Crabapple Trees For Landscapes A Guide To Common Crabapple Varieties

What is the best crabapple tree?

There are scores of good choices, including the weeping, pink-flowered 'Louisa,' which has yellow fruits; 'Adirondack,' with its orange-red fruits and white flowers; 'Red Jewel,' with white flowers and bright red fruits; and the red-flowered 'Prairiefire,' which has maroon fruits and purple-green foliage.

How many varieties of crab apples are there?

Crabapple branches drenched in white, pink or red blossoms are a strong enticement to go out and buy one of these trees. First, however, put a little thought into which variety you plant. There are about 900 varieties on the market, and planting a crabapple is a decision that lasts for decades.

Do crabapple trees grow fast?

Some crab apple trees grow faster than others. Ornamental varieties like Purple Prince (purple foliage) and Red Jewel are considered faster growing than others. Generally speaking, you can expect one of these trees to grow one-to-two feet per year.

Do you need two crabapple trees?

Do you need two crabapple trees to produce fruit? Yes, all apple trees need a suitable pollinator to set fruit, and crabapples are no different. There are certain varieties of crabapple that do not produce fruit, but all of the cultivars that do need cross pollinators.

What can I plant around a crabapple tree?

Underplant your crabapples with low-growing plants such as Periwinkle (Vinca minor), Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus), and Liriope. Small Violas, Creeping Veronica, Creeping Phlox can also create very fine color combinations.

How much space does a crabapple tree need?

Grouping Crabapple Trees

Space the saplings between 6 and 15 feet apart. Use the closer spacing for narrow varieties and dwarf cultivars.

What is a crab apple good for?

Crabapples are an excellent source of vitamin C, which our bodies need for a strong immune system. While eating crabapples won't guarantee a healthy body, the nutrients and vitamins will help your body fight off illness.

Are there poisonous crab apples?

Are Crabapples Toxic? The flesh of the crabapple itself doesn't have any toxicity associated with it. However, like its cousin the apple, the seeds do contain cyanogenic glycosides, also known as cyanide! Simply avoid eating the seed, the stem, and the leaves and you should be just fine, like eating any other apple.

How big are crab apples?

For instance, a crab apple can range from 3/4 of an inch (2 cm) to 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter, while a medium-sized apple is about 3 inches (8 cm) in size (5).

What is the lifespan of a crabapple tree?

The crabapple tree is considered a long-living deciduous fruit tree. Trees that live past 40 years begin to show a decline in flowering, fruit production and new growth. A few crabapples have been noted to live up to 70 years.

When should I plant a crabapple tree?

Planting Time: You can plant crabapples most any time the soil is workable. Bare-root trees need to be planted in early spring, but balled and burlapped or container grown trees can be planted in spring, summer, or fall.

Are Crabapple berries poisonous to dogs?

The fact is that – YES – crabapples are toxic to dogs. ... In a crabapple, only the seeds are considered toxic. The seeds, which are also called pips, contain a poisonous chemical called amygdalin. Amygdalin turns into cyanide in your dog's body and causes cyanide poisoning.

Do crabapple trees have deep roots?

The root system of a mature crabapple tree is neither aggressive nor invasive. Crabapple roots are not known to break or grow through home or building foundations unless the foundation is already cracked or leaking. Crabapple roots are generally surface roots, with a few sections that penetrate deep into the soil.

Can you leave crab apples on the ground?

Crab apple (Malus spp.) ... Some species can hold the fruit into winter, but the fruits from most crab apple trees eventually drop to the ground where they make an obstructive mess. Rather than leave them to rot on the ground, you can remove them to maintain a neatly manicured lawn.

Do crabapple trees need a lot of water?

Crabapple trees need about 1 inch of water every week during their first year. ... Established crabapple trees don't require irrigation except for drought conditions. Crabapple trees are pretty tough and usually don't require fertilizing the soil if you have planted the tree in good soil.

Does Crabapple grow in shade?

Plant crabapples in full sun and where other nearby trees will not shade them excessively. Crabapples flower and fruit best in full sun, but can tolerate light shade. Where excessively shaded, crabapples become more open, flower and fruit less, and experience more problems with powdery mildew.

Do crabapples need full sun?

How to Plant a Crabapple Tree. Choose a location in full sun with well-drained soil. Trees that are shaded develop an open canopy instead of a more attractive, dense growth habit. Shaded trees produce fewer flowers and fruit, and they are more susceptible to disease.

What is the smallest crabapple tree?

Cinderella® – The smallest of the series, Cinderella® is a petite selection with an extremely compact and upright habit. Tiny red buds open to white flowers. It has attractive, deeply lobed foliage and abundant gold fruit in the fall. It is excellent as a top graft because of its small size; a perfect patio tree.

Are crabapple trees messy?

Crabapple trees provide beauty in the spring but a mess in the fall once the fruit drops. ... During the summer months, a tree can throw shade and reduce air conditioning costs.

What month are crab apples ripe?

Crab apples typically appear on the tree in summer and ripen in fall, but the best time to pick them is winter! Freezing temperatures make the crab apples soft and sweet, so they taste better when it's cold outside. Alternately, you could pick them when ripe in fall and stick them in your freezer for a couple days.

Why are they called crab apples?

This sourness is presumably the root of their name, given that crabby connotes a difficult or grouchy person, though another theory is that it's an alteration of Scots and northern English scrab. The term crab apple dates from the early fifteenth century.

Can you make cider from crab apples?

Crab apples, the original wild form of the tree, do not make good cider on their own, but can be added to other apples if you need extra tannin. It is said, not without reason, that to make cider you simply squeeze apple juice into a container, cover it and wait.