Nomenclature
Malus domestica. From the scientific name given the tree, it is easy to notice that it was propagated as part of a research. In fact, it was. For the Honeycrisp apple tree, it hails from the orchards of the University of Minnesota as part of the educational institution’s horticulture program.

Honeycrisp apple tree – Knowing the Origins

For many of us who delight in apple trees and their produce, it is always a welcome story to know that horticulturists are undertaking research for getting better yields and getting improved production for apple trees. One such story is the Honeycrisp apple tree.

It is good to pay some homage to history by sharing some major facts about the Honeycrisp apple tree. The University of Minnesota has a breeding program for apples in the hope of developing cultivars having a good fruit quality.

Dating back to the 1960s, the Honeycrisp apple tree began as a cross between two other breeds of apples. These were Macoun and Honeygold. However, recent studies conducted to determine the genetic make-up of the Honeycrisp has indicated that neither of the two originally thought to be the parent of the Honeycrisp is actually its parents. Facts point to Keepsake and another breed as the parents of the Honeycrisp. Both the Keepsake and the other unknown breed are part of the same apple breeding program of the same university where the Honeycrisp apple tree hails from.

After successful testing, the Honeycrisp apple tree was officially released to the public in 1991. Since then, it has garnered a lot of fans because of its crispiness and sweetness. Noticethe name it was given? It is called Honeycrisp – to indicate its taste and texture.

Honeycrisp apple tree – Getting the Picture

Honeycrisp apple tree

Honeycrisp apples

Once you take a bite of the fruit of the Honeycrisp apple tree, the first thing you’ll notice is the crispiness of the flesh. Often, you will hear that crisp sound in your head as you bite into the fruit. Its flesh and juice has that mild sweetness that you always crave for in an apple.

The Honeycrisp apple is a honey on most dining tables. The Honeycrisp apple tree remains a honey of most apple farms.

By Accident Only

Dwarf trees came about as an accident by nature. No one knows exactly how they came to be. Upon discovery, though, many have taken advantage of dwarf varieties, dwarf apple trees included, since they are easier to grow than standard trees.

Dwarf Apple Trees

The Big Advantages of Dwarf Apple Trees

The most obvious advantage that dwarf apple trees have compared to the standard trees is that the branches are easier to prune and the fruits are easier to harvest. This is mainly due to their smaller size.

They also bear fruit sooner. While standard apple trees can take up to a decade to produce fruit, dwarf apple trees can take only as short as three years to give fruit. This is good for commercial plantations and backyard raisers.
In case space is an important factor to consider in any plantation (they truly are), planting dwarf varieties will give way to more trees. Although dwarf apple trees produce fruit in less quantities than standard ones, the less time needed to bear fruit outweighs this factor.

Growing Dwarf Apple Trees

In growing dwarf apple trees, you must remember that they are not grown from seeds, but from grafting. You have a dwarf rootstock and you graft a branch from a standard apple tree on this rootstock. This branch will bear fruit. Since the branch is from a standard apple tree – although the rootstock itself is dwarf – the fruit produced is the common apple that we know, not a miniature fruit.

Dwarf rootstocks are usually weaker than those of full-sized apple trees hence they are often supported at the base. Many prefer stakes, driven to the ground, and the dwarf apple trees secured to the stake with a wire.

Pruning the tree is important to avoid overgrowth of any branches. Trimming dwarf apple trees is recommended to be done during winter when the tree is dormant.

Branches need space so each one can receive enough sunlight and have space to bear fruit. Two feet between them is the recommended distance. Any branch which suffocates another is to be trimmed. Remember to always cut the newer branch. The cut is also made at an angle and never flush with the main trunk of the tree. Pruning dwarf apple trees properly ensures a longer life and better harvest.

Take a Bite

Less work and less cost, more planters have opted to grow dwarf apple trees. It is common to find one bearing fruit in spring, perhaps near your home. So go ahead and take a fruit from dwarf apple trees.

Custard Apple Tree Origins

Believed to have originated from the West Indies (now commonly called the Caribbean), the Custard apple tree has found its way to other parts of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Although some grow in the wild, many are found in farms and are cultivated mainly for their fruit.

