Leaning Apple tree

Hello All,

I have a 4 year old apple tree, it's planted on a hill in my food forest, which is in a woodland area. The soil mostly seems to be fairly poor but drains well. The tree has been growing slowly but seems overall to be healthy.  The other day I went out into the forest after a pretty windy day and noticed the tree was leaning quite significantly. On inspection it seemed to be quite loose in the ground. I've temporarily tied it up to straighten it out.  I'm just wondering if there's something else I should be doing.  I've posted a few pictures here.

Thank you

It looks good overall! It appears it may have a canker disease or fireblight infection near the roots. Adding some soil over that may help it send out more roots from the healthy parts and hopefully beat the disease. Hope it does well!

Steve

That diseased area looks to be around the graft union, which makes it kind of tough to work with. Steve's suggestion is your easiest pathway to possibly saving the tree, but the disadvantage is that any rooting that takes place above the graft will mean you lose whatever traits that rootstock provides. So you may end up with a tree that tries to get huge without fruiting much, since most rootstocks have dwarfing tendencies.

So take the steps now to keep the tree alive and plan on taking scions from it this winter and grafting on to some rootstock appropriate to your conditions, in case the tree either doesn't make it or goes feral on you. Heap some good topsoil and compost around the base and stake it with at least two, and preferable three posts to keep it from getting snapped off.

Thanks guys. I will look into this.  I do know that the nursery I bought from, only uses standard root stock, not semi dwarf rootstock, as they believe it to be the best thing for our northern climate.   Does that make a difference in this scenario?

If it's what the nursery recommends, then chances are it's better than a self-rooted cultivar. You're in triage territory, so try to save the tree first and then see about grafting onto a fresh rootstock supplied by the nursery. Or you could gently slice off that sucker coming up around the base and pot it up...that gives you something to play with.

Or...if you're in a mood to experiment, try bridge grafting. You will need to stake and secure the top of the tree really well for this to work, but apples are one of the easier trees to save this way. Clean out all the rot in that wound and get a few lengths of vigorous leader from the top of the tree. Trim them to length and then carefully pare away the bark above and below the gap to expose the cambium. Then peel matching areas on the bridge scions to mate with the tree, then tie them in place with twine or grafting tape. If you use twine, then you'll need to cover the whole area with wax to keep out bugs and moisture. Give it a year and then see if it takes.

Michigan State Univ bridge grafting how-to

That healthy sucker could be used for inarching:

UConn how-to on bridge grafting and inarching

Thanks Everyone.

I'll be honest, grafting seems well beyond my skill set!  I have started by adding more soil as suggested and taking some more pictures, before and after.  It does seem that the infection is all below the graft union,  I'm not sure if that is good or bad.  Please let me know what you think.

Thank you!

Hello Again!

I heard back from the nursery,  they have suggested that the damage maybe caused by an apple borer. In which case I would need to dig out the larvae and then wrap the lower part of the trunk in mesh.

What are people's thoughts on that theory?

I do not know about grafting in this case, but first I would firmly stake the tree, so that any new root would be able to grow securely.
Every movement risks tearing the remaining roots, so I would fix it in its current resting position with at least two stakes, without trying to right it up. That can be achieved later with pruning if it does not balance itself after recovering.
Have a nice afternoon,

Richard Terry wrote:Hello Again!

I heard back from the nursery,  they have suggested that the damage maybe caused by an apple borer. In which case I would need to dig out the larvae and then wrap the lower part of the trunk in mesh.

What are people's thoughts on that theory?

Looking at your most recent photos, I think they might be right. I can see at least one batch of frass filling a round entry hole (it's powdery and more orange than the dead wood).

If this is the case, surgical intervention is the best hope for saving the tree. Get a length of thin wire and make a u-shaped hook in the end. Gently clean out the frass in the opening, then poke the wire in as far as you can. If you're successful, when you pull it back out there will be all or part of a grub-like larva on the hook. Repeat for any other tunnels you find.

With the borer gone, you then need to pare away all the rotten wood around the wound. This will give you an idea about how much strength remains in that section of the trunk, and how much living cambium tissue there is to regenerate and grow new wood. My guess is that it's not enough to support the tree and it will still require a sturdy staking and either bridge grafting or inarching to recover. You'll also need to put a paste over the wounds to keep new borers from getting in...they are like a motel sign flashing VACANCY late at night to an egg-laying female.

If it were my tree and I was motivated to save it, I would start by using that healthy sucker coming from the base for an inarch graft. If there is a lot of missing cambium on the opposite side, I would add at least one or two bridging scions there.