We have five apple trees. One is a baby, a Gravenstein, parked right next to the grandfather Gravenstein tree. The little tree is doing fine but the big one has been leaning towards the sun more and more each year. By the time I noticed, it was too late to pull it back, but it probably would have been a good idea to put a stake in and tie it back anyway, to stop it from getting worse.
And worse it got!
With this early spring and warm summer, everything grew more than usual and the apples grew mostly on the sunny side of the tree, weighing it down even more on the leaning side. One day, I realized that the whole tree could fall down under the weight of so much fruit all on the sunny side. The apples must have watched the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou?” When I went out into the backyard, I could have sworn I heard the apples singing “Keep on the sunny side of life.”
I propped up the tree with a 2 x 4 as a desperation measure until the Captain could come home to help save the tree.
The plum tree to the right of the apple tree has a long branch that is also low to the ground. It is so loaded with plums that it lost two branches under the weight.
The photo below shows a Wilmuta, an early cross of Jonagold. They are late apples — hardy, sweet, and juicy. Again, the sheer weight of the apples on this dwarf tree, mostly on the sunny side (apparently they listened to the same song), had branches breaking and the tree trunk leaning.Tying it to the nearby plum tree helped for a while, but as the apples got bigger and heavier, the tree leaned even more. A couple of pieces of wood put in to prop the branches and the trunk have not prevented breakage and the tree is still in need of triage (or is that tree-age?) As soon as the apples are harvested, I’ll call NINE- TREE-TREE. 9-1-1 is only for people, I think.
The other two trees, a Transparent and a MacIntosh, are behaving well. I have certainly been able to have “an apple a day,” but this year, maybe we’re having too much of a good thing.
P.S. A friend just reminded me that I haven’t pruned the trees for a while and that is a major contributor to my problem with the breaking branches. I know she’s right!
September 10, 2016 at 10:12 am
That is an over-abundant harvest. Have they been like this before? You sure do have a green thumb, Anneli! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 11:44 am
Never as bad as this before.
LikeLike
September 10, 2016 at 10:40 am
How about an apple a day for the school kids. The kids could come and harvest them all – after you took your share. You are having way too much of a load of fruits to use up yourself – I would try to share if possible. If not, you could still make your own “Schnaps” LOL
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 11:45 am
I like the way you think, Ursula!
LikeLike
September 10, 2016 at 11:50 am
To be political correct, I´d make juice instead of the “Schnaps”
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 11:52 am
Actually, we did make juice from quite a lot of them two days ago. It was really good.
LikeLike
September 10, 2016 at 10:57 am
What a bounty. I hope you can save these wonderful trees!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 11:46 am
I hope so too. A good pruning and propping up should help a lot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 11:41 am
Ah, so lucky to have beautiful fruit trees. The leaning tree is a bit of a heart-breaker, but as long as it keeps producing fruit, that is the main thing. Apple crisp, apple pie, apple tart, :).
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 11:47 am
That leaning one is my favourite. It has the best apples! We’ll do what we can to save them (and prune them – a job way overdue).
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 11:49 am
Talk to it a little, too, because trees do love that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 11:51 am
Or I could sing to it – “Keep on the sunny side of life….” 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 10, 2016 at 11:53 am
Please record that for me!
LikeLike
September 10, 2016 at 12:03 pm
It’s a bit of a hee-haw song but in the movie it kind of fit. This is the version with Alison Krauss and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
http://ow.ly/ot3O3045yCC
LikeLike
September 10, 2016 at 12:28 pm
Hi Anneli,
When I see how much fruit they bear nd how low the branches hang, I get to thinking tha we should plant fruit trees in our garden, too. Our deer would be dancing with joy! 😉
Have a great Sunday,
Pit
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 1:52 pm
That’s for sure. They would love that. It’s hard to grow anything without a deer fence and I now you don’t want a fence.
LikeLike
September 10, 2016 at 12:38 pm
I suggest hiring an Arborist that would use a large implement that will extract the tree and a large dirt ball which can be put into another hole, straightening the tree to vertical in the process. Wow, soooo many apples!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 1:53 pm
That sounds like a very good suggestion. I’ll consider that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 2:17 pm
Thanks, glad I may possibly be able to help you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 2:32 pm
It’s a very good idea.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 1:00 pm
What a harvest! We miss our apple trees after moving to our new place. Although I don’t miss making decisions on how to deal with the over-abundance.of fruit.
A professional arborist sounds like a good idea.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 1:54 pm
I bet you don’t miss the annual visit by the bear (but I bet he still wanders through your new place to get to the old place.
LikeLike
September 10, 2016 at 1:25 pm
Absolutely wonderful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 11, 2016 at 8:57 am
It really is, even if I do complain about so much work in dealing with all that fruit.
LikeLike
September 11, 2016 at 9:04 am
BTW, I clicked on your blog – specifically the Peter Sellers clip, “Does your dog bite?” – and had a good morning chuckle. I’ve always loved that scene and it’s still hilarious after all these years. So thanks for the smile.
LikeLike
September 10, 2016 at 2:00 pm
That tree is giving the Tower of Pisa a run for it’s money. I bet the apples are delicious. Do I smell a pie in the oven?
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 2:05 pm
You should have smelled the house yesterday when I had two apple pies, a dozen buns, and a dozen cinnamon rolls sitting on the counter, all fresh out of the oven. Don’t talk to me about diets.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 2:29 pm
I’d love to have an apple tree…I eat two every day! I shouldn’t say anything, but I haven’t been sick in years…guess the old saying is true.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 4:58 pm
What are you feeding these trees? 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 7:43 pm
Extra sunshine this year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 10, 2016 at 9:39 pm
What a great year for fruit trees!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 11, 2016 at 8:55 am
Yes, it sure makes up for some of those lean years.
LikeLike
September 10, 2016 at 9:44 pm
Woah! Those trees are truly laden with fruit. I see a glorious winter of jams and preserves coming up. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 11, 2016 at 8:56 am
If only I had two of me in my kitchen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 11, 2016 at 1:10 am
Dried apples – you can do them in the oven, on trays in the sun, or use a dehydrator if you have one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 11, 2016 at 8:55 am
What a great idea! Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 15, 2016 at 6:47 pm
You have an outstanding green thumb and your orchard demonstrates this! 🙂 I love apples and plums! Your baking and canning moments are going to go into overdrive! 🙂
Your movie and song reference had me humming along, Anneli. xo
LikeLiked by 1 person