2 years ago I bought an apple tree and its first spring last year had
fruit.
This year it had no blossom and therefore no fruit but plenty of foliage.

It has been fed and watered since planting.

With one thing or another I have neglected this tree and it has a BAD case
of greenfly on the young shoots.

Something has to be done with this tree, either keep it and look after it
or dig it up and start again.

I don't know which variety it is as I have lost the details card which is
unlike me, I always like to keep the cards.

Any advice for me please?

Baz

On 16/08/2011 15:21, Baz wrote:
2 years ago I bought an apple tree and its first spring last year had
fruit.
This year it had no blossom and therefore no fruit but plenty of foliage.

It has been fed and watered since planting.

It will almost certainly fruit again next year then. They go biennial if
you allow them to set too many fruit in one particular year.

With one thing or another I have neglected this tree and it has a BAD case
of greenfly on the young shoots.

Greenfly will be unsightly but won't harm the tree. Even a bad
infestation of woolly aphid can only inconvenience an apple tree.
Spray with a knockdown insecticide or soft soap solution.

Something has to be done with this tree, either keep it and look after it
or dig it up and start again.

Throw some high potash fertiliser on about now and leave well alone.

I don't know which variety it is as I have lost the details card which is
unlike me, I always like to keep the cards.

Any advice for me please?

Modern apple varieties are fairly easily recognised once you have some
fruit to taste and photograph. Leave it alone and be patient.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Martin Brown wrote in
:

On 16/08/2011 15:21, Baz wrote:
2 years ago I bought an apple tree and its first spring last year had
fruit.
This year it had no blossom and therefore no fruit but plenty of
foliage.

It has been fed and watered since planting.

It will almost certainly fruit again next year then. They go biennial
if you allow them to set too many fruit in one particular year.

With one thing or another I have neglected this tree and it has a BAD
case of greenfly on the young shoots.

Greenfly will be unsightly but won't harm the tree. Even a bad
infestation of woolly aphid can only inconvenience an apple tree.
Spray with a knockdown insecticide or soft soap solution.

Something has to be done with this tree, either keep it and look
after it or dig it up and start again.

Throw some high potash fertiliser on about now and leave well alone.

I don't know which variety it is as I have lost the details card
which is unlike me, I always like to keep the cards.

Any advice for me please?

Modern apple varieties are fairly easily recognised once you have some
fruit to taste and photograph. Leave it alone and be patient.

Regards,
Martin Brown


Thankyou Martin,

I will give it some potash and leave well alone.

And prune this winter? What I was going to do is give it a dressing down,
as in taking off a few branches because it has too many.

Thanks again
Baz

May be a bit young to be fruiting off anyway, so don't worry.

Did you prune it? You might have pruned off all the flower buds. Apple varieties vary in where they locate their flowering buds and the strategy of "shorten all branches" can lead to no flowers on some varieties. You need to encourage some shorter side-shoots on such varieties so the tree doesn't get too straggly if, like me, you have one like that. Also I lost some apple blossom this year because the buds were encouraged into an early break out of dormancy in the near frostless Jan and Feb, and then got trashed by some sharp frosts in March. So only small crops for me this year. Trees in many other areas are heavily laden.

On 16/08/2011 16:01, Baz wrote:
Martin wrote in
:

On 16/08/2011 15:21, Baz wrote:

Any advice for me please?

Modern apple varieties are fairly easily recognised once you have some
fruit to taste and photograph. Leave it alone and be patient.


Thankyou Martin,

I will give it some potash and leave well alone.

And prune this winter? What I was going to do is give it a dressing down,
as in taking off a few branches because it has too many.

Young apple tree so cut back according to the standard rules to make an
open goblet shape. Remove the weaker one of any crossing branches,
diseased wood (if any) and spindly branches. Since you don't know if it
is a tip bearer so leave the strongest branches full length this time.
The other way you can get no crop is to cut off all the flowering wood.

Borrow a book on pruning from the library if you are at all nervous
about doing it. RHS has one that is pretty detailed and clear.

Illustrations of where and how to cut and tools to use are easier in
pictures with examples. Real trees never look like the theory!

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Baz" wrote

I will give it some potash and leave well alone.

And prune this winter? What I was going to do is give it a dressing down,
as in taking off a few branches because it has too many.


Sounds Ok but if you don't know the variety it may be a tip bearer and
pruning may cause you not to have any fruit. Cut out a few branches but
don't do any more, certainly don't cut off any ends of branches.
Recently whilst in SW France I was told that Bramleys don't fruit there,
it's a big fruit growing region with huge orchards so no reason they
shouldn't. Asking questions I found out the Bramley had been pruned the same
as their other apple trees and therefor they had cut off the flowering buds.
Still not sure they believed me.

-- Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK