stump that will eventually die and rot.

It’s not necessary to use a wound sealant. Your apples will take care of sealing their own wounds and sealants can increase the risk of rot.

Training a Young Tree

Pruning in the first few years is entirely different than what you’ll do to maintain an established specimen.

During the first few years of growth, you need to prune the apple to provide it the best shape for healthy production in the future.

Your first task is to decide if you want an open vase (or center), modified central leader, or central leader shape.

Central leaders work best in areas that experience heavy snow. This shape has that classic upright tree form with a strong main trunk and upright branch extending to the top of the tree.

Open vase shapes provide the best air circulation and sun penetration to the canopy, and the fruits tend to be closer to the ground making harvesting easy, but the branches are more likely to break in heavy snow.

With the vase shape, sometimes called open center, imagine a bowl-shaped canopy. The tree will lack that strong central stem and will instead have multiple main stems that extend at an angle from the trunk.

This shape is most common for plums, peaches, and apricots, but growers in regions like the Pacific Northwest opt for this shape for apples and pears since snow isn’t such a concern there.

The modified central leader combines both, with multiple main branches extending out of a strong main stem.

Some young apple trees come pre-trained and if you purchased one like this, you just need to maintain the shape for the first few years after you put it in the ground.

But if your apple tree isn’t trained already, you’ll need to do the work right after planting.

Let your climate and the natural growth of the particular cultivar you are growing inform your choice. ‘Granny Smith,’ for example, lends itself to a more open shape. ‘Red Chief’ naturally has an extremely strong central leader.

To promote an open vase shape, cut the main trunk about 30 inches above the ground, leaving three or four main limbs, known as scaffolds.

Make a heading cut about half an inch above the top remaining branch and remove any excess branches below the cut so there are only three or four left.

The three or four remaining scaffolds should be evenly spaced and should have a 45-degree angle to the main trunk.

If there aren’t any branches with the correct angle, you can prop a two-by-four plank between the trunk and the limb to push it down a bit and encourage it to grow at a better angle. Otherwise, just do your best to pick the limbs with good angles.

The remaining scaffolds shouldn’t be directly above each other.

The second winter after planting, you should have secondary branches forming and a few new main branches trying to develop on the trunk.

Remove all but two or three secondary branches on each main branch. These should be evenly spaced and not directly lined up with each other. Remove any new main branches growing from the trunk.

The central leader style is pretty easy to start because it works with the tree’s natural shape. You want to identify the main trunk running up the center of the specimen. That’s your leader. If your tree has more than one main trunk, remove all but the most central and strongest one.

Then, remove any branches that have a tight crotch. This means two branches emerging from the same spot, creating a tight “V” between them. You want to remove one of these branches to leave just one behind.

Remove any branches that are crossing, fully upright, or close together. Any branches growing at the same angle within a few inches of each other should be removed, as well.

For a modified central leader, start with a central leader shape. In the fourth winter after planting, remove the central leader just above the top branch.

After that, it’s all about maintaining the shape.

Pruning Spur-Bearing Trees

The vast majority of newer, modern hybrids that we grow in home gardens bear fruit on spurs.

Spurs are those short little stems that look sort of wrinkled. They never grow more than a few inches long.

‘Red Delicious,’ ‘Empire,’ ‘Gala,’ and Braeburn apples are all spur-bearing types. If you aren’t sure which kind you have, head outside in the spring when the tree is blooming and look at the flowers.

If the flowers are borne on the tips of long, thin, smooth shoots, it’s a tip-bearer. If they are borne on short, wrinkled spurs, you’ve got a spur-bearing tree.

Spur-bearing types produce best on second year wood but the branches will still produce well in the third, fourth, and fifth years. After that, production drops off.

Your job is to try to create a balance of one-, two-, and three-year-old limbs on the tree. The easiest way to do this is to remove about 15 percent of the limbs each year, taking care to leave obviously young branches.

Not all of the limbs you remove will be the three-year-old or older wood, but that’s fine. Just do your best to target the older-looking branches.

Never remove the main scaffolds. Those are the original main branches that were left in place when training the young apple.

Of course, you should also take off any broken, crossing, diseased, or deformed branches, as well as one of any branch pairs with a tight crotch. Remove weak branches that bend when laden with fruit.

Always remove any spurs that grow on the underside of a branch. These will never produce well.

Over pruning will stress the tree and can result in the development of water sprouts, and these should be removed.

How to Prune Tip-Bearing Types

Tip-bearing apple types produce fruits at the end of the longer shoots. Most heirloom apples are tip-bearing. ‘Cortland,’ ‘Fuji,’ ‘King,’ ‘Granny Smith,’ and ‘Rome Beauty’ are all tip-bearing types.

It’s important to note that if you prune branches in the spring and cut off the wood where the new shoots are or will form, the apple tree won’t produce fruit that year.

On the other hand, you also want to encourage new growth so the tree produces young branches. Remember, the best fruit production happens on two-year-old wood.

Each year, get out there and remove the dead, diseased, or deformed limbs. Anything crossing or with a tight crotch should be removed, as well.

Every three years, make heading cuts to about a tenth to a fifth of the branches. They should be taken about a third of the way back.

This encourages new branches and new wood. Since apples fruit best on two-year-old wood, we want to remove older wood and encourage a constant cycle of new wood.

Remove any branches that are growing vertically or slanted downwards. Prune any that are completely shaded. Don’t take off the main scaffolding branches unless they’re dying or diseased.

When you’re done, you should have an apple tree that is slightly more open with a good mixture of new and old wood.

Overgrown Apples

An overgrown apple tree should either be pruned quite heavily for a few years in a row or trimmed a second time during the summer in addition to the winter prune for a year or two until you return it to a healthy shape.

Prune out some of the excessive branches, but be careful not to take more than 10 percent of the growth during each session.

Target branches that are the wrong shape or are growing in the wrong direction. Once all of these are gone, focus on removing branches from all areas of the tree to keep it even.

The first time I tasted one of these fruits, I had chosen it purely for the appearance. The apple was so pretty sitting there with its pink skin amongst the basic reds and greens.

If you look closely, you’ll see a faint reddish-green hue underneath the pink, and a sprinkling of pore-like lenticels. But then I tasted it.

Take one bite, and you’ll see what really makes this fruit special. The initial juicy, tart crunch gives way to a honey-sweet finish. Great, now my mouth is watering.

I can’t wait to make a caramel apple after I finish sharing how to care for these beauties, so let’s get started. Here’s what we’re going to discuss:

Cultivation and History

You’ll see fruits sold under the name Pink Lady, but a Pink Lady apple could actually be one of several cultivars.

The name is a trademark held by Pink Lady America and the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) and it is used to describe one of several hybrids that fit the characteristics of what a Pink Lady apple should be.

The apples originally came from the cultivar ‘Cripps Pink’ and were sold under the Pink Lady marketing name. But over the past several decades, a few naturally occurring sports have been put into cultivation that can be sold as Pink Lady.

As of the time of writing, ‘Barnsby,’ ‘Lady in Red,’ ‘Maslin,’ ‘Rosy Glow,’ and ‘Ruby Pink’ can all be sold under the trademarked name.

