If you’re planning to plant apple trees in your small backyard, one of the best ways is through columnar apple trees. Columnar apple trees, also known as “supercolumns”, are modernized type of growing these kinds of trees because its saves you more space. Instead of putting up a big and massive growing tree, this alternative is highly recommended to those garden enthusiasts who love to plant trees but don’t have sufficient space. With a life span of 20 years, columnar apple trees will stand in a small container or immediately in the soil as long as there is adequate sun exposure. One of the best things in this approach is that it is low-maintenance because columnar apple trees are self-pollinating which means you need not to supple another tree in order for it grow.
The Advantages of Columnar Apple Trees
One of the main advantages of growing columnar apple trees is its size. Most of the home gardeners opt to this kind of approach because it does not eat up a lot of space unlike the regular apple trees and other dwarf trees. It can even grow with pots or a small container. When the apples start to grow, it has a crisp produce with no extending branches. If you think the apples are also small, you might want to think again. Columnar apple trees can produce normal sized apples with 5-10 fruits per harvest per tree. With only 9-12 feet tall in height and 2 feet in length, it can occupy a small part of your yard.
Columnar apple trees are also early bloomers and can readily be harvested in its first year of growth. You can choose from a variety of types of columnar trees such as Golden Sentinel, scarlet and the North Pole.
The Disadvantages of Columnar Apple Trees
With the many benefits of having columnar apple trees, it has also some disadvantages that come with it. Since this is just new in the market and few people have known columnar apple trees, the cost is a little higher compared to dwarf and semi-dwarf apple trees. Though these kinds of plants are self-pollinating, columnar apple trees are best when near other trees. It is best to paired with another columnar apple trees to produce excellent fruits but peaches, plums and cherries are also good alternatives. Because the trees are small and the fruits are still normal in size and weight, a constant trimming of the branches must also be done to balance the tree and prevent it from falling.
If you also wish to do business with apples, columnar apple trees are not the best option for you. Since it can only produce 5-10 apples per harvest, it is not also practical to grow trees and maintain it all year round and only harvest it once a year. Most columnar apple trees bloom during September.
With so many new innovations discovered and made, it is no doubt many unique approaches have coming out to suit our needs and to satisfy our personal wants. Columnar apple trees are just one of them.