problem with james greive apple tree

Our James Grieve apple tree is now in its second year in our garden. During the summer our leaves always appear as below:




The tree is watered regularly and fed with Miracle Gro General purpose feed every 2 weeks. However the tree has recently got worse since mid July and some of the leaves have gone yellow too, and our apples have started to drop prematurely after they start looking like these:


From 30 apples the tree has fewer than 5 now.

During the end of August one or 2 of the lower branches have started to look like this


Is the plant diseased or lacking nutrients. Any helpful tips and advice is welcomed as I am a newbie in the world of gardening!
Thanks

 

Hi Sather, your tree has several problems I`m afraid. The white lines on the leaves are caused by Leaf Miners, these can be controlled by using a systemic insecticide, there is also minor scorch damage. The fruit looks to have scab or, possibly, Coral Spot, treat with Dithane. Now for the bad news. Your last picture shows that the plant has Canker. You need to cut all infected stems back into healthy wood by at least 2 inches. Ideally burn the infected material.

 

The last picture show one of the woolly aphids or scale insects rather than Apple canker. Try s****ing one off and see what is underneath.

 

sc raping
The trouble on the apple itself is Scab. Either use Dithane or Copper sulphate. James Grieve is very prone to scab I am sorry to say.

 

"The last picture show one of the woolly aphids or scale insects rather than Apple canker. Try s****ing one off and see what is underneath."

Soory, but I agree with david, im 100% sure that last pic is showing canker. As above cut it out.

A winter tar oil wash will benefit the tree, Next Jan, spray with 50ml or so of jeyes flid in around 5 litres of water, spray till run off.

 

Sather I would say your tree is not sited in the best position they need to be in the open not boxed in a corner, if it has canker dig it up and burn it. Is that a hawthorn growing over the top of it? not a good idea.

 

It is definitely canker. But if only the ends of the branches are affected it can be saved. If it is in the main stem, then that is a different matter.

 

On the subject of position, I agree with Walnut that it's not got the best chance to thrive where it is. It's not just in a tight corner, it's very close to the house and will suffer dryness around the roots when it gets bigger.

Also, I'm sure I read somewhere that apple trees, when newly planted, like to have bare earth around the base of their trunks rather than a stone mulch, long grass or whatever.