There are several other cultivars in production that might eventually reach the required standard to be able to use the name.

Speaking of standards, to be called Pink Lady, the fruits must have a certain amount of blush in the skin, the appropriate amount of sugar in the flesh, and the required firmness.

If they don’t meet the proprietary standards, they’re sold under the name ‘Cripps Pink.’

‘Cripps Pink’ is a cross between a popular Australian cultivar called ‘Lady Williams’ and the perennial favorite ‘Golden Delicious,’ and was bred by horticulturist John Cripps at the Western Australia Department of Agriculture, Stoneville Research Station in Perth in 1974. It was released to market in 1989.

It’s a spur-type, which means the tree bears fruit on knobby little shoots called spurs. Apple trees bear at the tip of longer shoots or on spurs.

The difference only matters because it influences how you prune the tree, but it doesn’t have an impact on fruit production.

The trees grow to a mature height of about 18 feet, with a 12-foot spread.

Pink Lady Apple Propagation

While the brand name is trademarked, the cultivar is not patented so you can still propagate these trees via cuttings and grafting.

You just won’t be able to sell any resulting plants or fruits under the name Pink Lady. The easiest way to get started is to buy a sapling from a nursery and transplant it into your garden.

In our guide to apple propagation, we discuss grafting and rooting stem cuttings in more detail, so be sure to give it a read if that is the route you want to go.

Here’s a brief overview of both methods:

From Cuttings

It’s possible to grow Pink Lady from cuttings, but it’s not the most reliable method of propagation.

They generally don’t root well, so it’s advisable to start several cuttings in the hope that one or two survive.

In a nutshell, you’ll cut off a small branch and plant it in the ground. With the right care, it will hopefully develop roots and eventually develop into a productive tree.

From Grafted Rootstock

Rather than relying on cuttings, grafting is an effective and more reliable method of breeding a genetic replica of a tree.

Most modern cultivars are grown as grafted trees on rootstock because this allows breeders to combine positive characteristics of different trees and to control the mature size.

To graft a tree, you need a scion, or the part that will comprise the trunk and canopy, and a rootstock, which makes up the roots and the base of the trunk.

Both can be purchased or you can grow your own rootstock and take a scion from an existing Pink Lady tree.

Starting your own rootstock is an advanced process that is beyond the scope of this article, so I advise purchasing one instead.

To take a scion, you’ll need to snip off a healthy section of branch and make a grafting cut at the end.

You’ll make a corresponding cut on the rootstock so that you can join the two together. Then, you’ll grow the grafted tree as you would a sapling.

Transplanting

When you’re ready to plant a purchased sapling, the first step is to prepare the growing area. If you have perfectly loamy, loose, well-draining soil, you don’t have to do anything. Lucky you!

But if, like most of us, you don’t have perfect soil, you’ll need to work in some well-rotted compost a few feet deep and wide. This will give the young tree a boost as it works to develop its root structure.

Space your tree about six feet from any other plants or structures.

Dig a hole twice as wide as the container the tree is currently growing in, and just a few inches deeper.

Remove the tree from its growing container and gently loosen up the roots to ensure they grow down and out and not in a circle.

Set the root ball in place, making sure it’s sitting at the same depth as it was in the original container.

Backfill with the removed soil and make sure the graft joint is an inch above the soil line. Water well and add more soil if it settles.

For the first year after planting, be sure to keep the plant well-watered.

How to Grow Pink Lady Apples

‘Cripps Pink’ isn’t an easy tree to grow unless you have the right climate, and that means you need to be in Zones 4 to 9 and have at least 200 days where the temperature remains above 45°F to allow the apples to ripen.

Additionally you need heat above 80°F for several months to really bring out the flavor.

Additionally, they won’t develop their distinctive pink skin unless they experience a large swing in temperatures from day to night during the fall. About 20°F or more of difference between the day’s high and the night’s low is ideal.

Newer cultivars that are sold as Pink Lady might be less demanding about temperatures. On top of that, ‘Maslin’ ripens two weeks earlier than ‘Cripps Pink.’ ‘Barnsby’ is ready almost three weeks earlier.

You must plant in full sun, and a sloping south-facing hill would be ideal because it helps prevent water from pooling around the roots.

Assuming you can provide the right conditions, the tree is a vigorous grower with large leaves. Why does that matter?

Because trees with smaller or fewer leaves require thinning to balance the amount of foliage with the number of developing fruits.

If a tree produces more fruits than the foliage can maintain, the fruits will be smaller than they could be otherwise.

You don’t need to thin ‘Cripps Pink’ because it has large enough leaves to support the fruits. You can, however, trim some of the leaves of the higher branches to expose the fruits to the sun, which will intensify the color.

In most areas, once the tree is established, you won’t need to add any water except in times of drought.

Pink Lady types are generally drought-tolerant and will send out deep roots to find their own moisture.

You can learn more about watering apple trees in our guide.

It isn’t necessary to feed every year. You can usually feed every other year unless a soil test indicates that your soil is extremely depleted.

When you feed, it should be done in the spring before the flower buds open or in the fall after the apples have been harvested.

For more general information about growing apples, check out our guide.

Pollination

Pollination is a whole topic on its own. In fact, we have a guide to explain the ins and outs of apple pollination.

In a nutshell, most trees need a second specimen within 100 feet or so to ensure cross-pollination.

Not just any cultivar will do, though. It needs to be one that blooms at the same time and isn’t sterile.

‘Fuji,’ ‘Gala,’ ‘Granny Smith,’ and ‘Red Delicious’ all make excellent companions for ‘Cripps Pink.’

If you grow one of the other cultivars sold under this name, be sure to research which pollinators work best.

Growing Tips

• Plant in full sun.
• Provide a pollinator like ‘Fuji’ within 100 feet.
• Water when the soil dries out.

Pruning and Maintenance

As a spur-type apple, this one requires regular and careful pruning.

Most common cultivars grown in home gardens are spur types, so if you’re familiar with fruit tree pruning, you’re ahead of the game.

If you’ve never pruned these trees before, here’s a quick rundown.

You need to prune during the dormant season to remove any diseased, deformed, crowded, crossing, or pest-infested branches.

Then, you’ll want to thin out some of the older wood to encourage the growth of young, more productive wood.

For more information, visit our complete guide to apple pruning. (coming soon!)

Prune off any water sprouts or suckers at the base of the tree whenever you see them.

Depending on where you live, your trees might require a little extra care in the winter. Learn about caring for apples during the winter in our guide.

Let’s talk about herbivores, first.

Herbivores

Deer, elk, and moose love apples, and they aren’t just drawn to the fruits. They’ll devour the leaves and branches and will even eat the trunk during the winter.

Deer fencing and deterrents are going to be your new best friends. Learn more about deterring deer in our guide.

Birds will also eat the fruits, but in my experience, they wait until the pommes are a bit overripe before they start pecking at them. So if you harvest your apples when they are just ripe, you shouldn’t lose too many to the birds.

Rabbits will also nibble on young trees, so use some sort of barrier to protect young trees if you have hopping friends in the garden.

Insects

No cultivar is immune to pests, though some are tough enough to easily survive an infestation, and ‘Cripps Pink’ is one of those.