Custard Apple Tree – Unusual in Looks

The Custard apple tree and its fruit do not resemble an apple tree and an apple fruit at all. It does not require chill to grow, unlike a usual apple tree. A Custard apple tree actually grows in a tropical or semi-tropical climate. The standard tree reaches a height of up to 35 feet with leaves having a peculiar odor.

Custard apple tree

The fruit of the Custard apple tree looks somewhat a bit extraordinary. It lacks the smoothness and luster you may find in an apple. The shapes and color of the fruit vary. Some can be round, others heart-shaped, and still there are some without an even shape. Fruits are usually green and turn to either yellow or purple when ripe. On some varieties, it somewhat resembles a traditional hand grenade. See the picture below of a green-colored custard apple hanging from a branch.

Custard Apple Tree – Nature’s custard

What the appearance may lack in allure it certainly makes up for it through its taste. Try to tear open a Custard apple. You will discover that its flesh is soft, creamy, and sweet – hence the name Custard apple. Best eaten when fresh, it somewhat reminds you of custard when it is tasted. A drawback, though, of the fruit is the unusual number of dark-brown seeds you will find within. Many find this to be annoying when eating the fruit.

Well, the Custard apple tree, it seems, wants to ensure its survival through its seeds. It need not worry, really. With trees growing in the wild and those cultivated for production, this tree is unlikely to make it to the endangered species list.

The fruits of a Custard apple tree are not known to have a long shelf life so it is recommended to purchase them in smaller amounts and only do so when needed. When examining your purchase, refrain from getting small and dark green fruits as these are immature and are not supposed to have been harvested. In case you want to ripen your purchase, the recommended temperature for storage is between 18 to 24 C.

Custard apple tree – Unusual Facts

An interesting fact to note about the Custard apple tree is that the sap from its trunk and branches are eye irritants. Many have fallen victim to its sap which is why pruning this tree ought to be tackled with extreme care.
In some areas of the world, some of the parts of the Custard apple tree are used as traditional remedies for common ailments. For instance, dried fruit is used to alleviate stomach ailments like diarrhea.
So, is it custard or apple? It is both. The Custard apple tree is custard to the palate and an apple of the eye for those who love it.

Genus and Specie

Crab apple trees belong to the family Rosaceae from the Genus Malus. There are 35 natural species. Common species include the Malus sylvestris and Malus fusca, native to Europe and the USA respectively.

Crab apple trees as ornaments

It is not unusual to find Crab apple trees in parks and home gardens since many prefer their blooms which usually grow in clusters of white, pink, or red. The tree is actually a favorite for residential landscaping. They prove to be a delightful sight all year round.

The flowering Crab apple trees give a great show in spring due to their emerging blooms. Unopened buds may hint of a color and as it opens itself up, another color may be revealed, as if it was giving some kind of a flower display.

Crab Apple Trees

Crab Apple Flowers

Caring for Crab apple trees

Are you thinking of planting Crab apple trees in your garden? You have made a good choice since this tree’s flowers in bloom is such a sight to behold.

Just like most trees, Crab apple trees require a full sun from above and a loamy soil from below in order to thrive. It is recommended to plant the tree either in spring or in fall.

Watering Crab apple trees is only meticulous on the first year of planting. It is done once a week during spring and summer and once a month during autumn and winter. After a year, it only needs occasional watering during dry periods.
Pruning is a necessity for any tree especially for an ornamental one like Crab apple trees. This is to ensure good growth for its branches. Any damaged or diseased branch ought to be cut off. It may also be wise to cut off branches that cross into other branches so there is a fair distribution of sunlight to all leaves of the plant. Trimming the plant is usually done after the flowers have stopped blooming in spring.

Common Diseases

Although new varieties of Crab apple trees are now tolerant of disease, it still pays to know the common plant diseases that affect this tree. Here are a few of them.

Apple Scab

This disease is seen on the leaves of Crab apple trees. It is caused by a fungus which usually begins on emerging leaves. You will notice a raised black spot on the leaves. As the disease worsens, leaves become yellow and eventually drop. Treatment is with the use of fungicides applied to the leaves.

