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frost damaged apple tree

granville.stonefJCjIdNYgranville.stonefJCjIdNY Posts: 3
in Problem solving
7 year old 'Katy' apple tree suffered severe frost damage in spring with no growth appearing since - is it dead and would you advise that I replace it?

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Hello and welcome to the forum @granville.stonefJCjIdNY
    😊

    It would’ve had to be an exceptionally hard frost to kill an apple tree unless there was already an underlying problem. 

    Can you tell us more about your tree and show us some photos of it and where it is (it was) growing please?

    to upload photos click on the ‘landscape’ icon and follow the instructions. If your photos don’t appear, reducing the size usually works. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • granville.stonefJCjIdNYgranville.stonefJCjIdNY Posts: 3
    The 7 year old apple tree has fruited well every two years and was promising a good crop this year with an abundance of blossom the day before the frost occurred in early May. The next day all the blossom and leaves had shrivelled, what was left soon turned brown and few days later had become dust when rubbed between my fingers.
    I have at intervals, scraped back the bark which has revealed the green colour which I believe indicates the tree is still alive but there's been no sign of growth since the frost.
    There are six other fruit trees in the area, including a bramley apple which also lost its blossom and leaves at the same time but has since grown back new leaves, and a discovery apple which the frost had no effect (can be seen in the background of the second photo).  
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    There will have been an underlying problem, as @Dovefromabove has said.
    A single frost, or even a series of frosts,  doesn't kill a tree, it would only affect the blossom. It would still have produced foliage though. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited July 2020
    I think it’s dead or dying. If you want to try to save it would clear all the weeds (creeping buttercup) from around the base of the tree. They will have been competing for water and nutrition. 

    I would then water generously ... two buckets full of water every other day from now until mid September ... whether it rains or not. Pour the water on slowly so that it soaks down to the roots rather than runs off the surface.  

    I would also give it a light feed of a slow acting organic fertiliser such as Fish, Blood & Bone and mulch the root area with something like composted bark. 

    Feed again in mid March and from then on give two buckets full of water twice a week ... more in dry spells. 

    If that doesn’t perk it up nothing will. 

    I would also clear the weeds from around your other fruit trees and feed and water them also. 

    Fruit trees really cannot perform well in those conditions ... it stressed them and makes them susceptible to disease and infestations. 

    Provide them with reasonable conditions and enable them to fulfil their potential. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • granville.stonefJCjIdNYgranville.stonefJCjIdNY Posts: 3
    Thank you for your comments - will heed your advice and let you know if there's any results.
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