Though it can still be attacked by aphids, blister mites, borers, fruitworms, leafhoppers, scale, spider mites, tent caterpillars, and thrips, the tree isn’t likely to be seriously injured.

That said, all apples are subject to infestation by maggots and codling moth larvae, which eat holes in the fruits and make them prone to rotting. These can be a challenge to control and require regular spraying or physical protection of your fruits.

Read our guide to apple pests for identification and control methods.

Disease

This particular cultivar isn’t particularly disease-prone, save for a few common issues that most apples are subject to. We’ll go over these in a bit.

Sooty blotch and flyspeck might be an occasional problem. Also, watch for armillaria root rot, bot rot, cork spot, crown gall, cedar apple rust, leaf spot, and soggy breakdown disorder.

The three most common issues with Pink Lady trees are fire blight, powdery mildew, and scab. Let’s take a closer look at each of these:

Fire Blight

This cultivar is extremely susceptible to fire blight. Growers are working hard to create resistant Pink Lady types, but until one is produced, you will absolutely need to spray preventatively.

This fungal disease, caused by Podosphaera leucotricha, is usually simple to eradicate and won’t cause much lasting damage, provided you catch it early.

Learn more about how to deal with powdery mildew on apples in our guide.

Scab

Unfortunately, these trees are exceptionally susceptible to apple scab.

Scab is a fungal disease caused by the pathogen Venturia inaequalis that is devastating to the commercial apple industry.

It causes unsightly scabs all over the fruits and leaves, as well as deformed growth, shoot death, defoliation, and fruit drop.

Learn more about apple scab and how to control it in our guide.

Harvesting

Pink Lady apples ripen late in the season, they usually aren’t ready to harvest until Halloween or later.

Once the fruits start to ripen, you can hand-pick the ripest ones and leave the rest on the tree. The fruits typically ripen over three or four weeks.

You’ll know they are ripe by the color. When they are ready, gently twist the fruits off the branch, taking care not to damage the spur.

If you’d like a comprehensive look at how to harvest apples, check out our guide.

Preserving

One of the great things about this cultivar is that the fruits store for a long, long time.

They can last for months in the right conditions and commercial sellers can keep them for up to six months in cold storage.

At home, they’ll last two or three months if stored in a cool, dark area or the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.

We have plenty of tips and information in our guide to storing apples.

I know that propagating apples via cuttings and grafting can seem intimidating.

Most of us sowed seeds in elementary school at some point and we have a basic familiarity with the process. But few of us have played around with grafting during our formative years.

Don’t worry, it really isn’t difficult or complicated. You can do it, and this guide will help.

Here’s what we’ll go over to help you reach your apple propagation goals:

If you need a refresher on how to grow and care for apples, read our growing guide. Then, let’s get on the same page with our propagation terminology.

The scion is the top part of a graft and includes a cutting from a chosen parent apple tree, which is then attached to the rootstock. The scion could be a substantial branch of a tree or just a little twig.

The rootstock is the bottom part of the apple tree that includes the roots and the base of the trunk and may consist of just a stem and roots or it might also have some growing branches.

You can buy rootstocks or you can grow your own. The roostock controls the size of the apple tree and can contribute disease resistance.

Buds are the small nodules where leaves, branches, or spurs emerge on a branch or limb. These look like little bumps, initially, before they start to sprout and grow.

Cambium refers to the plant tissue under the bark that surrounds the inner sapwood and heartwood. It’s the greenish layer where all the actively growing cells are.

If you plan to do a lot of fruit tree propagation, I highly recommend you purchase a grafting knife.

Now, let’s get started with four methods of propagating apple trees: budding, grafting, via stem cuttings, and finally, from seed.

Budding

Budding is a form of grafting and is similar to the traditional grafting process except that you attach a single bud rather than an entire branch (or scion) to the rootstock.

It’s usually the chosen method when you want to propagate apples during the growing season rather than when the tree is dormant.

You have two options when going this route: chip budding or t-budding. Chip budding is the most popular these days, but either will be successful.

The difference between the two involves how the bud is attached to the rootstock. The method for removing the bud from the apple tree is the same for each.

For the host parent known as the roostock, you’ll typically use a specimen that’s a bit larger than you would use for branch grafting, with a few branches available for grafting on the buds.

Anything larger in diameter than your pinky finger is sufficient. You can also graft the buds onto existing apple trees.

Choose buds from healthy apple trees that have no signs of pest infestation or disease.

The branch that you take the bud from should have active growth, with green leaves, sprouts, or other signs of life. This branch is known as the budstick.

For t-budding, you want to take the bud when the bark slips off easily from a young branch.

“Slips off” is a technical term that simply means that the bark can be removed easily and cleanly from the tree. It won’t be firmly attached and hard to remove.

This happens from around the end of May to the beginning of July, but you can test it out periodically to be sure by scraping up a bit of bark using your fingers or a knife.

If it comes up readily, it’s time. If you want to graft and the bark doesn’t slip off readily, use the chip method instead.

For chip buds, anytime during the summer or fall is fine.

Regardless of whether you use a t-bud or chip bud, the process for removing it is the same. Take the budstick branch and cut it away from the tree.

Cut off the top third of the branch because you don’t want to take buds from this new growth. Then, cut off all the leaves but allow about an inch of petiole to remain.

Next, use your knife to cut at an angle under the bud starting about an inch below the bud.

Cut up and under the bud, ending about an inch above the bud. Remove the knife and cut vertically into the wood to meet up with the cut you made and release the bud from the branch.

Alternatively, make a cut about an inch underneath the bud at a 45 degree angle facing down away from the bud and about a half inch deep.

Then, about a half inch above the same bud, make a cut at a diagonal or in an arc to meet up with the end of the initial cut. This will free the bud from the limb.

Don’t touch the underside of the bud as the oils from your skin can damage the cells of the bud.

Next, make a corresponding cut out of the chosen host parent or rootstock. This is where you need to choose whether you are going to use the chip bud or t-bud method for attachment.

Chip Bud

Make the cut on the side or upper side of the trunk or your chosen stem, so the bud you removed fits inside like a puzzle piece.

You don’t want to place the bud on the underside of a branch. It should be on the side or top, giving it room to grow without interfering with any other branches.

To do this, slice out the bark of the branch in the same shape as the underside of the bud you took. Don’t cut through the green cambium layer underneath.

You want the bud to fit into the slice like a puzzle piece.

Hold it in place – you might need a helper for this – and wrap tape around the top and bottom of the bud you took so that it is firmly attached to the tree.

Then, add another layer or two to cover the sides of the bud.

T-Bud

For a t-bud, cut a “T” shape into just the bark of the host branch or rootstock without cutting into the cambium layer below and gently peel back the bark.

Have you ever tried carving your name into a tree? The process here is similar.

Imagine that you are carving a capital letter “T” into the bark of a tree, cutting deep enough that you go through the bark but not into the soft cambium layer below.

Then, you will peel back the two triangles you made below the top of the T. Insert the bud into the “T” and seal it with tape, leaving the bump of the bud exposed.

