Apple problems

[glut]

I have an apple tree (bramley I think) which has only this year been exposed to the light after many years under a huge clematis. Watching it with interest as it has grown and flowered, I have noticed that...
at the end of some branches the leaves are going white and dusty
some leaves have rust coloured curly lines appearing on them
some leaves have rust coloured spots
some leaves have holes nibbled in them
some leaves have curled up and have little caterpillars in them
one leaf had a big green caterpillar hanging from it...

I am beginning to think it is doomed. Is my poor tree too infested with problems to ever be healthy?

[FB.]

at the end of some branches the leaves are going white and dusty

Powdery mildew. Erratic water supply can aggravate mildew infection - especailly if nearby trees are carrying the disease and it's blowing around in the wind. Mildew is most troublesome early in the season - new shoots are most easily infected.
Increase watering. Mulch around the tree to hold moisture in the ground. Prune off the mildewed leaf clusters, if possible.

some leaves have rust coloured curly lines appearing on them
some leaves have rust coloured spots

Could be apple scab. Scab spores blow around in the wind and will germinate if the leaves are damp for more than several hours, as a result of rain, drizzle or dew. Like mildew, scab preys on young leaves, which are most susceptible.
Not much you can do if it's all over the tree. If any of the young green stems seem to have the scab, it would be better to prune them off.

some leaves have holes nibbled in them
some leaves have curled up and have little caterpillars in them
one leaf had a big green caterpillar hanging from it

A few caterpillars won't do much harm. The birds will eat most of them, eventually.
Curled-up leaves could be aphids. Predators (ladybirds, hoverflies) will come for them, too.

.......................................

In summary, Bramley is a fairly tough and vigorous tree that can survive a lot of problems. If it was mine, I'd put my money on the Bramley surviving trhe pests.
In fact, I allow a couple of my apple trees to get infested with pests (aphids, caterpillars), so that I can attract predators, which then keep the pests under control.
I always allow my Bramley to get covered in aphids and caterpillars to attract the predators into the area (I have actually put caterpillars on it, that come from my other apples). It is important not to use sprays if you want natural predators; they are fewer in number than the pests and take longer to increase in numbers after pesticide use.
I have a Grenadier cordon on M9 (dwarfing) rootstock that was in such poor condition by the end of last season that I doubted it would survive the winter. In fact, it has come back this year completely clean and healthy and is carrying a full crop of two or three dozen fruitlets.




If your tree is not Bramley, it may be considerably weakened by the attacks.
If it has survived under a mass of Clematis for years, I'd say that it has a better chance now.

A few ways to check whether it's a Bramley.....

Does it have larger-than-average flowers (almost 2 inches across) with a pinkish tinge?
Do many of the flower buds open on the tips of 4-6" long side-branches, or on very short, knobbly spurs?
Does it have thicker-than-average stems?
Does it have larger-than-average leaves?
Does it have thicker-than-average and fairly stiff leaves?
Are the leaves darker-than-average in their green colour?


ps
How large is the tree?


pps
I once tried an experiment to see just how much abuse an apple tree can tolerate.
I took a five-year-old MM106-rootstocked "Howgate Wonder" (which I consider has some family links with Bramley).
The tree was about 10ft high and in the middle of the growing season (about June) I cut the whole tree down to just a 2ft trunk, with all branches and all leaves removed.
It survived; after about a month, it sent out several new shoots. For the rest of the growing season, it had to endure minor attacks from scab, mildew, canker and aphids. The following season, it sent out about a dozen new shoots that reached 1-2ft length.

[glut]

Gosh FB thanks for such a thorough reply, you sound like someone who knows their apples!




Here is a picture of it not long after being uncovered from the clematis and now it has had a bit of air for a few weeks. I'm not sure how to attach photos so hopefully you can see them!

[glut]

Okay I don't think technology is my strong point and I don 't suppose you can see my pictures...suffice to say the tree is about 8 or 9 foot tall and about the same wide. The flowers were pink and the leaves do seem quite big!
I will try and follow all your advice FB but already feel more hopeful about it! Thanks

[FB.]

Sadly, I can't see your pictures.
I am surprised that a Bramley should get so badly infected with powdery mildew, so perhaps yours isn't a Bramley. If it's an older tree, a Bramley ought to be very large; 15ft on poor soil and maybe 30ft on good soil.
Even on dwarfing rootsocks, Bramley can reach 8ft when mature.


My Bramley only gets the odd infected shoot each season, which is easily snipped-off. Some nearby places have a few huge Bramley's and they don't get much mildew, either - and I live in what I'd bet is the mildew capital of the UK; low rainfall, light/rapid-draining soil, warm, humid.

I would make sure that it gets adequate watering during this year. If practical, prune out the mildewed shoots.
During the winter, you may be able to give the tree a "once over" to find and eliminate sources of the scab and mildew for next season as follows:

A bad case of scab may leave scarring/blistering on this years new growth. Any such blistered/scarred shoots should be pruned out during the winter, since they can carry scab for the next season and may allow access to canker. A good sweep-up, or running-over the leaves with the mower, should allow the leaves to rot away faster during the winter, meaning less scabby leaves sitting around as a source of infection for next year.

A bad case of mildew may allow the mildew to go dormant in the new shoots. When the tree goes dormant next winter, look carefully for any whitened shoots; prune them out, since they will carry mildew for the next season.

Doing all the above should drastically reduce attacks next year. Even better, around the time that new leaves start opening and for the following few weeks, do a twice-weekly "mildew patrol" and snip out any of the new shoots that have the white furry coating. After that first couple of weeks, mildew attacks drop-off considerably, since as the leaves age, they get much more resistant.

I am spray-free and mildew is a big pest in my area. I find that "mildew patrols" every 2-3 days in the first few weeks after a tree leafs-out often give complete mildew control for the rest of the season with my fairly-resistant varieties (and my Bramley seems to have good mildew resistance). You only have a day or two between seeing a mildewed shoot and the time it takes for it to go into mass-production of highly infectious spores, that get blown by the wind.