Lending Support to Apple Trees
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you know that on my farm, there are some rather old apple trees, which I simply love. Two, in particular, are in clear view from the terrace of my house, and I have photographed these craggy specimens many, many times. I like to think that Mrs. Sharp, who owned the farm before I did, enjoyed the crisp juicy apples that these trees bear as much as I do. I asked my arborist, Ralph Robbins from SavATree, if he could determine the age of the trees. Based on their size and how long Mrs. Sharp lived there, he guessed that they’re about sixty-years old, which is quite old for a fruit tree! A couple of weeks ago, the trees underwent their winter pruning and it was discovered that a couple of large limbs had some pretty bad breaks. Rather than cutting them off, the limbs were propped up with supports and we will hope for the best.
1 This stand of craggy apple trees is original to the property. The trees look nice and neat, following a good winter pruning. However, after pruning, it was discovered a couple of trees had some badly cracked limbs, which would need to be propped up.
2 These cracks occurred during last October's surprise snow storm, which came when so many trees still had most of their leaves, including these apples.
3 So many trees were broken or toppled because of the heaviness of the snow.
4 Arborists from SavATree http://www.savatree.com/ did a great job pruning. It's important to prune during winter, while the tree is dormant. Winter pruning invigorates the tree, causing it to grow more during the following season.
5 When pruning, it's important to know what and how to cut. You want an equal balance of side shoots produced this year and side shoots produced last year. This will provide a crop of apples in the current year and ample shoots for next year's crop. Upward and downward whips are removed.
6 Pruners must be very, very sharp to get good, clean cuts, which will scar over nicely.
7 To prop up the damaged apple trees, Ryan and Wilmer drove into the back woods, looking for just the right tree limbs to use as supports.
8 Here is Ryan carrying a support from the Kawasaki Mule to the stand of apple trees.
9 He chose these supports because of their strong 'V' notch.
10 Here, Wilmer surveys the crack to determine the best place to position the support.
11 Putting the support into position, he determines how much will have to come off the bottom.
12 Using a chainsaw to remove the excess
13 Because this is a major crack, Wilmer asked Ryan what he thought about where best to position the support so that it would close up the crack for the most effectiveness.
14 Ryan made a slight adjustment.
15 To help keep the support propped, Ryan brought some flat stones to use as a base.
16 Wilmer easily dug a shallow hole in the loamy soil beneath the tree.
17 A flat stone was placed in the hole and buried.
18 The support was then positioned over the base stone.
19 The stone will also prevent the limb from sinking into that loamy soil.
20 Carefully propping up the broken limb
21 Checking the base again
22 Shoulder press, Ryan!
23 New hope for this big old limb
24 This tree received two supports that day. Upright supports, like these, made from tree branches blend right in and actually look like trees, themselves.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
Good morning Martha!
It is so interesting to see what all you do for your plants. Will the limbs mend eventually and the supports removed?
Posted by: Julie | March 26th, 2012 at 7:08 am
The tree branch supports do look very natural and blend in nicely. I hope it works and the branches of your apple trees are saved!
Posted by: Cindy F | March 26th, 2012 at 7:49 am
Hi Martha,
I love seeing those old apple trees. Imagine all the different types of weather conditions they have endured over the years. Amazing. I hope the supports help the trees.
Karen
Posted by: Karen Tracy | March 26th, 2012 at 8:38 am
Your apple trees and their soon to be blossoms are beautiful and these pcitures do show wonderful techniques. Corrine has the best varieties of apples and gives me more than I can use so do not miss the ones that I cut down here. Just could not give them care nor use all the fruit so yard is more beautiful without them now..
Posted by: ann | March 26th, 2012 at 9:57 am
60 year old apple trees... around the time Queen Victoria was crowned. Interesting to note Brits are being encouraged to plant apple trees for the Queens Diamond Jubilee. Maybe these ones were also planted to honour the Queen?
A bit heartbreaking to see the damage. I will send them white light energy to help them heal.
Posted by: Rachel | March 26th, 2012 at 9:59 am
Hi Martha,
I hope the branches will be okay propped up. It’s too bad no one noticed them back in October though after the storm. I had cracked branches on my honey bell orange tree and only noticed it when my orange crop began looking sparse on the upper branches. We had to cut those broken branches off and do some more pruning which helped immensely for a few years until, as I’ve said before, we lost the tree in the last hurricane.
