cliff_the_gardener wrote:
[...]
I have seen trees in a knarled state, which with pruning and
application of Bordeaux mixture made into a paste painted onto the
wounds come back into productive service.
A tree of that age is imposing and it will take time to recover
that
grandure.
[...]
bemuses me because what is a better sight that a fruit tree in
blossom. A good enough reason for planting an apple in my book!
[...]

Hearty agreement here. If you can get a few more productive years out
of a fine old apple tree, it's worth the trouble, maybe even for the
decorative value alone. We used to have one which still looked great
years after falling down and refusing to die!

--
Mike.