Redlove Apple Tree has arrived! See inside for Photo's! :D

[Garden_Chris]

Hi all,

As you can undoubtedly guess from the two exclamation marks in the title, I'm quite excited.
It came last night and sadly it was far too dark for me to plant it (not to mention far too chilly as well) so I had to wait until this morning. Anyway, it's planted in now and it's a waiting game until spring when it will hopefully blossom into flower. Enough of me talking, scroll down to see the photo's in chronological order.









Please see further posts for images, it'll only let me post 4 at a time.

Just a few concerns I guess, the spots on the leaves and the protrusion on the rootstock. Otherwise, nothing really too worrisome. Watered it in just now, nice hearty amount and I guess it's just a question of whether it survives the winter (fingers doubly, triply crossed).

[Garden_Chris]

[Garden_Chris]

[Garden_Chris]

Sorry for the mass posting, but I just wanted to fully illustrate what's happening.

[FB.]

Spots on the leaves are probably scab. Even if it is a resistant variety, you will not be able to avoid a few spots on the leaves and as long as not more than a quarter of each leaf's surface is damaged then it is nothing to worry about. Your leaf area damage is perhaps 5% of the total photosynthetic area and therefore no more damage than a rogue caterpillar or other garden bugs might cause.

The lumps on the rootstock are "burr knots" which are the start of roots. Most rootstocks produce lots of them above ground but below the graft. The tendency for burrknots makes for easy rooting and propagation in the nursery. Just keep an eye on the burrknots in the early years (until the bark thickens) because they burrknots sometimes be a point of entry for disease such as canker, crown rot or collar rot.

.

Regarding the tree itself; someone appears to have recently "topped" it (the last picture) which is unfortunate given that the strength which was in the now-missing leaves and stem will not be able to be used by the tree to build roots for winter. It may have been that it was too difficult to package so was a necessary evil.
I suggest no pruning until all the leaves have fallen (some time between November-February).

I forget the rootstock used, but I suspect that it will need regular watering next year and lots of feeding.
Water a few inches away from the trunk to avouid constantly wetting the wood and it will encourage the roots to grow outwards. I'd suggest two bucketfulls of water about once per week once the soil starts to dry in late spring.

[Garden_Chris]

It's on an M9 rootstock, if that helps. I thought I'd better not chance it being blown over - at least until the training system is in so I place a stake into the ground to hold it upright throughout the winter.

Since it's been topped, will the roots do simply nothing? Or even though a part of the tree has been topped, will it still continue to grow its roots?

What sort of pruning would you advise? It looks pretty bone like with very little in the way of broadness.

What sort of feed would you advise as well? (Sorry for what may seem like an obvious question).

Also, I've watered the 'halo' around the tree (the bark chip) as well as a little around the tree to settle it in. Should I continue to follow this method? Or should I simply water the mulch and forget about the inner circle?

Thanks for any and all advice, I truly appreciate it

[northepaul]

I cant offer better advice than above, but just wanted to suggest not pruning it this year at all, and allowing it to settle down....?

On another note, I can understand your excitement on the arrival of your first tree....warning though, its rather infactious, and before you know it, you'll have more!!

[FB.]

It's on an M9 rootstock, if that helps. I thought I'd better not chance it being blown over - at least until the training system is in so I place a stake into the ground to hold it upright throughout the winter.

Since it's been topped, will the roots do simply nothing? Or even though a part of the tree has been topped, will it still continue to grow its roots?

What sort of pruning would you advise? It looks pretty bone like with very little in the way of broadness.

What sort of feed would you advise as well? (Sorry for what may seem like an obvious question).

Also, I've watered the 'halo' around the tree (the bark chip) as well as a little around the tree to settle it in. Should I continue to follow this method? Or should I simply water the mulch and forget about the inner circle?

Thanks for any and all advice, I truly appreciate it

Ah, yes, I remember the M9 which you wanted to train as an espalier/fan.
M9 has good resistance to crown and root rot, so it won't mind regular watering (just don't allow surface water which stands for more than a few hours). M9 actually prefers quite heavy soil.

I suggest watering slightly more the further away from the tree, so as to keep the outward-growing roots going at a greater rate than the roots close to the trunk. Try not to water within a couple of inches of the trunk and try not to splash mud above the graft in case you cause collar rot (where the scion-graft rots but the rootstock is unaffected).

I would suggest, around late February, sprinkling a generous amount of fish, blood and bone at the outer area of where the roots are and where you want them to grow. Water it lightly and then cover with a mulch of compost and/or well-rotted manure and water lightly again. This will provide fast and slow-release nutrients for several months, as well as aiding moisture retention on hot summer days.

Although the tree has been "topped" and some of its energy is now lost, I note that it has some leaves, so those will transfer their energy down to the roots before they fall. There will be some root growth, but not as much as if it had been left unpruned.
I presume that it was container-grown? If it is a live-bare-root then I can understand why, with damaged roots, it would need the top reducing so that the remaining roots could support a smaller tree.

As for pruning and training:

It's a nuisance that it has been "topped" as it makes it difficult to judge how or where to prune.
During the winter, in the hope that it has enough vigour next season, I suggest lightly "tipping" the branches, selecting a point to cut where the topmost bud will continue roughly in the stems original direction, while those (1-3) buds beneath should grow out at an angle. By visualising that effect, you might be able to see where branches might grow in future.
If branches don't grow where you want, prune it again next winter.
I suggest stick with winter (dormant) pruning until either it is up to size, or until it is growing sufficiently quickly that it has energy to spare or needs calming-down (cropping is a great way to stop growth by redirecting energy).