This method helps to keep the bud more moist than with chip buds because the flaps of the “T” cover a portion of the bud, so it tends to be more successful.

To further help the bud stay moist, wrap it with a piece of clear plastic and leave this in place for two or three weeks. Drying out is your biggest enemy at this point.

With either style, once the bud starts growing and has a few leaves, cut the rest of the branch off just above the new growth.

Once the new growth feels firmly attached and sturdy enough to remain in place on its own, you can remove the tape or remaining wax.

Grafting

Propagating apples by grafting is usually done during the dormant season, meaning late fall, winter, or early spring at the latest.

There are three common types of graft unions: whip and tongue, splice, and cleft.

The goal with all these methods is to connect the cambium layer of the scion with the cambium layer of the roostock. The better the connection, the better the chances of survival.

The key to success with grafting is to take healthy scions. The scion is the top part of the graft, which will be joined with the bottom part, known as the rootstock.

Most scions are taken during the late winter, but you can technically take them anytime you want. The best results come from apple tree wood collected in the winter or early spring.

The best time of day to collect your scions is in the morning when the wood is most plump. Don’t make cuts when the wood is frozen or when the tree is drought-stressed.

Look for pliable wood that grew in the previous year and avoid any that is brittle.

You want to choose branches about the diameter of a pencil or a touch smaller, that are healthy and free from signs of pests or disease.

Don’t use water sprouts or suckers as these aren’t as strong and robust as other growth. Cut six- to nine-inch-long sections using clean pruners at a 45 degree angle.

If you can’t graft right away, wrap the wood in damp paper towels, put it in a plastic bag, and place it in the refrigerator.

The scions can last up to a month when stored in this way, provided you keep the paper towels damp and replace the plastic if it starts to develop mildew, but the faster you use them, the better they’ll take.

When you’re ready, plant the apple rootstock you purchased in its permanent spot. Then, snip the bottom inch off the scion to remove any dead wood if the scion has been in storage.

Whip and Tongue

Whip and tongue or bench grafting involves making a cut that maximizes the amount of cambium layer of each section connecting together.

Essentially, you will create a fancy “N” shape in the scion and a reverse fancy “N” in the rootstock and then you’ll connect them together like puzzle pieces.

To do this, make a single cut about two inches long at a slight diagonal starting at one end of the scion base and ending on the other side.

Now you will have a two-inch diagonal cut at the bottom of the scion.

About halfway up the cut, make a slice straight up the middle of the cutting about an inch deep.

Next, do the opposite on the top of the trunk of the rootstock to make a mirror of the cut you made in the scion.

Join the two pieces together and seal them with grafting wax or tape. With tape, you simply wrap the adhesive around the two pieces until they are held firmly together.

It can help to have a friend hold the two pieces while you wrap. Wax should be pressed around the perimeter where the two pieces are joined.

Splice

A splice graft is nearly the same as a whip and tongue graft, but you leave out the second cut down the middle, so you have a clean slant in one direction on the scion and the opposite direction on the rootstock.

Otherwise, the process of joining the two parts is the same.

Cleft

Cleft grafting requires you to make a “V” shape in the scion about two to three inches long and a cut through the top center of the trunk of the rootstock of the same length.

Then, you insert the “V” into the slice that you made and seal with wax or tape.

Typically, apple growers will use a large rootstock of at least a several inches in diameter for the base and then they will insert multiple scions into the cut.

This method is generally used when you want to graft a new top onto an existing apple tree trunk.

Instead of starting with a typical rootstock, you’ll cut off the top of a young apple tree about three inches above the ground and then make the cut in the center of the trunk two inches deep.

The scions that you will attach will then become the main limbs. To do this, simply insert the scions into the center cut and seal with wax.

Regardless of which method you choose, treat the grafted apple tree as you would any other newly transplanted specimen, keeping the soil moist but not soggy.

When the apple tree begins to develop new growth and the graft union has attached securely, typically by the fall, remove any tape.

These grafting methods can also be used to graft a branch onto an existing apple tree branch rather than onto rootstock, as well.

Stem Cuttings

Propagating apples via stem cuttings is the least reliable method. Cuttings generally don’t take well, plus you don’t have the advantage of using a rootstock to control the tree size.

That said, it’s not a difficult process, and if you want to give it a go, there’s nothing to lose but a little time.

Take a cutting from the apple tree you wish to propagate during the dormant season just before bud break in late winter or early spring.

Cuttings taken in the spring after budding tend to be less successful.

You want to choose a branch that is about the diameter of a pencil.

Cut a tip section that is about six to nine inches long, making your cut at a 45-degree angle. The cutting should have at least three buds.

Remove all the leaves but the top two, if any leaves are present.

Wrap the apple cuttings in wet paper towels and put them in a plastic bag. If you aren’t planting right away, put them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to plant to keep them fresh.

Keep the paper towels moist and replace them if they start to develop mold.

You can plant your apple tree cuttings as soon as the soil can be worked in spring and there are no deep freezes in the forecast.

Prepare the planting area by working some well-rotted compost into the soil to loosen it up.

Keep the soil moist but not waterlogged as the cutting establishes itself and grows. You’ll know the cutting is successfully rooted when you see green growth developing.

This can take weeks or even months, but bear in mind many cuttings will die before they develop roots and growth.

If, for some reason, you can’t put your cuttings in the ground, you can start them indoors in a five-inch (or larger) pot filled with potting soil or a mixture of one part sand and one part sphagnum moss.

Moisten the media, and after applying rooting hormone (if using) poke a hole in the center of the pot, burying the cutting about a third of its length.

Place stake or a small tomato cage into the medium for support, and tent plastic over the cutting to create a mini-greenhouse.

Keep this in an area that receives bright, direct sunlight for at least six hours a day. Mist the cutting every day, and ensure that the medium stays moist but not waterlogged.

When you see new growth on the cutting – which can take a few months – you can gently lift it out of the potting medium to check for roots.

Once new roots have formed, you can remove the plastic and gradually transfer the pot outdoors before transplanting the new apple into its permanent spot.

Seed Starting

While starting seed isn’t the way to go if you want to reproduce a favorite apple tree, it’s a great way to play around and experiment or to grow your own rootstock.

Apple seeds must be cold-stratified before they will germinate. You can do this indoors or out.

If you have a spot where you can put the seeds and then cover them with wire or hardware cloth, it’s easier to start outdoors. But, you have more control over the process if you start indoors.

To extract the seeds, eat an apple and spit the seeds into the palm of your hand. Or, if you want to go the professional route, cut open an apple and gently pry out the seeds.

Sow them right away or allow them to dry on a towel and then store them in a cool, dark area in an envelope.

If you are starting outdoors, in the fall, amend your soil with some well-rotted compost. You can skip this step if you have perfectly loamy, loose soil. And if you do, I’m extremely jealous. Can I move in?

When you’ve worked the soil, make a half-inch-deep furrow. Set the apple seeds in the furrow about three or four inches apart. Cover with an inch of sand and then put hardware cloth or mesh over the area to prevent critters from digging them up.

Water the soil carefully so you don’t disturb the seeds and wet it enough that it feels like a well-wrung-out sponge. You don’t need to water during the winter.