Fire blight

This disease is seen on leaves and branches of Crab apple trees. It is caused by bacteria. You will notice that the affected area appears to have been burned by fire, hence the name of the disease. Leaves are blackened and twigs appear shrunken. Best treatment is cutting off the infected part of Crab apple trees in case they are infected.

Lessons from a Tree

Although not indigenous to Japan, the Cherry Blossom tree is a highly regarded specie in that country. Its blossom each spring is actually a much anticipated event, from the first blooms in Okinawa to the last blooms in Hokkaido. Many Japanese celebrate the event with gatherings around parks to witness the blooming flowers of the Cherry Blossom tree.

Cherry Blossom Tree

Growing a Cherry Blossom tree

Due to its sheer beauty, it is only natural for a dedicated gardener to desire to have a Cherry Blossom tree in his yard. Because of advancement in horticulture and order processing, it is quite easy to get a seedling for the tree from any local nursery or even online.

Location is important if ever you are intending to plant the Cherry Blossom tree. This tree requires a good amount of sunlight and good drainage.

Depending on the variety of the Cherry Blossom tree you have chosen, take time to consider the type of soil it will grow best in. Before beginning this venture, it may be good to do a little research into the type of Cherry Blossom tree that will grow best in your area. Flex those brain cells first before your muscles.

The Famous Blooms of a Cherry Blossom tree

The Cherry Blossom tree is renowned for its beautiful flowers. Although most varieties have white or pink flowers, there are some uncommon varieties that have yellow or green flowers. Also, as it blooms, the flower of the tree tends to change its color. For example, a flower may begin to open as white yet may change to red before it finally falls from the tree. See the flowers up close below.

White Cherry Blossom Tree

Pink Cherry Blossom Tree

Varieties of Cherry Blossom tree

A Cherry Blossom tree has several varieties resulting from man’s endless pursuit in having diversity for this tree by cultivation. One of these is the Okame Cherry. This has pink flowers growing in clusters of two to five, with petals up to one inch wide. See the picture below.

Okame Cherry Tree

Another Cherry Blossom tree variety is the Yoshino Cherry. A native of Japan, this one features soft white flowers when in bloom each spring. A photo of the tree follows.

Yoshino Cherry Tree

The Autumn Cherry Tree is one more variety of the Cherry Blossom tree. This is so-named because it shows off its white blooms in spring and autumn, when most other trees are already dormant because of the coming winter.

Autumn Cherry Tree

It is not difficult to imagine how the populace, even an entire nation, is captivated by this tree. The Cherry Blossom tree is surely one of the greatest wonders of nature.

Where is the best place for an apple tree nursery?

Apple tree nursery can be found in just any other places in the world as long as the environment inside this apple tree nursery is suitable for the growth and development of apples. But there are several considerations that you need to know before you start to build your desired apple tree nursery.

Since apples love the sun, you need to pick an area where the sun’s rays are exposed fully to the apple trees. The apple tree nursery must also be water-free which means that the chosen area does not frequently being lodge with moisture. During the winter season, it is also best to place the apple tree nursery in a warmer atmosphere.

Soil is also a major factor that you need to take note since apples does not tolerate its pH. The soil of the apple tree nursery must be prepared a month before the start of the construction to disintegrate the soil. In cases where in a previous nursery was built, fertilisers must be lessened.

Why an apple tree nursery is needed?

Apple trees are very sensitive to many factors, be it the environment, the temperature, the condition of the soil, the surrounding plants and so much more. An apple tree nursery is needed to control these factors in order to achieve your desired apples.

An apple tree nursery is needed because they are not self-pollinating. With the use of apple tree nursery, other types of apple varieties are placed to attract insects for pollination. These insects will then transfer the pollens to the apple trees for fertilization. The best thing about cross pollination is that it can produce the finest apples. An apple tree nursery must have two surrounding apple varieties for optimal apple production. However, there are other types of apples that don’t need pollinators since they are naturally born self-pollinating.

