Revive a Crabapple

[Kane_]

I have seen trees come back after looking real dead so there is always hope.
Particularly with dehydration, plants progressively shut down and drop leaves to save on water use hoping the drought will end before they finally die.

Soak the pot properly then continue care but with better watering habit. Note that it may not need as much water. While there are no leaves to draw water out you only need to replace evaporation.
I generally retain some hope for 2 or 3 months after dehydration as it can take some time for new buds to emerge.

Good luck.

Thank you

 

[Kane_]

Crab apples are tough as nails but are very prone to insect damage. With wire damage, you should be able to see disruption in the cambium of the dead branching, as in a break in the bark. If you don't see that, look for small piles of frass that might indicate borers have been tunneling through the cambium under the bark. Based on this picture... View attachment 437956... the trunk is still alive as you have new growth pushing. While I agree that the wiring isn't helping, excessive and very sloppy (you should take a picture to remind yourself how NOT to wire), taking the wire off now may damage those newly emerging buds, which may represent this tree's only future. If a branch is dry with crispy leaves, it's dead and I'd remove the wire and branch in one go. If the branch is alive with new growth, I'd leave it alone until the new growth has hardened off, then remove the wire

Crab apples are tough as nails but are very prone to insect damage. With wire damage, you should be able to see disruption in the cambium of the dead branching, as in a break in the bark. If you don't see that, look for small piles of frass that might indicate borers have been tunneling through the cambium under the bark. Based on this picture... View attachment 437956... the trunk is still alive as you have new growth pushing. While I agree that the wiring isn't helping, excessive and very sloppy (you should take a picture to remind yourself how NOT to wire), taking the wire off now may damage those newly emerging buds, which may represent this tree's only future. If a branch is dry with crispy leaves, it's dead and I'd remove the wire and branch in one go. If the branch is alive with new growth, I'd leave it alone until the new growth has hardened off, then remove the wire.

Thank you for your reply. I have removed the wire as carefully as I can. All the branches are dark and brittle and without new growth… should i remove them all?

 

[TomB]

Ok, so the soil is a waterlogged mess. Repotting for a crab apple in our climate would normally be around March, when the buds start to move.
Then it will need serious root work as well as repotting into a better substrate.
Until then, try to keep it just slightly moist. I’d raise it up off the bench with a couple of narrow wooden slats. You may want to put it under cover in winter.
I’d ignore the wire for now. The chance of this tree growing sufficiently to scar the bark in the near future is limited. I’d carefully remove it once you have healthy looking new growth. EDIT: I see you’ve removed it. Never mind. I wouldn’t cut anything off until you have strong growth on the live parts.

 

[Dav4]

You can trim away obviously dead branches, but truthfully, the more you fuss over this one, the poorer the prognosis. As @TomB mentioned above, the soil is sodden and this tree is on life support now, and will not need much water unlike what a healthy crab would. Keeping the soil just moist and letting any new growth run freely until fall before trimming away the dead stuff is the safest bet.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Ok, it’s a bit over wet peat based nursery soil. At this point I’d totally agree to chock up one side of the pot and water sparingly.

See what develops over time.

Good luck!
DSD sends

 

[penumbra]

The wire was apparently placed on the tree at least 3-4 months ago which tells me, unless the wire is actually cutting into the bark, the damage is done and removing the wire at this point wouldn't help and would potentially be counter productive as any manipulation could damage new budding or fragile new root growth in a compromised root system. Sometimes the best path forward is to do nothing...

Interesting thoughts, but all the more reason I would remove the wire now. I feel it has done its job and now it has nothing to add but stress. I can't understand the timidity of leaving this wire on the tree and it is not going to get easier to do as time passes. I know I could very easily remove this wire and have had opportunities to remove wire that is much worse. In the case of this poor tree, there is soooo much wire on it. It needs good sun but I would not like to think about all of that heavy metal wire baking in the sun.
Honestly, I wish this crab was in my hands now.
I am going to be rooting for its survival.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Great point @penumbra !