If you want to start the seeds indoors, fill a sealable baggie or container with sand or sphagnum moss. Moisten it well and place the seeds inside.

Seal the container or baggie and put it in the refrigerator for three months to provide the cold stratification. Keep the medium moist the entire time.

You might not want to start the stratification process until January or February, depending on your climate. You should aim to start about three months before the last predicted frost date in your area.

When the soil can be worked, prepare the area and sow the seeds as described above.

When the seeds germinate, thin out any extras if you sowed more than you needed, leaving the most robust seedlings.

Seedlings should be between five and 15 feet apart depending on the eventual size of the mature tree.

Alternatively, you can sow your apple seeds in a pot filled with a seed-starting mix. Choose a container that is at least five inches in diameter, fill it with your choice of potting medium, and sow two seeds per pot.

Keep the container in a warm location and once they germinate, provide bright, indirect light. When they are about two inches tall, thin out the weaker seedling so you have one per pot.

Transplant outdoors in the fall after hardening off over the course of a week to 10 days.

Even though this disease can be quite devastating, don’t give up on your dreams of growing apples or run for the chainsaw to take out your existing trees.

Since scab is such a big problem, experts have spent a lot of time figuring out how to deal with it, and there are some pretty good systems that you can implement.

We’ll explain the ins and outs of identifying, preventing, and dealing with apple scab in this guide. Here’s what you can expect:

What Is Apple Scab?

Apple scab is a fungal disease that attacks both apples and crabapples (Malus spp.).

Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), mountain ash (Sorbus spp.), and cotoneaster (Cotoneaster spp.) can also be hosts.

The disease is caused by an ascomycete fungus called Venturia inaequalis, which has several different strains. Each strain is species-specific, so the strain that attacks mountain ash doesn’t infect apples.

The same strains infect both apples and crabapples, which are members of the same genus, Malus. And, cue the scary music, some of these strains have become resistant to fungicides.

Pear scab is caused by a different species of Venturia,V. pirina syn. V. pyrina, which doesn’t infect apple trees.

This disease is incredibly costly to the commercial apple industry, and about half of all crop protection products used in orchards are applied to treat scab, requiring an average of 15 applications each year. This is no minor issue.

Symptoms of Scab Fungus

As the name suggests, the disease results in corky scabs on the skin of your apples, but the damage starts well before the fruit develops.

Initially, just over a week after inoculation, the leaves develop yellow, olive green, or brown necrotic lesions.

As the disease advances, these lesions develop a clear margin and a fuzzy coating of spores that extends across the entire leaf surface. Young leaves are typically more symptomatic than older ones.

The lesions can cause distorted growth and puckering, and might even cause the leaves to crack. Heavily symptomatic leaves will drop from the tree.

The flowers and shoots might also be affected, with green lesions appearing at the base of the flowers and dark brown lesions on the shoots.

As the fruits develop, they will display yellow or brown lesions. As the fruit matures and the disease progresses, the lesions become darker and develop a corky texture.

These corky lesions prevent any further expansion in the immediate area, so as the fruit forms, it puckers and twists around the corks. The fruits might also crack and/or drop from the tree.

When they crack, the pommes are vulnerable to other pathogens and common apple pests.

Sometimes a tree will only develop symptoms on either the foliage or the fruit, other times they appear on both.

In the case of a bad infection, a tree can become completely defoliated by the fall and the harvest of usable fruits could be reduced by up to 70 percent.

If a tree is infected a few years in a row, it can become weakened, leaving it susceptible to winter damage and infection from other diseases.

Biology and Life Cycle

The fungus overwinters as fruiting bodies known as pseudothecia in leaf debris and fallen apples that are shed by the tree.

Within these develop the sexual spores called ascospores that reproduce in the debris. When the rain arrives and the tree starts to bud out in spring, the spores are ejected and carried on the breeze or water to the host.

The fungus can also reproduce asexually during wet periods.

When water is present, the spores germinate on the leaves, stems, twigs, and any developing fruit.

In addition to moisture, the fungi also need the right temperature. During cool periods with temperatures around 45°F, it takes the fungi 17 hours on a moist leaf to germinate.

But once it warms up by about 20 degrees, to 65°F, the spores only require moisture for about six hours. So during warm, damp periods the infection really takes hold.

Symptoms begin in the spring shortly after infection but the trees won’t become infected later in the year which means if we can get it under control during the spring, it’s possible to save the harvest.

Control Methods

For such a nasty disease, you might imagine that strong and potentially dangerous chemicals are required. The good news is that it can be controlled using organic methods alone.

To start with, let’s go over cultural control options.

Cultural

Currently, plant breeders are working hard to create scab-resistant apple cultivars.

Some breeders are using M. floribunda, the Japanese flowering crabapple, as a parent because this species is resistant to scab.

The cultivars ’Bonita,’ ‘Dayon,’ ‘Discovery,’ ‘Florina,’ ‘Freedom,’ ‘Fujion,’ ‘Gold Rush,’ ‘Jonafree,’ ‘Liberty,’ ‘Prima,’ ‘Topaz,’ and ‘William’s Pride’ are all resistant.

If you live in a cool, wet region, avoid ‘Cortland,’ ‘Empire,’ ‘Fuji,’ ‘Gala,’ ‘Golden Delicious,’ ‘Granny Smith,’ ‘Jonathan,’ ‘McIntosh,’ ‘Pink Lady,’ ‘Red Delicious,’ and ‘Winesap.’ These cultivars are all extremely susceptible.

You should plant your trees with the appropriate spacing for the expected mature size to ensure good air circulation, which reduces the amount of moisture on and around the trees.

Always rake up all of the fallen leaves in autumn, to prevent the fungus from overwintering on dead and dying foliage. This is very important as it’s almost impossible to fully control the disease if you don’t remove the fallen leaves.

In the late winter, add a thick layer of mulch around the base of the trees, ensuring that it doesn’t touch the trunk.

You should also keep up with your pruning. Apples produce better when they’re pruned appropriately, but appropriate pruning also improves air circulation in the canopy and allows sunlight to penetrate, denying the fungus the wet, warm conditions it prefers.

This will kill the fungal spores before they can take hold and start breeding. It’s important to rotate between products.

Start with one product, then use a different one a few weeks later, and then you can go back to the original product.

But they slowly won me over, so much so that when I bought a new house with a half dozen existing apple trees, instead of tearing them out and planting the quince and persimmons I wanted, I nurtured them.

And you know what? Now, not only do I adore apple trees for the spring flowers and the summer shade, but I find myself craving a fresh apple off the tree in the fall.

Whether you’re a convert like me or just starting out on your apple journey, this guide has you covered. Here’s what’s in the lineup:

Cultivation and History

Apples have been with us for a long, long time. Humans have been eating apples and using them for medicine long before record-keeping began.

Before humans started cultivating the trees, wildlife and livestock ate the fruits and transported the seeds far and wide.

Apples originated in central Asia and the plants we grow today look nothing like those our ancestors came across thousands and thousands of years ago.

The wild ancestors of the apple trees cultivated today include the wild Asian species Malus sieversii, and it still grows in the area. Our modern apple, meanwhile, is classified as M. x domestica.

