Topic: A poorly apple tree

[MindBodyandSoil]

A little help please? I have an apple tree which has apparently been in place for many years. The main trunk has gone "crumbly", and is hollow, but it has small 'branches' coming up from the ground around the crumbling trunk. Is there anything I can do, will the whole thing die? I can do vegetables and fruit bushes etc, but poorly trees are new to me!

[Robert_Brenchley]

It sounds as though your tree is at the end of its life, and if the suckers are coming from the ground not the trunk, then if it's a graft they're coming from the rootstock, and won't be the same variety. If you're desperate to preserve that specific variety, the only way is to bud it onto a new rootstock, which is quite a skilled operation. Otherwise, prepare to replace it.

[MindBodyandSoil]

Thanks. Not too worried about variety as i never knew what variety it was to begin with. The new "grafts" as you call them are already starting to bud quite heavily so i'm assuming they'll fruit this year? Only thing is they appear to be Quite weak and bendy.

[Robert_Brenchley]

The buds may well just produce leaves, but wait and see. If the tree's in the state you describe, I'd suggest looking around over the summer, finding a replacement, and planting it elsewhere in the garden. By the time the original one dies, the replacement may well be cropping reasonably.