Apple tree no blossom

I have a small shady garden. When I moved in 4 yrs ago, I planted a young apple tree. Year 1 it bloomed and fruited heavily. Year 2 blossom but no fruit. Year 3 no blossom and it looks like no blossom this year (Year 4).

I pruned it in March. I also sprayed it this month (May) cos it gets white dust on leaves that makes them curl (powdery mildew ?). There is also a rather straggly old rose trying to climb up it.

I have a young cherry tree (about 2yrs old) in a similar position, and that is currently blooming healthily.

Would welcome any advice.

 

Hi

I have a well established Pear tree (about 25ft) in the garden of the house I moved to nearly six years ago. It blossomed and produced a lot of fruit for the first three years then the fourth year there was absolutely nothing so I thought it had had it. Surprisingly last year it returned to producing a lot of fruit, I don't know why it had a barren year (maybe too dry?) but it seems OK now, maybe these things are a bit unpredictable?

 

Apple trees do like a bit of sun, rather than being in shade. If the shade is caused by something you can prune back, to let at least some light in, that might help. However, I think a fair part of your problem may be your pruning of the apple tree itself. Pruning in March may well have lopped off the stems carrying flower buds !

Apples generally benefit from two prunings a year. In Winter, you can cut out dead, diseased or congested bits, plus any major branches going the wrong way - usually only needed for older trees, or trees being trained into fancy shapes.

In Summer, especially with young trees, it will produce quite a few straight, long, leafy shoots. This is the young tree's natural tendency to grow tall (especially if it's shaded) to reach the light before some other tree gets there first. (It's thinking 'get tothe light, then worry about flowering'). To encourage flowers next Spring, you need to cut these straight, leafy shoots hard back - I would suggest cutting back to just above the 3rd or 4th leaf from the base of the shoot. This will turn the leafy shoot base in to a fruiting spur, instead. You should then get flowers on these short spurs next Spring and, hopefully, apples thereafter.

(I am assuming that your apple tree fruits on the side-shoots / spurs, rather than on shoot tips - most apple trees are spur-bearing, but a few are tip-beareres and should not be pruned like this in Summer, or you lose all your potential fruit-buds. If you know the variety, you should be able to look up this information on Brogdales website or perhaps Bernwode Nursery - they both hold extensive apple collections and are very helpful people).

One other point, if I may. Some apples fruit heavily one year, then rest the next - biennial bearing I think it's called. You can either live with this, if your tree does this, or try to even it out. Basically, the more apples that mature on your tree one year, the fewer you will have next year. So, your tree will naturally shed some immature fuits in June, if it can't support them all. Once it's done this, try gently removing some more apples - say reducing clusters of 3 or 4 apples down to 1 or 2. You'll get bigger, better apples, though obviously not so many this year, but you will also get a reasonable crop next year too. In theory.....

As for the rose - unless you are deeply attached, I'd lose the thing. It will provide a hiding place for mildew spores and aphids (apples and roses are in the same plant Family, Rosaceae, so can share pests and diseases, to some extent). It will also compete with your young tree for food and water. Ditch it, and plant a better speciment in 3-4 years' time, once the apple is better established and growing well. Plant the new rose a couple of feet away, to avoid hurting the apple tree's roots, and on the other side from the current rose location if possible. Clematis may also work well here.

Hope the above helps. It all seems to work with my old pear tree, anyway. I've done the 'cut out the dead / diseased / crossing big branches in Winter, cut the leafly long shoots in Summer' thing on it - poor thing was very neglected when we moved in, and getting way too tall - and it's going great now. Loads of flowers this Spring, much healthier leaves. and so on. Now if someone can only tell me what to do about the dratted pear midges that ruin two thirds of the crop, I'd be a happy bunny :wink:. Might have to take up perry-making, or something....

Regards,

Helen.

 

How and why, did you prune it?

 

Well I was trying to encourage it to blossom - I did follow an online guide to pruning -I just trimmed off a few crossing branches and tidied up some stragglers (making sure to cut slant-wise below the leaf buds) but I guess March was a bit late to be doing it

I can't do anything about the shade unfortunately, my garden faces the wall of another house ! As a result, the tree is doing as described, and growing very tall and leafy. It is very leafy right now. Regarding the summer pruning, what month would be the best time to do it ? Also how often should I be feeding and watering it (we had so much rain earlier in the year, that I didn't bother) ?

It is a spur fruiting tree. I don't think I over-pruned it, cos an elderly neighbour who is a keen gardener wandered by after I'd pruned it and told me "Needs a good hard pruning to sort it out" lol ! To my inexperienced eyes there doesn't seem much there to prune anyway......... Maybe I should ask him to show me how to do it more effectively.

I will definitely take out the old rose, it's just about to bloom, so I'll let it flower one last time. I've also staked my tree a bit more firmly to reduce any future wind rock.


Anyway, thanks for the advice so far much appreciated !