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apple tree issues
HappyHenders
Posts: 28
I have recently moved and now own a delightful and large garden in Suffolk which is dominated by a big apple tree. I have returned home after a week away and found the leaves are falling from the tree and they are curling up although there is no apparent discolouration. The trunk has a green dry mould forming all over it similar to that you might find on stale bread. I have searched on diseases but cannot find anything to match this. Does anybody have any ideas what it might be?
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Depends on which bit of Suffolk you're talking about - Mid Suffolk is boulder clay!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
we're more clay than sand. Soils is pretty good and the area around the tree has certainly not dried out. Unable to send picture atm
I lived in Mid Suffolk for most of my life - some venerable fruit trees around there - I suspect yours might be just such a tree - and I suspect that the green mould you describe is a powdery green lichen - common here in East Anglia due to the good air quality.
If you google 'powdery green lichen images' you'll see several examples.
I'm not sure why your tree is losing leaves - it can happen in heavy gusty downpours such as we've had recently. Is the loss generalised over the tree or is it confined to specific areas?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
It's the whole tree. All the leaves are curling and withering. This has happened in just a week. It was fine last monday but looks pretty bad now
Is it an old tree? Have you any idea how it has behaved in previous years? Are there neighbours who would know?
This might be of some help http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=769
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.