apple tree problem

hello - just joined today - We planted 2 3year old apple trees last november,'encore' and 'cat's head'. they blossomed and we have been waiting for fruit to form. Sadly they now don't look very well. blossom/leaf are brown and very dry and several areas of branch to which they were attached are looking decidedly dead. What happened and what can we do? the trees were a gift so would hate to lose them.
thanks for any help.

 

Welcome to the forum.

First thoughts on your problem are;

have you watered your trees well? Don't rely on just rain in the early years of a fruit tree's life, they need plenty of water to help them get established.

did you prepare the planting holes well? Digging in a good quantity of compost or soil improver helps moisture retention and encourages root growth.

are your trees securely staked? We've had some strong winds this spring and they might have suffered from wind rock/wind scorch

Have they got enough light and space? You have to be realistic about how big they'll become when planning where to put them.

Your trees are still very young. I'd be inclined to give them some TLC and see how they look after being in the ground for 12 months.

 

I would agree, it sounds very much like a case of drought.
Catshead is a wonderfully shaped apple and tastes lovely too, but it does tend to have a hollow centre with a resident earwig in each fruit.

 

thank you Flinty and Palustris - hadn't considered the water factor, how silly of us! However, in our defence, we were worried when we first planted them that they would have too much wet - that part of our garden is prone to hold on to water in our rather heavy IofW clay soil. We dug very large holes and put drainage and compost at the bottom, then made a mound and sat the tree on it and draped the roots around (think I got that from Monty Don) then topped up with soil and compost. On that we emptied a bag of wood chippings, Oh and we put that stake in very securely. So, hopefully it is a drought problem and they will survive. Should we clip off the dead pieces or just leave it?
I'll get an eviction order for that earwig!!

 

Plenty of water, there is a large percentage of trees that don't make it through their early years due to lack of water.

I tend to water towards the extremities of the planting pit, to try and encourage roots out into the surrounding soil. As a general rule, what is above ground is also below.

Hope this Helps!

 

I had not realised that you were on heavy clay. It could well be the opposite problem of too much water. If one is not careful when digging planting holes like that one creates a 'sump', ie. somewhere for the water from the rest of the garden to drain into.
You sound though to have planted very carefully and correctly, so the trees ought to do well. About the only thing you missed out was the dead hen. (If anyone ever comes and removes the trees from our garden they will wonder what on earth we were playing at. Every fruit tree has a hen buried beneath it. died of natural causes I hasten to add.).
I would try the thumbnail test on the bits which look dead. If you scrape a little of the bark off and underneath it is still green then the branch is still alive. If it is brown then by all means remove it back to an outward facing bud.

 

Ooo er, Palustris. That sounds a bit sinister!

 

Randkell

Ah well, if you're on the IoW, you're quite close to me and my clay based "soil" has been bone dry for weeks now. Just like brick rubble. New shrubs that I planted last year are struggling and have needed a lot of extra water already. I'd still be inclined to give your apple trees a good drink at least once a week, whatever the weather does.

 

thank you all for your information. Will go down the watering route at the moment I think as other parts of the garden are quite cracked and dry. Apropos the dead hen - haven't got a hen (although we are semi rural here) will a dead rabbit do? we are rapidly turning into Mr & Mrs McGregor when Flopsy, Mopsy et al devour everything we try to grow. Have got a list from RHS website of plants rabbits MAY not eat but have realised our rabbits can't read. think it's got to be a shotgun!!
Will try to remember to let you know in the Spring how our trees are doing.
Thank you all again.