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Crabapple shaped and reduced

Curing a dwarf that's too big and too shaggy

 

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The Sargent crabapple is a very fine tree. It has fragrant flowers (pink in bud, open white), tiny bright red fruit that hangs on through winter to delight the eye and fruit-eating birds, great disease resistance and a beautiful low, wide-spreading form. Yet even a compact tree like this can overstep its bounds, and in its fullness be transformed from well branched sculpture to ordinary chubbiness.

We took this tree in hand on one late summer evening.

Every main branch on a tree should have its own bit of sky. Sorting out a tree's main limbs and removing the unnecessary branches is essential to good form. It also simplifies all the decision making at reduction pruning time. Here is the tree from this article before and after the sorting.

Every main branch on a tree should have its own bit of sky. Sorting out a tree's main limbs and removing the unnecessary branches is essential to good form. It also simplifies all the decision making at reduction pruning time. Here is the tree from this article before and after the sorting.

Late summer is a good time to prune to both restrict the size and direct the shape.

  • Size-wise: Remove some foliage before the growing season winds down to cut the plant's energy production. That can reduce the growth without robbing the tree of the vigor it needs to have something 'in the bank' as a hedge against possible tough times.
  • Regarding shape: Create a shape now and it tends to last since the tree has stopped extending its branches and begun hardening its new wood. It won't respond by developing clusters of new shoots from every cut stub. The buds we choose to leave at the branch tips will take on the role of lead bud as they ready for winter. The growth will not be wild next spring but head in the direction we've "pointed" with those buds.
the starting point

the starting point

cut to remove excess main branches

cut to remove excess main branches

main branches shortened, pruning's all done. (Want to see these images larger?)

main branches shortened, pruning's all done. (Want to see these images larger?)

This crabapple is the focal point at the front door garden. If it reaches its type's normal size of about 8 feet tall and half again as wide, it will overhang the walk and obstruct the driveway. So it must be kept this size.

Marilyn, the gardener-owner, has been doing that but saw the shape was becoming "a blob" and asked us in to show her how-to. Janet and Deb Hall do the teaching while Marilyn and others learn by doing. (You can come learn at a Garden By Janet & Steven session, too!)

First we determine which of its too-many main limbs should stay. Look up into a tree from underneath, as we looked up into this one -- see the photos at the top of this page and also below. Identify branches that are distributed around the trunk and from low to high, so each can grow foliage into its own bit of sky without competing and stretching to get out of the shade of other limbs.

Pruning by committee takes extra time, as everyone looks and then discusses which branches she wants to remove. Marilyn watches as Deb selects...

Pruning by committee takes extra time, as everyone looks and then discusses which branches she wants to remove. Marilyn watches as Deb selects...

...then Marilyn takes her own look

...then Marilyn takes her own look

Here is what we started with, and a second look after thinning. In removing these limbs we cut close to the trunk but preserved the branch bark collar.

Here is what we started with, and a second look after thinning. In removing these limbs we cut close to the trunk but preserved the branch bark collar.

Next we shorten each of the main limbs we've kept. We cut each one back to a well-placed side branch that can take the lead and grow for a year or two without crossing the line to make the tree too big.

Next we shorten each of the main limbs we've kept. We cut each one back to a well-placed side branch that can take the lead and grow for a year or two without crossing the line to make the tree too big.

That's it. Now we can let the tree go for two years.

That's it. Now we can let the tree go for two years.

Did we remove a lot of the foliage and wood? More than the "1/3 rule"? Yes, but we're playing catch-up to take away what had built up over 10 years. In addition, we're cutting at a time when the loss will not rob the tree or stimulate it to grow crazily -- the two considerations behind the 1/3 rule.

Did we remove a lot of the foliage and wood? More than the "1/3 rule"? Yes, but we're playing catch-up to take away what had built up over 10 years. In addition, we're cutting at a time when the loss will not rob the tree or stimulate it to grow crazily -- the two considerations behind the 1/3 rule.

Can we see through the tree? Yes.

If you were growing this tree as a hedge (a great choice) you might not want to prune it this way.

Do we lose flower? Yes, in that every branch we took out that was over two years old is not going to be there to flower in spring! However, the branches we left in place will bear flowers and fruit.

We can see right through to the people who came to learn, as they admire their work. We couldn't have seen them when we started!

We can see right through to the people who came to learn, as they admire their work. We couldn't have seen them when we started!

One last thing, now.

We see suckers (blue arrow in the photo above). That's common on crabapples, which are grafted to roots of different types of apple. Those roots often are more vigorous than the desirable tree, and develop suckers. Let's cut them out.

We trowel away soil from above the roots and between the suckers to see where each sucker arises from a root (white arrow). See these shoots have developed their own roots above the main root system? They are becoming independent trees. If we simply cut them at ground level, especially if we do that in spring, each cut produces two or three shoots. Then, one sucker becomes three and the tangle around the trunk becomes totally unmanageable. Instead, we cut each off of the root that developed it. (Removing one with sawaw, at right in thenhoto.)

We trowel away soil from above the roots and between the suckers to see where each sucker arises from a root (white arrow). See these shoots have developed their own roots above the main root system? They are becoming independent trees. If we simply cut them at ground level, especially if we do that in spring, each cut produces two or three shoots. Then, one sucker becomes three and the tangle around the trunk becomes totally unmanageable. Instead, we cut each off of the root that developed it. (Removing one with sawaw, at right in thenhoto.)

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