Grouse and Crabapples

[b116757]

Well my brother sent me scion from his tree he collected last week they are very far north and the buds are still tight the scions where of scetchy quality however I got 5 grafts here in the yard from what he sent me I really really hope at least one of them takes I very much want a start from that tree.

 

[bigboreblr]

I've been very happy with my orders from Yellow River. I use their red splendor and dolgo crabapples as rootstock for grafting. If a graft fails, I usually just plant the rootstock since dolgo is a great deer tree and red splendor is a great grouse/pheasant tree.

What do you see for bloom time and drop times from red splendor? Tree see any disease or binennial activity?

I want to focus on getting oak introduced to camp and get some successful dogwood going. Red doesn't take off well there, it gets winter dieback like every other year.

$4.10 for some rootstock material isn't that horrible either. IF I do any more apple trees in 2026, it'll be adirondack and other bird crabs only.

 

[b116757]

What do you see for bloom time and drop times from red splendor? Tree see any disease or binennial activity?

I want to focus on getting oak introduced to camp and get some successful dogwood going. Red doesn't take off well there, it gets winter dieback like every other year.

$4.10 for some rootstock material isn't that horrible either. IF I do any more apple trees in 2026, it'll be adirondack and other bird crabs only.

I’m becoming much more interested in crabs myself they are just way tougher little trees.

 

[bigboreblr]

I’m becoming much more interested in crabs myself they are just way tougher little trees.

I drive through lot of country on my way to work. I also drive to alot of remote sites in rural NY. See deer hit those little bird crabs right alongside turkeys, songbirds, rabbits, even racoons and possums.

A mix of apples and crabs is good. From what I am seeing of crabapples, they leaf out sooner that people apples. A few people apples might save a late frost from being a total wash for a year. Almost any variety that is crabapple based as been in some state of bud swell of leaf out now. With exception to liberty, all my apples trees are bloom groups 3 and 4. Some are swelling a bit, but many look asleep still.

My home was a apple orchard before the house was built. The remaining mature trees seemed ot be the same kind. Some years I'd have like no fruit from frosts.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I drive through lot of country on my way to work. I also drive to alot of remote sites in rural NY. See deer hit those little bird crabs right alongside turkeys, songbirds, rabbits, even racoons and possums.

I've driven through many areas of N.Y. state over the years. I'm amazed at the numbers of wild / neglected apple and crab apple trees scattered in the countryside there.

 

[b116757]

That’s the way it is where I grew up in northern Wisconsin apple trees everywhere.

 

[bigboreblr]

Hudson Valley NY was a mecca for apple orchards. Then sugar came in force and corn syrup. Kinda hard to see new home or homeowers destroy apple trees.

My black live matter activist/artist barely neighbor from NYC cut down about 10 apple trees in his frontyard. If he uses those pronouns........ He has suffered bad juju. Past 2 things the landscaper has replaced with it has died.

 

[Pine Lake]

Siberian crabapple with fruit around 1/2" - or most ornamental crabapples if you want a specific look will provide fruit attractive to grouse. My parent's have a pair of siberian crabapple on the edge of the yard, and throughout my childhood grouse would set up shop in those trees during the winter months. They also scrounged around the highbush cranberry in the yard.

In my yard I planted birch, hawthorn, and ornamental crab (gladiator rosybloom) for bird food. I've got some sea buckthorn on the way as well, so we'll see what thay pulls in over the next few years.

 

[bigboreblr]

Siberian crabapple with fruit around 1/2" - or most ornamental crabapples if you want a specific look will provide fruit attractive to grouse. My parent's have a pair of siberian crabapple on the edge of the yard, and throughout my childhood grouse would set up shop in those trees during the winter months. They also scrounged around the highbush cranberry in the yard.

In my yard I planted birch, hawthorn, and ornamental crab (gladiator rosybloom) for bird food. I've got some sea buckthorn on the way as well, so we'll see what thay pulls in over the next few years.

You recall how tall the tree is and when the crabs would drop? Whatever grafts on siberian do not take this year, I will be leaving the tree as is.

Anybody see a place with a reasonably priced adirondack crabapple? SLN has them for $35. Prefer some small seedlings like $5 each kinda of thing. Chief river might get some of my money next year with red splendor.

 

[Pine Lake]

You recall how tall the tree is and when the crabs would drop? Whatever grafts on siberian do not take this year, I will be leaving the tree as is.

Anybody see a place with a reasonably priced adirondack crabapple? SLN has them for $35. Prefer some small seedlings like $5 each kinda of thing. Chief river might get some of my money next year with red splendor.

Their siberian crabs are approx 20-25 feet tall. They are in a faily rough spot, on the wetter side in spring, open to the prevailing north wind all winter, covered to the south. I'm surprised they've survived just fine, albeit maybe a bit shorter than their max potential.

Most of the apples hold on through our Canadian winter. The grouse would just land in the trees, fluff up, and pick off small crabapples.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

What do you see for bloom time and drop times from red splendor? Tree see any disease or binennial activity?

I want to focus on getting oak introduced to camp and get some successful dogwood going. Red doesn't take off well there, it gets winter dieback like every other year.

$4.10 for some rootstock material isn't that horrible either. IF I do any more apple trees in 2026, it'll be adirondack and other bird crabs only.

I don't really pay attention to bloom times, but they seem to produce fruit annually with no obvious disease problem. The fruit tends to hold on the free all winter until birds eventually eat it from the tree.

i should mention though that there is some variety in fruit size and drop times with seedling trees. Most of the red splendor crrabapple trees produce fruit about 3/8" in diameter that holds on the tree all year. I've also had a few seedling trees that produce larger fruit that drops earlier in the fall, but those are abnormal in my experience.