American Sweet Crabapple trees

[Bowsnbucks]

Have any of you guys planted / grown any American sweet crabs? I ordered 3 from my county soil conservation district ( along with some serviceberry whips ) to try this spring. They get yellow/green apples about 3/4" to 1" in dia. It's a native crab widely distributed in quite a few states. I read that it's a good pollinator for apples. Is it a good deer draw for anyone that has them?
My camp has none ( yet ), so I'm seeking info from anyone with first-hand experience.

 

[chummer]

I have not yet but cold stream added them to their inventory this year. I have 30 of them sitting in my garden box because they shipped them by mistake in November. They are going in unprotected, planting them in tree tops and hoping for the best.

 

[doublelunger]

I planted 25 American crabapple trees & 25 Dolgo crabapple trees from Alpha Nursery 2 years ago at my house. I have a fence row where I planted Dolgo crabapple and American crabapple every other tree, I put them in tree tubes to protect them from deer, rabbits, mice, etc. and they did really well. Most of the trees are probably 5 to 7 feet tall now. I'll let you know when they start fruiting, I figure I've still got at least another year or two before they start producing any fruit.

 

[deepsleep]

I have posted these photos before (I think), but this is almost certainly an American Crabapple that was on my property when I bought it. It has some CAR spots every year, but otherwise seems to fruit well without any obvious problems. It produces pretty heavy crops of 1 1/2-2" green/yellow apples that fall in late Aug-Sep in my zone (5a/b). The apples smell sweet which is where the name Sweet Crabapple comes from. They certainly don't taste very sweet and are very tannic. The deer have no problems gobbling them up, however.

 

[THunter]

How does it smell when it's blooming?

 

[deepsleep]

How does it smell when it's blooming?

Just like any other apple as far as I can tell. The fact they don't taste good to humans doesn't seem to bother the deer. They lap them up. It will be interesting to see if they prefer some of the sweeter ones when mine come into heavier bearing. I wouldn't base my plantings on them due to the early drop, but just like any of this stuff, diversity is always good.

 

[THunter]

I know NOTHING smells sweeter than a wild Southern Crabapple in bloom.

 

[Native Hunter]

I actually have planted only one of these trees. It's growing well, but I do notice a lot of CAR on the leaves. It has been in the ground about 4-5 years and hasn't fruited yet, but I noticed the other day that it has really grown a lot since it was planted. My guess is that it will produce well someday despite the CAR.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

All info & pix appreciated !! Any more info or pix welcome.