Supporting Old Apple Trees
Maintaining old fruit trees sometimes requires more than just pruning, grooming, and feeding. Large, heavy limbs may also need support in order to continue holding all the many fruits they produce.
On my farm, I have some very old apple trees that were here long before I moved to the property. A few in particular are just outside my Winter House. These trees bear an abundance of crisp, juicy fruits every year. Like all my trees these are well cared for, but recently I noticed their limbs were long, heavy and in need of added support before they broke, so I asked my gardeners to prop them up right away using a simple, natural, and very successful technique.
Enjoy these photos.
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- I am so proud of all the fruit trees I have at my farm. Among them – my many apple trees that bear bounties of fruits every year for all the hand pressed cider my granddaughter makes.
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- I have a corner of my orchard dedicated to all kinds of apple trees including Baldwin, Black Oxford, Cortland, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Esopus Spitzenburg, Fuji, Golden Russet, Grimes Golden, Honeycrisp, Liberty, Redfield, Roxbury Russet, Windham Russet, and more.
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- Some of my apple trees are original to the farm. I’d like to think that Mrs. Ruth Sharp, who owned the farm before I did, enjoyed the sweet, juicy apples that these trees bear as much as I do.
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- This grove is also original to the farm. It is located just behind my herbaceous peony garden.
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- This week, I noticed the large limbs looked particularly long and heavy. As a preventative measure before any broke, I asked my head gardener to put upright supports under all the horizontal limbs.
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- The first step is to measure the space under each limb in need of bracing.
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- Phurba Sherpa from my outdoor grounds crew went out to the back field, where there were already several dead trees waiting to be put through the tub grinder, and cut some appropriately sized “crutches”
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- Phurba looked for those with natural “V” notches that could cradle the limbs.
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- Once all the crutches were brought back to the trees, Phurba dug shallow holes where the supports would be positioned.
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- He also gathered a couple of small, flat stones to place against and under the tree support to prevent it from sinking into the loamy soil.
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- The stones placed strategically at the base of the support will also keep it from falling due to strong winds.
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- Here’s Phurba checking a crutch out for size… and it fits!
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- Ryan pushes a crutch under another limb.
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- Upright supports like this made from tree branches blend right in and actually look like trees themselves.
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- It is crucial that every new crutch be checked to ensure it is tightly in place.
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- Ryan was able to knock this support out of place, so he made a few adjustments to make sure it was secure.
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- This one is wedged in perfectly – strong winds nor heavy fruits will bring it down.
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- The strong “V” notches will hold the limbs well for several years.
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- In total, Ryan and Phurba secured about seven tree supports. This did not take long at all, but will save the tree and prevent any broken limbs in the future.
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- These trees may need a little more support to keep them looking their best, but they give me so much more in return – good, delicious apples to eat out of hand or press into cider – they’re a good thing.
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