Mature Apple tree health question

[Tetters]

The only thing I can add here is - listen to Chuck!! He has advised you so wisely.

I would also add this... if you decide to grow any other trees or shrubs it is always an advantage if you choose much younger specimens.
Plant them in the winter when they are dormant - bare rooted. You can prune them then and shape them the way you want to, and they will establish much more easily. I think younger trees would be comparatively cheaper to buy as well.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks for your help Chuck. Do you think there is no chance of healing the injured limb, when applying special tree wound heal product? It means i need to remove this limb (see picture


I attached a picture of the tree placed in the show garden of the company (early november). As you can see the tree is placed a bit above ground in a special bag it seems. The ball of roots is approx the same size as the one in the picture. The outerbag was removed but a thin piece of burlap remained. I am not sure if it is a grafted tree. I will dig up the tree next Saturday and make another picture of it. If it is grafted how deep should it be planted?

There is a slim chance it will heal and scab over. I have never seen a tree bagged in this manner nor have I seen a bag of this material. A tree naturally grows its root outward and downward and a 10 year old tree would have roots extending at least to the drip line, probably a bit further. This means that either all of the feeder root extending to the drip line were cut OR all of the roots are contained in that small volume of that bag. From the pictures it appears that all of the roots are contained in that fabric but I don't see how a tree could survive 10 years with all of the roots contained in that small of a volume. Did you happen to see how the tree was removed from the ground? So, I have to presume that a tree digging machine was used and, if so, all of the feeder roots and secondary roots were cut leaving a volume of soil and roots equal to that bag shown in the picture. It was then lifted out of the ground and bagged in whatever that white fabric is. In any case it should be removed from that bag and from any other material that may be holding the roots together. It will be a lot of labor digging away the soil all of the way around the tree but this is the only way I know of to get the tree into its forever home. You must dig enough of the soil to be able to remove all of the fabric, even the fabric on the bottom. And while you are doing all of this digging raise the level of the tree to account for any adjustments of being planted too deep. Google root flare and also google tree grafting to get a much better understanding than what I can give you.

 

[Applelover]

There is a slim chance it will heal and scab over. I have never seen a tree bagged in this manner nor have I seen a bag of this material. A tree naturally grows its root outward and downward and a 10 year old tree would have roots extending at least to the drip line, probably a bit further. This means that either all of the feeder root extending to the drip line were cut OR all of the roots are contained in that small volume of that bag. From the pictures it appears that all of the roots are contained in that fabric but I don't see how a tree could survive 10 years with all of the roots contained in that small of a volume. Did you happen to see how the tree was removed from the ground? So, I have to presume that a tree digging machine was used and, if so, all of the feeder roots and secondary roots were cut leaving a volume of soil and roots equal to that bag shown in the picture. It was then lifted out of the ground and bagged in whatever that white fabric is. In any case it should be removed from that bag and from any other material that may be holding the roots together. It will be a lot of labor digging away the soil all of the way around the tree but this is the only way I know of to get the tree into its forever home. You must dig enough of the soil to be able to remove all of the fabric, even the fabric on the bottom. And while you are doing all of this digging raise the level of the tree to account for any adjustments of being planted too deep. Google root flare and also google tree grafting to get a much better understanding than what I can give you.

From what i understand the business i bought it from goes to growers each year and digs trees out it want to resell. I know they use a special excavator for this, but i do not know the exact method. I assume that this goes in a responsible way, since they sell a lot of trees also larger ones.

I am going to call them tomorrow to say that I am very disappointed in the quality of the tree. I bought the tree with warranty, so they have to do something with my complaints. During the call i will also ask how the tree is planted exactly and what the reasoning is behind planting the tree with the burlap still around it.

Thanks for all the help. I learned a lot from this experience and know what to look for when buying trees in te future. I will let you know how this story ends haha. Otherwise i will do my best to try and help heal and grow the tree with the advice from you and tetters.

 

[Tetters]

I`m sure we all look forward to hearing from you some more after you have spoken with them, and we also hope you will stay with us