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Help! Husband topped our apple tree

GreengardenmillsGreengardenmills Posts: 3
in Fruit & veg
Hi there, I left my husband in charge of pruning our apple tree and he got a bit excited with the loppers and ended up completely topping it. I haven't got any 'before' photos but I've attached some 'after' photos. Can anyone tell me if there is any saving this tree? Will it even grow leaves this year? Presuming it won't bear any fruit at all. I just want some foliage as its the only tree in our garden and usually provides a lovely shaded corner. Any help / advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

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Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    OMG, had you guys had an argument before he went out there?  ;)
    Leave it alone for a year or two, it'll bounce back
    Devon.
  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    You might have to get a gazebo for some shade, and lock away the loppers with a padlock your husband doesn't have the key to!
  • GreengardenmillsGreengardenmills Posts: 3
    Thank you! Do you think it won't bounce back this year? :( Loppers are locked away no for sure!
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    it'll survive, and it WILL grow back, but maybe check out you tube vidoes on pruning apple trees before giving him a second chance at it
    Devon.
  • MolamolaMolamola Posts: 105
    Our neighbours have a mature Apple tree that was severely pruned (though not as much as yours) a couple of years ago.  It seemed to appreciate it and grew back a mass of branches and looks really well.  It was surprising to me how quickly the canopy  thickened out - it probably needs another prune again to open it up and get rid of some low-hanging branches.  So I wouldn't worry too much. 
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    edited March 2021
    Have a look at this from the RHS regarding 'renovating old apple and pear trees', which should help you understand what to expect (ie lots of 'watershoots'.)  You can then look-up how to deal with those.
    If you don't prune those properly, it'll look like this in 2 years:


    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • clarke.bruntclarke.brunt Posts: 215
    Lots of interest in this! As the others say, there's no doubt it will grow again! As in that last photo, it will grow zillions of shoots from near the cuts, which should ideally be reduced in number next winter (only removing a proportion, otherwise you're back to square one and it will grow them all again, and maybe shortening the remaining ones).

    I'm not really a believer in the "water shoot" thing - the idea that there is some special kind of shoot which grows in profusion in response to pruning, and never bears fruit. The 'profusion' thing is right, but to me, a shoot is a shoot - they're all the same.

    It's not likely to flower this year, unless there happen to be one or two fruiting spurs left here and there on the old branch framework.

    Here's the likely schedule for return to flower/fruit: This year (year 1) lots of shoots will grow. Year 2: maybe a few flowers on the shoots, but for the most part, a shoot will extend at its tip, but will grow 'rosettes' of leaves (actually very short shoots) at each place where a leaf from the previous year has fallen off. Year 3: the 'rosettes' - now called spurs, will flower and fruit. Meanwhile the previous year's extension growth will be getting its own 'rosettes', and extending at its tip, etc...

    The tree isn't guaranteed to adhere to this. Sometimes year is cut, with spurs developing on new wood the same year as it is growing. And some varieties 'tip-bearers' are more inclined to flower at or near the tip of the shoots, rather than on spurs further back.
  • Cottage CompostCottage Compost Posts: 496
    You could try pruning the husbands' hair with those loppers!  That'll teach him.


  • GreengardenmillsGreengardenmills Posts: 3
    Thank you so much for all of your helpful advice. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the poor tree. Good idea about the lopping of the hair! 😆
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    If my OH did that to one of my plants I'd be inclined to prune him  >:) But he doesn't do anything in the garden, so there's no chance.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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