[FB.]

Here's a pic of the response to pruning of a young tree of mine (on MM111 rootstock), taken in mid-summer, having been a "maiden whip" and pruned back by about one-third when I planted it out several months previously:

[FB.]

Oh, I would also recommend using tap water for young trees with their thin bark because it is "clean" (virtually free from potentially infectious micro-organisms) due to being chlorinated.
I have occasionally found that "dirty" water ("acid rain"?) from "stagnant" and non-chlorinated water butts seems to sometimes encourage various types of disease on the bark of the lower trunk if it is regularly splashed onto the lower trunk (hence also my suggestion of avoiding mud splash as much as possible).

[Garden_Chris]

I presume that it was container-grown? If it is a live-bare-root then I can understand why, with damaged roots, it would need the top reducing so that the remaining roots could support a smaller tree.

As for pruning and training:

It's a nuisance that it has been "topped" as it makes it difficult to judge how or where to prune.
During the winter, in the hope that it has enough vigour next season, I suggest lightly "tipping" the branches, selecting a point to cut where the topmost bud will continue roughly in the stems original direction, while those (1-3) buds beneath should grow out at an angle. By visualising that effect, you might be able to see where branches might grow in future.
If branches don't grow where you want, prune it again next winter.
I suggest stick with winter (dormant) pruning until either it is up to size, or until it is growing sufficiently quickly that it has energy to spare or needs calming-down (cropping is a great way to stop growth by redirecting energy).

Yes, it was container grown (or at least, that's how I was sold it). The roots, whilst not pot-bound were beginning to show signs of needing to move onto pastures new.

After having looked at it, it appears someone has already "topped" all the other branches - in effect, they seem to have already done what you have suggested. So good news I suppose?

With regards to watering, should I water throughout the winter? And if so, in what amounts? Evidently, I'll factor in the amount of natural rainfall, except, at the moment it's sunny and a surprisingly mild day and doesn't look to be fading into winter quite yet.

Cheers for all the help FB, you've put my mind at ease!

And regretably, I'm now searching for a James Grieves on M25 rootstock to grow on the opposite side of the garden (it's infectious!) Having a little trouble finding anyone who sells it though..

[northepaul]

Blackmoor Fruit Nursery - Fruit Trees For Sale, Large selection Of Quality Fruit Trees
Keepers Nursery - possibly the largest range of fruit trees and soft fruit plants in the world

They're the best ones I've come across, although I havent seen if they have the apple tree you want.

M25 rootstock is a vigorous rootstock for a small garden...

[Garden_Chris]

Well, the garden we have isn't small.. it's just a little competitive space wise. We've got room.. but I think for the moment it'll be something to bear in mind (Christmas and Birthday are on the horizon )

[FB.]

Garden Chris

The tree will not need feeding or watering from December through until about April (i.e when it is without leaves). The cool ground and weak sun in winter means that it is very unusual for the soil to dry. In fact, winter flooding is more likely to be a problem.

Regarding the James Grieve M25.
M25 is one of the strongest rootstocks available. It is normally best suited for half-standards, although can make standard trees on good soil with very vigorous varieties such as Bramley.
On very poor soils, M25 can be used for almost anything purpose (even cordons!) because the sheer vigour may be needed for it to simply manage to survive.
If you plan to grow a M25 tree, it must not be allowed to get out of control or it will not be easy to make it attractive again once you get it back under control. M25 is surprisingly precocious and can often fruit very soon after planting.
If you're not sure about soil quality, I'd suggest MM111 which is more disease resistant, more predictable in growth but not quite as vigorous as M25.
Interestingly, I find that James Grieve is not attractive to woolly aphids, so can grow well even in woolly aphid-infested regions, no matter what the rootstock.

I would caution against a large James Grieve tree because:

1.
It prefers a cool, low-rainfall climate and a moisture-retentive soil (it's from Scotland).
2.
The fruit do not keep more than a few weeks, so a larger tree might produce more fruit than you know what to do with.
3.
Being a relatively old variety which has been very widely grown for a long time, some parts of the UK (mostly wetter or more Northern regions) are infested with diseases which, over the decades, have adapted to attack James Grieve quite well.

My JG remains very healthy, but others don't find the same health.

I find that my JG prefers to grow in a fairly heavily shaded location - probably because it was developed in Scotland (cool, dull) but in my area we have lots of heat and sun.

Fruits tend to drop off the tree as soon as they ripen so you can't delay picking. Additionally, the fruit is very easily bruised.

My preferred use for JG is in late summer crumbles or juice.
.

If you plan to grow a big tree, I would suggest:

1.
Strong disease resistance.
2.
Late-ripening and long-storing fruit.
3.
A variety likely to grow well in your soil type and climate (e.g. Annie Elizabeth for clay, D'Arcy Spice for sand and Barnack Beauty for chalk; there are many other specially adapted varieties to suit most locations and soils - you just need to ask!).

(what is your soil type?)

[FB.]

You can buy James Grieve on a variety fo rootstocks here:

> Keepers Nursery <

Having seen the quality, health and vigour of trees from many nurseries over the years, I consider Keepers to be head-and-shoulders above most of the others. There are quite a few old nurseries around these days which are selling rather sickly stock which often doesn't thrive - I will mention no names, but I suggest that people take care who supplies your trees, so as to get strong, healthy and true-to-type trees.