~
Have a fun time down here in Florida at the Macy’s Chili Cook-Off and the Pillsbury Bake-Off. I wish I could drive up to Orlando and catch you at Macy’s. I read you would be signing books and showing your colorful enameled cast iron round casserole pots. That was a cute ad with the firemen and their chili cooked in your pots: http://pitchengine.com/macys/join-macys-martha-stewart-and-the-firefighters-of-orlando-for-the-ultimate-chili-cookoff The weather is beautiful! Trish
Posted by: Trish | March 26th, 2012 at 10:30 am
Hi Martha, I have been reading and enjoying your fantastic blog posting every day and seeing those wonderful old apple trees has been the greatest! How awesome that Ralph Robbins estimated that they were 60 years old and still producing delicious apples! I have a beautiful little pear tree that is about 57 years old and still producing delicious pears! I also recall the beautiful apple trees you had at Turkey Hill and enjoyed seeing them pruned on your original TV Shows! Those huge cracks on your Bedford farm apple trees hopefully will improve now that Ryan and Wilmer have set the branches up terrifically with those interesting 'v' shaped notches to support the cracked branches! It is so great to learn about pruning and fixing trees on your farm! I love these photos of that great process! Hope you are having fun in Orlando and can't wait to see more tweets about that trip-have a great day! Off to see what kind of flowers Francesca and Sharkey find at the farm! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | March 26th, 2012 at 10:37 am
You are very smart, Martha, about your apple trees. I enjoyed learning with this round of pictures.
Posted by: Brenda Knowlton | March 26th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Martha,
I hope the trees are okay. Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | March 26th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Hi Martha,
Yes, those apple trees are one of the features of your farm that I most love to see in your photos. We had a similar storm here in Buffalo, NY a few years back that produced just such damage as you have shown. We lost many irreplaceable trees in the Omstead designed parks. One of our trees sustained a large crack, and our neighbor suggested supporting the limb to see if it would heal. Unfortunately, without your wonderful advice, especially your rock support under the supporting limb technique, our experiment failed. I do think that there is hope that your trees will heal, however. Thanks again for all your tips.
Posted by: Lee | March 26th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
I love your craggy old apple trees. Looks like Ryan and Wilmer have done a good job on restoration...let's hope you are rewarded with many bushels of apples.
Posted by: sherey | March 26th, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Hi!
)
I'm thinking about great shade of these apple trees in the summer! It's fantastic to lie under them and maybe to experience gravity like newton!
My father has a grape garden in my hometown in northwest of Iran, and it has a big apple tree too! but I couldn't go there for about 2 years!
Posted by: Offside | March 26th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
.
A Tale of Old Apple Trees
.
After having stood the test of time for many moons,
A pesky snow storm, last October, left us many wounds.
Even though saveatree professionals pruned us properly;
It's imperative the scars heal quickly, dont you see?
In summer, within our fence, the world is serene with bees aplenty.
The farm has charm all its own, everything is treated gently.
Even our broken boughs were carefully supported with braces.
So when our bounty of apples appears we can see their pretty faces.
And once again, we are part of the whole wonderful scheme.
Touching each other, bending with the wind, part of the dream.
.
.
how lovely to sit beneath and listen to their whispers.
aaks
.
Posted by: celia stock | March 26th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
I LOVE YOUR OLD CRAGGY OLD APPLE TREES WE HAD SOME A LONG TIME AGO I HOPE THEY DO GOOD WHEN THEY BLOOM THEY ARE VERY PRETTY AND I JUST LIKE TO TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE A VERY WONDERFUL PERSON I WATCH YOU EVERY CHANCE I GOT THINK FOR ALL THE GOOD TIP
Posted by: GENEVA E GLOVER MARCH 26, 2012 AT 8.26 | March 26th, 2012 at 8:48 pm
The apple trees are very beautiful and at an impressive age. It's a shame that some of the boughs are cracked, but what a great idea to try to save them! I'm guessing that the idea is to have the pieces fused together in time. Using broken branches as a prop...it's a good thing. (Had to say it.) It all blends together beautifully. Everything at your farm gets wonderful care. Good luck with your trees!
Posted by: Judy | March 27th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
After searching for years on a good way to get rid of closet odors, I discovered that putting an unwrapped yankee candle (small size) on the floor of the closet keeps it fragrant for weeks and weeks. It does not effect the clothes.
Posted by: marilyn kessler | March 28th, 2012 at 7:07 am
Sounds like your going to have to ask him to start saving some seeds from the apples to get some more going...
Posted by: Shannon Turner | March 29th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Martha, Great to see those apple trees in such good shape. I ate quite few of Mrs. Sharp's apples growing up on Jay Street. There was an old German lady down the street who made wonderful apple butter.
Posted by: John McGrath | May 13th, 2012 at 6:14 pm