There are also specific time and seasons for apple trees to plant. An apple tree nursery must be complete before October to December, which is during the winter season and the start of early spring. This is the preferred month since the apple trees are still dormant and new spurs grows less compared to the summer season.

An apple tree nursery must also be needed because there are times when desired framework of the apple trees is opted. Certain pruning and training are important to maximize the apple’s potential.

Knowing the current status of the soil’s nutrient must be known to determine what type of fertilizer is given to a specific variety of apple. On this way, you would not only know if you have over fertilized your apple trees, you would also save money from buying unnecessary materials.

It is important to research and understand the life of apple trees and realizing the significance of building an apple tree nursery.

Why pruning espalier apple trees significant?

Espalier apple trees are an innovative agricultural way of training trees. Through pruning espalier apple trees, you are limiting plant growth for aesthetic purposes. These apple trees are trimmed, pruned and tied in flat platform to control its branches and form a specific structure. Situated against a framework such as in a wall, fence or mesh, pruning espalier apple trees have a main trunk with several stems branching out from vertically.

Aside from aesthetic beauty, pruning espalier apple trees also have more functional reasons why this is devised. There are gardeners who have limited space in their orchard and through this technique; it can limit the space needed to make an established apple tree. Pruning espalier apple trees also provide sufficient amount of sun exposure since this is placed against a platform.

How pruning espalier apple trees are done?

One of the main things to note is that there is a specific time in pruning espalier apple trees. The best times are during times when the plants are not continuously growing.  During the summer season, any kind of plant in the world would grow because of its exposure to the sun. On these times when pruning of espalier apple trees is done, new stems grow and once this stems are immediately cut, it would be hard for new spurs to grow again. It is like retarding its growth. Unlike during the winter season wherein there is less sun exposure, new spurs tend to stop growing and these new spurs must now be cut down.

If you notice that the branches are growing in an outward manner especially during its early stages, bending it would be recommended. This is the time where you start pruning espalier apple trees. Tying it with a string or a cord would do as long it tightens its grip to the wall. Pruning espalier apple trees would also depend on the design you want to make. You also need to check if it the growth is tightly restricted.

You also need to be aware of important details in pruning espalier apple trees. The longest length for a side shoot to grow is 12 inches to support the growth of your preferred design before it is finally cut down. To accumulate enough energy for the apple trees, flower buds should not be removed during the early stages of training development. Since you need enough energy for your desired form, pruning espalier apple trees must be given some amount of patience.

After vertically pruning espalier apple trees, you need to prune it horizontally because on this way, this can provide you with more fruits to harvest.

Apple tree pollination

How does apple tree pollination works?

Apple trees are unique in the way that does need pollinators for fertilization to occur. Apple tree pollination is a technique in inviting vectors such as bees to transfer pollens from another apple trees or a variable tree that could pollinate these apple trees.

In order for apple tree pollination to occur, insects must naturally be invited to other apple trees to pollinate. Crab-apples are best and widely used as pollinators because insects love the smell of these trees.

Because of the effects of global warming, natural apple tree pollination has been dramatically damaged. There are many significant factors why the lives of indigenous insects have totally changed. Due to over usage pesticides to kill specific insects, natural apple tree pollination is destroyed because these insects migrate to other places, leaving apple plantation to have decreased number of apple production.  Apples need bees to pollinate almost all of its trees but because of bee hunting in most honey manufacturers, bees are lessened. Other factor why apple tree pollination is damaged is the illegal logging of trees where insects used to live, urbanization in previous rural and agricultural areas and changing weather conditions.

What are alternatives to natural apple tree pollination?

Alternative to natural pollination

Apple tree pollination management is done wherein group of apples in a certain area are surrounded with other kinds of apples such crab-apples. Since crab-apples have a high incidence of inviting more essential insects such bumblebees, mason bees and honey bees for apple tree pollination.

If you have a hard time looking for many varieties of apples in apple tree pollination management, you might want to choose other types of apples that are self-pollinating. Examples such as golden delicious, granny smith apples and braeburn are good alternatives especially if you have a very small space to put all of your apples in block and encircle with other apple trees. Special reports also studied that self-pollinating apples yield bigger and better apples but gardeners suggest that in order to produce more of these bigger and better apples, apple tree pollination using cross pollination is highly recommended.