To be precise, genetic research shows that modern apples are actually a hybrid of at least four different species that were brought together as the seeds, fruits, and trees were carried by wildlife and humans from Asia to Europe and other parts of the world.

In addition to that, modern apples actually have more crabapple DNA than DNA from wild apples.

Notably, the European crabapple M. sylvestris is a major contributor to the genetics of the apples we enjoy today. Eastern crabapple (M. orientalis) and Siberian crabapple (M. baccata) also contributed to our modern apple, to a lesser degree.

The ancestors of the modern M. x domestica have been cultivated for at least 8,000 years.

Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans cultivated apple trees, and Roman invaders brought them to Britain in around 200BC.

The trees also spread throughout Europe after being transported along the Silk Road from China, and the Spanish brought specimens to Central and South America in the 1500s.

When Europeans came to North America, they brought trees and fruits.

The white or pink flowers and the leaves bud out at about the same time, unlike some fruit trees such as cherries, which send out their flowers before the foliage.

Once the flowers drop, fruits, which are technically pomes, begin to develop in the same spot. A pome is a type of fruit that develops around a core that contains multiple small seeds.

These fruits develop on shoots and spurs. When mature, the pomes can range from pale yellow to nearly black, but most are green or red to some degree.

The fruits are covered in epicuticular wax, which is a waxy coating that forms over the surface. Some have a thick layer, which helps them last longer in storage, while others have only a thin layer.

But before we get our hands on those fantastic fruits, the flowers must be pollinated. This can be one of the more confusing aspects of growing apples.

Apple trees can be categorized as self-fertile, diploid, or triploid. Most of them are diploid, which means they have two sets of chromosomes and require a partner for pollination.

Triploids have two sets of chromosomes and are what is known as “pollen sterile,” which means they can receive pollen but don’t provide good pollen for other specimens.

If you are growing a triploid apple, you’ll need two other partners to make sure they are all successfully pollinated.

Apples are typically grafted, using a rootstock for the bottom and a scion for the top part.

Dwarf rootstocks produce specimens under ten feet high, semi-dwarf are up to 15 feet tall, and standards are more than 15 feet tall.

Most apples are grown commercially in China, with the US and Turkey a distant second. Within the US, Washington produces well over half of the nation’s apple supply.

Apple trees are suitable for cultivation in Zones 4 to 9.

Apple Tree Propagation

Don’t bother trying to grow apples from seed.

It can be a fun project if you want to experiment with germinating seeds, but it won’t result in a tree that looks anything like the one the seed came from, and the fruits might not even be tasty at all.

The specimens you find at the garden center or plant nursery are almost always grafted.

If you want to reproduce a specimen that you like, taking cuttings or grafting are your two options. Or, you can always start with a purchased plant.

Let’s start with propagation via stem cuttings.

From Cuttings

It’s entirely possible to grow apple trees from cuttings, but “possible” doesn’t mean easy or always successful.

Cuttings can be difficult to root, and the success rate is low, but don’t let that hold you back if you want to give it a try. Start three cuttings for every specimen you want to grow because the failure rate is pretty high.

Take your cuttings in late winter when the tree is dormant, but the wood isn’t frozen. Look for a branch that is about the diameter of a pencil and take a cutting about nine inches long.

Place a tomato cage or bamboo stake in the medium to act as a support, and then tent plastic over the cutting. This creates a mini greenhouse environment.

Set the pot in bright, indirect light and mist the cutting daily. You should also check to make sure the medium is moist. It should feel like a well-wrung-out sponge at all times.

When new leaves have started forming, you can gently lift up the cutting to look for roots. Don’t do this too often as it disturbs all the fine root hairs, and they will need to regrow. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to months for the leaves to develop, so don’t lose hope.

If you see roots, replace the cutting in its pot and remove the plastic cover. Once the weather has warmed in the spring, you can move the container outside into a sunny spot, but make sure you do this gradually.

On the first day, the plant should be in the sun for no more than an hour. Add an hour each day over the course of about a week.

At that point, you can leave the plant outside in its pot until the fall, when you can transplant it into its permanent location. Be sure to keep the medium moist in the meantime.

If there is little growth on your cutting, meaning just a few initial leaves but no branching, by the time fall rolls around, bring it back indoors into a sunny spot and keep it there over the winter. Then, harden it off in the spring before transplanting.

From Grafted Rootstock

As I mentioned, most apple trees are grown on grafted rootstock.

This allows growers to combine the size, cold hardiness, and other characteristics of one type of apple with the fruit size, bloom time, and characteristics of another.

This is the best way to control what kind of tree you’ll grow.

If you want to reproduce a tree that you like, grafting, rather than taking cuttings or trying to start seeds, is the best way to do it for the greatest chance of success.

There are two different parts of the tree from two different varieties in this process.

The first is the rootstock or understock, which is the bottom portion from just above the soil line and including the roots. The scion is the top part of the plant, which includes the trunk and canopy.

Collect your scion wood during the winter, in the morning on a day where the temperature is above freezing.

You want to choose a branch that’s between a quarter and three-eighths of an inch in diameter.

The length should be between 12 and 18 inches long. You can also purchase scion wood, if you prefer.

Wrap the cut end in moist paper towels, place the whole stem in a plastic bag, and put it in the refrigerator. Keep the paper towels moist and watch for any mildew forming in the bag. If it does, swap it out for a new bag.

The reason we take cuttings in the winter is because the branches might be damaged or the buds might start to emerge before we’re ready to graft if we leave them on the tree.

Once the buds on the tree that you took the scion from start to swell and open, you can start grafting. Be sure to do the work before the flower buds fall from the tree.

Purchase or obtain a rootstock from a friend. Rootstocks can be produced by starting seeds or layering, though seed-started rootstocks tend to produce unruly, large trees that are prone to pests and diseases. 

Best to stick with one of the many excellent options that have been bred by growers specifically as rootstocks, like ‘Bud 9’ (aka ‘Budagovsky 9’), ‘Geneva 30,’ ‘Geneva 65,’ ‘Malling 7,’ and ‘Malling 26.’

The Malling series is often sold as just “M” followed by the number, and they are the standard for apple rootstocks.

Plant the rootstock as you would a purchased plant in your intended growing area.

Now that you have both parts, cut a slice down the middle center of the rootstock trunk using a clean grafting knife. Insert a stick or chopstick into the cut you made to hold it open.

If this is your first foray into the world of grafting and you don’t already have a knife, I strongly encourage you to get one.

You can get away with using tools you have lying around, but you’ll be able to make more precise cuts and there’s less chance of injury if you use the right tool for the job.

Insert the scion into the rootstock. Your goal here is to match up the cambium layers of the scion and rootstock, not the bark to the bark.

The cambium is the layer in between the center of hardwood and the bark on the outside. That means the scion will likely be off to the side rather than dead center.

If you have a large rootstock and your scions are on the smaller side, you can place two scions into the cut.

Grab some grafting or electrical tape and wrap it around the rootstock to seal the scion and rootstock together.

At this point, you can just allow the specimen to grow as any other young apple tree. Once new growth forms and both the rootstock and scion start to grow, remove the tape.