…as a plus sunlight on the trunk with hasten bud formation.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[rapax24]

Hi mate.
Got myself one of these on eBay from the same seller as it was a bargain for what pencil thick crabapples are going around.and mine had very little of the aluminium wire on.
The bad news is that mine, was actually a beautiful pink flowering quince (chaenomeles of some sort) and not a crabapple as advertised and I am convinced yours is the same.
Telltale is the different leaf or flowers now that you have seen it in leaf. The flower buds are very different too.
Not sure whether with people's tips for reviving it.
Can post a photo tomorrow if it helps

 

[penumbra]

Hi mate.
Got myself one of these on eBay from the same seller as it was a bargain for what pencil thick crabapples are going around.and mine had very little of the aluminium wire on.
The bad news is that mine, was actually a beautiful pink flowering quince (chaenomeles of some sort) and not a crabapple as advertised and I am convinced yours is the same.
Telltale is the different leaf or flowers now that you have seen it in leaf. The flower buds are very different too.
Not sure whether with people's tips for reviving it.
Can post a photo tomorrow if it helps

Good catch friend. The rest of us were debating the Crabapple because we were absorbed with the wire. Turns out you are right about the mislabeling of this quince.

 

[Dav4]

Hi mate.
Got myself one of these on eBay from the same seller as it was a bargain for what pencil thick crabapples are going around.and mine had very little of the aluminium wire on.
The bad news is that mine, was actually a beautiful pink flowering quince (chaenomeles of some sort) and not a crabapple as advertised and I am convinced yours is the same.
Telltale is the different leaf or flowers now that you have seen it in leaf. The flower buds are very different too.
Not sure whether with people's tips for reviving it.
Can post a photo tomorrow if it helps

I thought the new growth was a bit off for a crab... spot on for quince, though. Anyway, regardless of species- quince and crabapples are both in the rose family, fwiw- letting it recover now with careful watering and sunshine what I'd want.

 

[Kane_]

So this is the tree a few weeks later.

the shoots around the lower trunk still seem to be ok but I’m not sure there much hope for the branching.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Likely there may be a bit more budding to come, yet it seems you are right… the upper regions were likely stressed too much when bending. The tree is still alive though, so you now have the chance to rebuild in from the gitgo!

cheers
DSD sends

 

[Kane_]

Likely there may be a bit more budding to come, yet it seems you are right… the upper regions were likely stressed too much when bending. The tree is still alive though, so you now have the chance to rebuild in from the gitgo!

cheers
DSD sends

Thank you.

what do you think the best course of action is for the upper regions? Remove them now or wait?

 

[Potawatomi13]

Removing wire now will likely damage/kill several new sprouts. IMO leave until new sprouts hardened off. Was there hard freeze after growth started?

 

[Kane_]

Wire was remove a few weeks ago.
No, i think it was dehydration.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

I’d leave the branching for a couple weeks, it can’t hurt anything.

Once past that time prune an inch at a time, looking for green up to 1/2” of the top leaves. At that point stop and cut paste.

cheers
DSD

 

[Kane_]

I’d leave the branching for a couple weeks, it can’t hurt anything.

Once past that time prune an inch at a time, looking for green up to 1/2” of the top leaves. At that point stop and cut paste.

cheers
DSD

Thanks for your help

 

[Kane_]

An update…
Chopped back quite drastically.
Seems to be doing ok…

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Good sign! Be mindful of it for the next month and in any heatand all should turn out ok.

It’s pretty hard to kill a crab, I actually done it one time with an Uberly enthusiastic reduction of the roots after a reduction in the top hamper four month before. Haven’t done it since. Lesson learned… every tree has its limits even one with the crabs reputation for invincibility

I wish I could say that was planned… searching for the outer limits of durability! Not

cheers
DSD sends

 

[Kane_]

I guessed something like this would happen at some point. I’m lucky I chose i hardy tree to mess up with… this time.

thanks for all the advice