Why trimming apple trees are important?

During the early stages of growth, trimming apple trees should be done as soon as the first buds stem out from the branches. The main reason why trimming apple trees should continuously be implemented is to provide balance between the sides. On this way, the apple trees will most likely not fall. The small branches, called the spurs, stem out three to five inches from the trunk of the apple tree. These spurs must be removed in order for the new ones to grow.

During the winter season, where the trees passively grows, trimming apple trees aides in producing new spurs ready for the next season to come. This will also help the trees and the fruits, especially in the lower parts, to be exposed to the sun’s rays.

How trimming apple trees are done?

Trimming Apple Trees

A maiden apple tree (the first year old tree) should be cut down in the bottom half. When trimming apple trees is done, make sure that the remaining half should have buds in it. Observe for the picture at the right.

During the second or third year, after growth is evident, there would be new branches that would stem out. The new branches that stem outward should only be cut down. Below you see the difference between the two trimming apple trees. The first picture shows a growing apple tree with outward stemming of branches. The second picture shows trimming apple trees that were already cut down.

There are instances that branches would stem out to the trees four inches above the ground. This should be pruned since this will just be covered by other bigger branches and will just encourage insects to eat up any bud. If you also notice bigger branches that touch against another branch, immediately remove it because this will create tension between the two making it heavier on the other side. When observing for the trimming apple trees, it is not only the small branches that should be cut down. It should also be marked that there would only be one trunk. If you happen to see bigger trunks that stem out, it should be immediately cut down.

Trimming apple trees should be done during December to February or during the summer season. It is this day that growth is discouraged in order for the energy of tree to be concentrated more on the fruit bearing process. Trimming apple trees are important to support heavy apple fruits during the harvest season.

Fertilizing apple trees include NPK

NPK stands for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) which are three important elements in fertilizing apple trees in order for your apples to survive from the start to the end.

Nitrogen not only helps in providing nutrients to the tree but it also helps in the maturity of the fruits.  It is important that nitrogen should be given high amounts during its early stage of development compared when the apple trees have fully grown. It must also be given priority to the gardeners in balancing nitrogen supplementation since an increase or a decrease of these would lead to problems that could damage the growth of the trees. Fertilizing apple trees with insufficient nitrogen could lead to different symptoms such yellowing of leaves, stunted growth and decreased number of fruits yielded.

Phosphorus is placed deep down the soil and phosphorus analysis is difficult to achieve. Because pH, moisture and exact amount of phosphorus is not analysed clearly, leaf monitoring is needed to check on the levels of phosphorus. Fertilizing apple trees with this nutrient must be rooted deep especially in times of tree stress in order for it to be preserved and will not be washed away.

Fertilizing apple trees with potassium (K) is vital for the growth of the fruits in terms of its size and taste. Since it is very sensitive to apple trees, potassium aids immediately during seasonal injury. Fertilizing apple trees in high or low levels of potassium could lead to leaf damage and irregularity in the size and colour of the apples.

Other important elements in fertilizing apple trees are sulphur, magnesium, calcium, boron, iron, zinc, copper and manganese which could help in bringing the apple trees in its fullest potential. It is also highly recommended that the gardeners must purchase pre-packed fertilizers in fertilizing apple trees than making their own fertilizers in order for the sufficient amounts to be distributed equally.

Needed Requirements in fertilizing apple trees

In fertilizing apple trees, it is not only the nutrients are important but also the amounts and proportions to be given. The distribution of the nutrients in appropriate proportions is a pivotal part in the successful growth of apple trees. A proportion of 20:10:10 is needed in fertilizing apple trees with nitrogen given the 20 while phosphorus and potassium with 10.

During the early days of the apple trees, an expected 12 inches growth must be met. If its growth is lower than expected, fertilizing apple trees must be doubled to 50% by the second year. PH is also a very important factor in fertilizing apple trees with a range of 6.1-6.5 scale that must be maintained.