Transplanting

Before you transplant, plan to conduct a soil test and amend the soil as needed. We talk about this more in the following section.

Plant in the spring or fall and place full-sized trees about 20 feet apart, semi-dwarf 12 feet apart, and dwarf specimens about six feet apart.

We have a guide that can walk you through the specifics of how far to space your fruit trees if you’d like to take a deep dive.

If you’re growing your apple trees in an area with existing turfgrass, remove the grass with something like a grub hoe so that you have a circle about four feet in diameter.

Next, dig a hole twice as wide and about six inches deeper than the growing container or twice as wide and a bit deeper than the bare roots.

If your soil is compacted, clayey, or sandy, work in some well-rotted compost. This will give the young plant a fighting chance to get established, though those growing in clayey or sandy ground will have slower growth and production than those with more ideal soil.

Remove the plant from its container and loosen up the rootball. Chances are the roots are circling the inside perimeter of the container. If you don’t loosen them up and aim them out and away from the trunk, you run the risk that they will girdle the trunk and kill it.

You can obviously skip this step if you have a bare root plant.

Place the plant in the hole so that it sits at about the same level as it did in the pot, or so that the graft point is situated an inch or so above the ground for bare roots.

This means you might need to build a slight mound at the base of the hole you made. Fill in around the roots with soil.

Add some water and if the soil settles, go ahead and add a little more.

How to Grow Apple Trees

There are two things apple trees must have to thrive that you can’t change after you plant them: well-draining soil and lots of sun.

They need at least six hours of sun per day, though they won’t complain if you give them a touch of dappled shade in the afternoon when the heat is strongest.

Well-draining soil is a must. Encountering a disease is a matter of when – not if – if you plant in soil that doesn’t drain well. Avoid growing in low-lying areas or depressions where water pools.

If you have a northern or eastern slope, that’s the perfect spot.

While they’re demanding about the need for well-draining soil and lots of sun, these trees are pretty laid back about soil quality. In fact, they do better in moderate-quality soil. It doesn’t need to be rich, and it shouldn’t be depleted, but something in between.

The trees prefer loose, loamy soil, but the more important aspect is pH.

The soil should be slightly acidic to neutral, with a pH between 5.8 and 6.5. If your soil is outside of this range, it will impact how the tree takes up nutrients, potentially leading to deficiencies.

Test the soil and amend it as necessary before planting. If you alter the pH, you will need to continually amend the soil every year or so to maintain this pH change, but be sure to test the soil before doing so.

Wood ash is a good way to alter the soil pH in a more alkaline direction without having a huge impact on the environment, but it only has a small impact. To make bigger alterations, you’ll need limestone. To make soil more acidic, use elemental sulfur.

You don’t need to feed these trees when you transplant. In fact, you don’t need to fertilize until the trees are four years old, or the first year they produce a full-sized crop.

Before you feed, you’ll want to do a soil test. It does no good to feed your soil with a bunch of nutrients that your tree doesn’t need – or leave out something essential that’s lacking.

If you picture the tree as an umbrella with the water running down the material and landing on the ground, that’s the drip line.

When it comes to water, young specimens need more irrigation than mature trees do. How much water to provide depends on your soil, the tree’s location, the amount of sunlight it receives, and more.

Confused? It’s fairly easy to determine. Get yourself a rain gauge and read our guide to apple tree watering to learn all the details.

Place a layer of organic mulch like leaf litter or wood chips underneath the canopy of the tree to help suppress weeks and retain water. Just don’t let it touch the trunk.

Pollination

Whatever type of apple trees you grow, with few exceptions, you must have another specimen nearby so they can pollinate each other.

Trees should be within 100 feet or so for pollination purposes.

Most apple trees can’t pollinate themselves, and if the flowers aren’t pollinated, no fruits will form. To make it even more complicated, only specific trees can pollinate each other. Not just any old tree will work.

Apples are categorized into six flowering groups based on what time of year they blossom. These groups are early, early to mid, mid, mid to late, late, and very late, sometimes represented by the numbers one through six. One is the earliest, and six is the latest.

For trees to successfully pollinate each other, they must both be from the same flowering group or the group immediately before or after. So, for example, a mid season bloomer can pollinate an early to mid, mid, or mid to late tree.

The trees must also be of different varieties, so you can’t use a ‘Gala’ to pollinate another ‘Gala.’

Then there are the triploid types, which require two other apple trees for successful pollination.

Visit our guide to apple tree pollination to learn more about how this all works and to discover some productive combinations.

There are also some partially self-fruitful options that will give you some fruit even if you only have a single tree. They will be more productive if you have a partner, though.

You also have the option of growing a crabapple (Malus spp.) as a companion instead of another apple.

Crabapples bloom for a much longer period than apples and will pollinate any group. You could have one crabapple to pollinate six different trees from all six flowering groups.

Many commercial growers opt to go this route.

While we’re talking about pollination, it’s a smart idea to plant early-blooming pollinator favorites near your trees.

Pansies, wood poppies, crocus, daffodils, tulips, bleeding hearts, flowering quince, forsythia, and Japanese camellias all bloom at the same time as apples and attract our bee, moth, and butterfly friends.

Growing Tips

• Plant in full sun with at least six hours per day and in well-draining soil.
• Apply fertilizer only after the tree has produced its first full-sized crop.
• Most apples need a different cultivar partner for pollination.

Pruning and Maintenance

For the best fruit production, you need to prune your apple trees annually.

Spring is usually the perfect time unless it’s raining nonstop with no signs of stopping. Then, you might opt to do your work in the fall or on a sunny day in winter.

Moisture is an invitation for pathogens to infect your tree, so it’s best to avoid working in wet conditions.

When you prune, there are two goals in mind. You want to provide the best shape for the tree’s optimal health and production, and you want to maintain your previous year’s work.

First off, take off branches that are damaged, diseased, dying, or deformed.

We call these the “four Ds,” with deformed meaning any branch that is rubbing against another branch, crossing another branch, or that has a funky bend or shape.

You should also remove one of any branch pairs that have a tight crotch. That means where the two branches join the limb or trunk at about the same place, making a tight “V.”

These are weak points and one of them has to go. Remove any water sprouts.

Finally, just generally tidy up the tree by thinning out crowded areas. Leave a good mixture of young, new branches and older, healthy branches.

You can learn more about apple tree pruning in our guide. (coming soon!)

During the winter, watch for sunscald and paint your tree with watered down paint if you see cracks forming.

You might also want to heap organic mulch on top of the roots to keep them warm – just make sure its not touching the trunk.

For those who share their gardens with moose, elk, and deer, winter is the time these hungry hoofers can be a nuisance, so put up fencing, grab your favorite deterrent, or wrap young trees.

Learn all about how to care for apple trees in winter in our guide.

Apple Tree Cultivars to Select

With nearly 8,000 (and counting!) different cultivars, there is going to be an apple tree that fits all your needs.

Apple trees can be successfully grown in Zones 4 to 9 and there are some that can thrive outside of those Zones.

There are apples for making juice, cider, cooking, or fresh eating. There are those bred to be extremely pest- or disease-resistant.

