Hi O.B.,
I'll try and answer some of your questions.

"O.B." wrote:

Three years ago, we bought a house in north Alabama that had three apple
trees in the backyard. At the time, they were 5 years old and the home
owner said that he had a "few" apples on them. This was in August 2001.

The next year, there were no apples. One tree's leaves wilted and many
of the branches turned black. Thinking it was a disease, I cut off all
the bad limbs. The other two trees grew fine but produced no fruit.

A family member suggested that we prune the trees in the following
winter. So in Spring 2003, we pruned the trees pretty hard.
Unfortunately, we had a late freeze in May and it killed many of the
blossoms (including those on a neighboring peach tree). So the trees
just put on new growth for the entire year, but no fruit.

This year, each tree had only ONE cluster of blossoms. Nothing came of
the two trees. The 3rd (the formerly diseased tree) tree started to put
on fruit and then they withered and died. So again, we are without
fruit. One tree is about 9 feet wide and about 10 feet tall, another is
5 feet wide and 11 feet tall, and the other "diseased" tree is about 2
feet wide and 7 feet tall.


The first requirement is the appearance of blossoms. You may not be
seeing them if the trees are 'full size' trees which can take over 8
years
to produce fruit. If the trees are on any type of dwarfing root stock,
you should see a graft between the ground and the lowest branches.
This will appear as a bulge in the trunk or sudden change in diameter
of the trunk. If they are dwarfed, your time to blossom will be
shorter,
say 3 to 5 years. You may get more blossoms next year.

The second requirement if pollination. If these apple trees are all of
the
same cultivar (i.e. Red Delicious), they won't pollinate each other. You

need an apple tree of another cultivar type. Some Apple cultivars
require
specific other types to be pollinated, but that is less common. If you
have
a decorative crab apple in your yard, that might also do the job, or
something
nearby in a neighbors yard.

Having a peach tree nearby has no affect on the apple trees. Just allow
enough
spacing so that the trees will not grow into each other as they mature.

Depending on the condition of the tree, it is generally on a as needed
basis.
It's a bit complex to describe, but you will find many excellent
references on
the Internet.

Third requirement is tree maintenance. I would use
a slow release fertilizer, like composted manure and mulch, mostly in
the Fall, so the trees will start up with a good boost in the Spring.
You
can give them Miracle Grow, for now. Sometimes a shot of Potassium
will encourage blossoming, but I don't think that is your problem.
Besides watering, feeding, and weeding, you will
want to give one spray of dormant oil in early Spring. Fungicides up to
petal
fall, and Fungicides and Insecticides together and a regular schedule.
Start with
something simple like 'Orchard Spray' and depending on your situation
adjust
your spray schedule accordingly. We spray every 2-3 weeks during the
fruit
growing season. If the general type spray isn't working, try and
identify the
particular pests (visual inspection of fruit or sticky traps), and
consult with a
nursery or extension service for more advise.


Any tips for getting these trees to produce will be appreciated. In
particular, what kinds of fertilizers should we use? Is having a peach
tree nearby a bad idea? How often should one prune the trees?
Pesticides? Etc?

Sherwin Dubren