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Cankered Apple tree - Can I save it?

WiltshireWildWiltshireWild Posts: 64
in Problem solving
I have a much loved apple tree in my small garden. Each year it is infested with waxy aphids. As a result it seems to have developed a lot of canker. 

Does anyone have any experience with recovering a tree such as this and how to stop this problem progressing? I suspect my pruning is not helping. I need to keep the tree small so I have been pruning it each year to keep its size down. Could this be causing too dense a structure leading to poor circulation/light?


Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2023
    Many years ago I had a youngish crab apple tree in a similar condition. I tried everything but eventually realised that it was in the wrong position and just didn’t  really get enough sun and free-flowing air, and it simply wasn’t happy. 

    However, I left it and it was loved by birds … especially bluetits and whole troops of longtailed tits who visited it in the winter to feast on their favourite woolly aphids. It was in our front garden, we could see it from our dining-room window and it really was full of wildlife. I loved that tree even tho’ it was a big of a wreck in gardening terms. 😊 

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





  • WiltshireWildWiltshireWild Posts: 64
    Yes, I have to say it does attract the birds - despite all my neighbors' cats! Thanks for pointing out the positive aspect. 
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Not sure if this helps canker but as a general rule Winter pruning stimulates growth whereas summer pruning (ie Now till mid September) will restrict growth. Pruning now means as the tree is beginning to draw down resources in preparation for winter you should not get  lots of soft sappy growth, this should limit the aphid attacks.
     Trees kept as restricted forms such as cordon espalier fans etc are always pruned in  late summer, but there is no reason why this should not apply to a small standard that you want to kep to a restricted size.
    AB Still learning

  • WiltshireWildWiltshireWild Posts: 64
    Allotment Boy said:
    Not sure if this helps canker but as a general rule Winter pruning stimulates growth whereas summer pruning (ie Now till mid September) will restrict growth. Pruning now means as the tree is beginning to draw down resources in preparation for winter you should not get  lots of soft sappy growth, this should limit the aphid attacks.
     Trees kept as restricted forms such as cordon espalier fans etc are always pruned in  late summer, but there is no reason why this should not apply to a small standard that you want to kep to a restricted size.
    That's brilliant advice. makes perfect sense. I have been pruning in winter or early spring. 
  • WiltshireWildWiltshireWild Posts: 64
    So would it be best to just continue my pruning to maintain the small size albeit late summer and not winter? Or should I do an initial aggressive cut back to try and remove all the canker? Does anyone have experience on this? 
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    This is a tricky one.  The RHS advice on canker is to cut it out completely,  but equally in other pruning advice they say you should not  cut more than a third at any one time. The problem with drastic pruning is that the tree has developed a good size root system,  so the tree puts on lots of thin sappy growth in an attempt to rebalance itself.  Although your tree is quite young try looking up advice on restoration pruning of an older tree. This may help. 
    AB Still learning

  • tigerburnietigerburnie Posts: 131
    Sadly I tried to save one tree and it passed on to the other two trees, so ended up felling three nice ten year old apple trees, I guess NE Scotland near the sea just isn't the place for my choice of trees, there's a wild life pond in their place now.
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