Sick Apple Tree

I bought a Little Pax apple tree this year. It's been ravaged by what might be powdery mildew. I'm wondering if I should get rid of this tree and plant something else. If it is having issues now will I likely keep getting issues every year or can they recover?

 

Imho, I would give it at least one year's grace. It is already stressed by time spent in a nursery (either in a pot, or bare-rooted), and then not an easy spring / summer, if what we have had here is anything to go by. Your profile doesn't say where you are, but here in Belgium we have had 4+ months of drought, with a hard air frost thrown in, mid-April. The scorching temps of week after week of 30c+ don't help.
I regard powdery mildew as a stress indicator. Give the poor thing a chance...❤️

 

ok I'll give it a bit more time. I'm not getting any fruit off it this year so I've hit it with an anti-fungal spray. I've also given it a general fertiliser to encourage some growth. There are a few green shoots coming so we'll see if they grow ok

 

Mike, I would not have used a fertiliser right now.......best to grow slowly at this time but keep well watered. Dont let it dry out. Watering is far more important
Neem oil is very effective but any fungicide thoroughly applied throughout the season will help?
Possibly next season it will be fine after a winter of dormancy

 

Well it's done now. I have read you are not meant to add much fertiliser as it can encourage excessive but weak growth. However my rational is that the growth of this tree seems stunted compared to the rest of the trees that I planted so a little boost may not hurt. Watering, yes, here in Edinburgh we had several weeks of drought like conditions where I watered every other day after planting but things are back to normal now and it's raining all the time again

 

I wouldn't worry just yet. Perhaps it's just a late bloomer... literally. )