Some are bred to produce massive, picture-perfect fruits and others grow homely but delectable ones.

We can only touch on a few apple options here, but if you want some more ideas, visit your local gardening club, extension office, or nursery.

They will have some excellent suggestions for cultivars that will do well in your area. Not every apple tree will thrive in every area, even if it’s suited to your growing Zone.

New cultivars are constantly popping up. These usually come from a chance or deliberate crossing of two trees, resulting in a promising seedling, or they come from mutations on a branch, known as bud sports.

You can find dwarf, semi-dwarf, and full-sized plants. Dwarf trees grow under eight feet or so, while full-sized trees can be up to 30 feet tall.

Don’t worry, I won’t judge you if you decide to give them a go anyway. They are delicious.

You can learn more about growing ‘Honeycrisp’ in our guide.

Managing Pests and Disease

I’m not going to sugarcoat it, apples suffer from a lot of pest and disease problems. The chances are high that you will be dealing with one or more sooner or later. Probably sooner.

If you notice small spots on your apples that give way to a corky texture on the interior, it could be cork rot.

This isn’t a disease but a physiological disorder usually caused by a nutrient deficiency. Learn more about this problem in our guide.

Now, if your apples have big gaping bites out of them or they’re missing altogether, you might have friends dining on your bounty. Let’s talk about those first.

Herbivores

Deer and birds will thank you for planting apple trees. Once a tree is mature, you don’t really need to worry too much about either.

You should have a large enough harvest that there’s a little left to share with wildlife. You will need to protect young trees, though. Let’s talk about that, first.

Deer

Have you ever heard of “deer apples?” They’re the ugly or deformed fruits that orchards can’t sell at a premium, so they are sold at a discount as an option to attract deer.

That should tell you something about how much deer like these fruits. They’ll nab any that they can reach on the lower branches.

When they’re hungry, deer will also snack on the leaves and young branches, which can reduce your harvest. On a large tree, that’s probably no biggie. But it could destroy a young specimen.

Your best option is to fence off young trees. Older trees can withstand some browsing, and you can just let deer clean up fallen apples for you.

Learn more about how to manage deer in our guide.

Birds

Lots of birds will eat apples, from woodpeckers to cardinals. Some people even offer up sliced apples to attract birds.

In the late fall, I love to watch the crows, jays, and flickers clean up the leftover fruits I couldn’t reach. I think their antics are charming.

But if you’d like to keep the apples for yourself, you’ll have to find ways to deter our winged friends. If you’re already bagging your fruits to prevent codling moths, which we’ll talk about in a second, you have your protection in place.

You can also toss nets over the trees in the fall as the fruits ripen. Birds won’t eat underripe fruits, so you don’t need to worry about covering them until ripening time.

I also find that if I have seed feeders, fruit and nut platforms, and suet cages out, the birds will go for those before they turn to my apples.

Smaller birds will usually only peck at pomes that are already damaged by pests or other injury, so keeping your trees healthy helps.

Insects

Insects can be a real problem in apples, not just because they spread disease, but because many of them can ruin your fruits. All that work for nothing!

Apple maggots, in particular, drive me crazy. Along with codling moths, they’re the biggest enemy standing in the way of me enjoying my fruits.

Disease

In addition to pests, apple trees have a lot of disease problems to contend with. Some cultivars are more resistant than others.

I consider myself lucky if I experience a year where I’m not trying to narrow down the cause of the symptoms I’m seeing, and treat the problem on my tree.

If you’d like a more detailed explanation of all the various disease issues you might face, please visit our guide to apple diseases.

Armillaria root rot is an infection caused by fungi in the Armillaria genus. Also known as honey fungus, it’s an extremely common problem in some regions and can kill trees rapidly. It lives in the soil, and there is no cure.

Read our guide to armillaria rot to learn how to identify and manage this disease, as well as how to prevent it in the first place.

Bot rot or white rot is another challenge you might face. Caused by the fungus Botryosphaeria dothidea, it’s mostly a problem on trees that are already stressed or weak.

The pathogens look for openings in the bark to invade, resulting in cankers, dark sunken areas, and girdled branches or trunks.

Learn how to control bot rot in our guide.

You might also encounter gummosis, southern blight, crown gall, black rot and frogeye leaf spot, sooty blotch and flyspeck, and powdery mildew.

Apple trees are also host to cedar apple rust, which requires a juniper nearby for the fungus to complete its lifecycle. Read more about cedar apple rust in our guide.

Harvesting

We’ve reached the second best part of apple growing, with the best being the moment you bite into your first fruit, of course.

My favorite way to test for ripeness is to slice up an apple and dive in once the color looks about right for the cultivar I’m growing.

You can also estimate ripeness by researching the standard timing for your cultivar. But crop load, weather, and fertilizing practices can impact ripening, so you can’t always count on a specific date.

That’s why I like to make notes about the weather throughout the year, the crop load, and the ripening date in my gardening journal.

You might want to harvest your fruits just a bit before they’re fully ripe if you plan to store them.

Learn more about when and how to harvest apples in our comprehensive guide.

Preserving

Prior to the proliferation of fruit shipping from around the globe, apples provided us with fresh fruit through the long winter months.

Few other fruits could survive winter in storage, so if you wanted something fresh and fruity, they were one of your only options.

Now that we have fresh fruits from around the globe year-round in our grocery stores, you’d think they would be replaced by tropical fare, but apples are still a fall and winter staple.

I can’t even imagine winter holiday feasts without using apples in several recipes.

Some apples will store for months in a cool, dark area with good air circulation. You can research the storage capability of your particular cultivar, but generally, those with more natural wax will last longer.

You can also preserve your apples by making apple sauce or butter, freezing, dehydrating, or canning.

We have a guide that will walk you through all your apple storage options.

Recipes and Cooking Ideas

I don’t even know where to begin with all the options we have to use up our homegrown apples. It’s a good thing, because the trees tend to produce a large harvest!

Let’s start with drinks. Of course, cider is always an option, but you can also make infusions, syrups, and shrubs to use in cocktails. Our sister site, Foodal has all the details.

There are endless desserts to try, from scones and dumplings to cupcakes and pies. Learn how to make the perfect strudel on Foodal.

But it’s the savory recipes that made me an apple convert. Apples and chicken get along nicely, and I always have a slaw marinating in my fridge.

Try mixing them with cheese, whether you dip slices in fondue or bake them with brie. Toss them in salads, stuffings, and stews.

I have a slaw recipe for every day of the year pretty much, but here’s my basic:

Shred two large or three medium apples, seeds and stems removed. Shred three medium carrots and one head of cabbage.

Shred half a sweet onion or finely chop up three green onions, removing the root end.

It helps to use a food processor with a shredder attachment to make the process quicker, but you can also use a mandolin, if you prefer.

Combine one cup of unsweetened Greek yogurt and one cup of mayonnaise. Add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and one tablespoon of lemon juice and mix well.

Add to the slaw mix slowly until you reach the consistency you desire. You might have a little mayo mix leftover. I don’t, because I like my slaw moist. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can always get creative and add nuts, dried fruit, celery, hot peppers (I prefer habaneros), and even tofu, bacon, or chicken to make it a meal in itself.