I just moved into a new house in the midwest and am trying to get the
yard under control. I know very little about taking care of trees and
plants, I mostly just mow and trim. So I have some questions about the
yard I hope you can help me with.

There is some type of apple tree in the back yard (small yellow
apples), and it is very bushy around the bottom, it looks like there
are 10 or so 'tree trunks'. There are also branches growing completely
sideways all over, tyring to reach out for sunlight I assume. Should I
be cutting all of these off? I'd like to have the area next to the
tree clear of branches up to 6-7 foot or so, so you can walk all the
way around it. There also seems to be some kind of bush growing right
next to it, or maybe thats still part of the tree. Should I rip all
this out? Pictures he
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/2710/smapple1wz2.jpg
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/8798/smapple2vv7.jpg
I wonder if I should cut most of the tree trunks out and leave the 2-4
'best' ones?

Then there is the tree in the front yard. Its pretty small, maybe 10
feet, and doesn't look very good. Should I cut off some of the
branches on the bottom, to encourage height? It doesn't look like its
shaped right at all. Pic:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/9...onttreeuo9.jpg

Also there is a tree thats close to the house, and in our contract we
had the sellers trim so it wouldn't be touching the house any more. So
they hacked off some pretty large branches (quick & easy I guess), but
it looks like the tree is bleeding where they cut it off:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/3097/smbleed1xz0.jpg
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/66/smbleed2as0.jpg

Should I do something with those? Is the tree at risk of damage now?


OK, then there are some things growing in the back yard that I have no
idea what they are, and I don't know if I should get rid of them or if
its something I might want. They are building a new 4 lane road 100
feet behind my lot, and I will want something between the house and the
road eventually.
this is in a corner of the back yard:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/5...nknown1jv7.jpg
close up of leaves:
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6...loseup1rc6.jpg

Then there's this stuff growing right behind my fence:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/7311/unknown2sd2.jpg
close up:
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/2...closeupbb1.jpg

Thanks a lot for any help!
-Ryan

wrote:

There is some type of apple tree in the back yard (small yellow
apples), and it is very bushy around the bottom, it looks like there
are 10 or so 'tree trunks'. There are also branches growing completely
sideways all over, tyring to reach out for sunlight I assume. Should I
be cutting all of these off? I'd like to have the area next to the
tree clear of branches up to 6-7 foot or so, so you can walk all the
way around it. There also seems to be some kind of bush growing right
next to it, or maybe thats still part of the tree. Should I rip all
this out? Pictures he
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/2710/smapple1wz2.jpg
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/8798/smapple2vv7.jpg

I wonder if I should cut most of the tree trunks out and leave the 2-4
'best' ones?


First I'd want to know if the apples taste good. Doesn't matter if they
are small or buggy, you can deal with that later when the tree is healthy.

I'd try to trim it to one trunk. Not sure if you can get there in one
year; also you'd want to make sure you saved the original trunk if it's
a grafted tree. (Or just save the biggest healthiest trunk and plan on
grafting or budding it if its fruit is lousy.)

The mostly horizontal branches are likely the good ones.

Bob

said:

There is some type of apple tree in the back yard (small yellow
apples), and it is very bushy around the bottom, it looks like there
are 10 or so 'tree trunks'. There are also branches growing completely
sideways all over, tyring to reach out for sunlight I assume. Should I
be cutting all of these off? I'd like to have the area next to the
tree clear of branches up to 6-7 foot or so, so you can walk all the
way around it. There also seems to be some kind of bush growing right
next to it, or maybe thats still part of the tree. Should I rip all
this out? Pictures he
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/2710/smapple1wz2.jpg
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/8798/smapple2vv7.jpg
I wonder if I should cut most of the tree trunks out and leave the 2-4
'best' ones?

I'd rip it out. Most likely the healthiest, strongest stems are from the
rootstock and the ones from the 'named' variety are weaker (propably in the
middle). If you want to grow apples, you're better off getting types you
like grafted onto dwarfing rootstocks and training them properly while
they grow. Inheriting ill-managed standard sized apple trees is, in my
experience, a tempting thing, but ultimately a royal pain. (You end
up with some nice apple wood .)

Then there is the tree in the front yard. Its pretty small, maybe 10
feet, and doesn't look very good. Should I cut off some of the
branches on the bottom, to encourage height? It doesn't look like its
shaped right at all. Pic:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/9...onttreeuo9.jpg

You could trim off some of the lower branches in the fall. And move
those rocks out away from the trunk while you are at it. And give it a
nice soaking. (The grass growing right up around it isn't doing it any
favors.)

Also there is a tree thats close to the house, and in our contract we
had the sellers trim so it wouldn't be touching the house any more. So
they hacked off some pretty large branches (quick & easy I guess), but
it looks like the tree is bleeding where they cut it off:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/3097/smbleed1xz0.jpg
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/66/smbleed2as0.jpg

Should I do something with those? Is the tree at risk of damage now?

Take the whole thing out. It's a mulberry, almost certainly a volunteer that
someone should have pulled out several years ago.


OK, then there are some things growing in the back yard that I have no
idea what they are, and I don't know if I should get rid of them or if
its something I might want. They are building a new 4 lane road 100
feet behind my lot, and I will want something between the house and the
road eventually.
this is in a corner of the back yard:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/5...nknown1jv7.jpg
close up of leaves:
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6...loseup1rc6.jpg

Maybe some sort of elm. I pull a lot of weedy elms out around here.
I would remove that one, too. Evergreens would be a better year-round
screen from road traffic.


Then there's this stuff growing right behind my fence:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/7311/unknown2sd2.jpg
close up:
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/2...closeupbb1.jpg

Look like you may have some sunflowers growing there.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)