Selecting a Crabapple Tree
Clean summer foliage is a sign of a disease resistant crabapple
Jul 15, 2006
About twenty years ago, my husband and I planted a garden with our next door neighbors. This garden was designed to cover up a utility box in both of our front yards. Unfortunately, the original homeowners next door sold their house and the subsequent owner hates crabapples more than she hates the utility box. As much as I love the tree in the garden, she hates it. Today, the neighbor is having it cut down.
Knowing this sad day was coming, this week I searched the nursery for a replacement crabapple. The new tree will be on my side of the property line where it will be safe from the chainsaw.
Summer is a good time to research crabapples. Look for trees with clean foliage. Breeders work on developing crabapples that are resistant to the four major diseases:
- Scab will cause foliage to yellow and drop and the fruit to have brown or black spots.
- Fireblight can result in significant damage to the tree causing the stems to blacken and leaves to decline.
- Cedar Apple Rust will create rust spots on the foliage and, occasionally, the tree can become stunted. Cedar apple rust is a problem in locations with native cedars and junipers.
- Mildew is a problem in locations where air circulation is poor.
I have found that these varieties consistently have clean foliage in the summer:
- Camelot is a dwarf variety, matures 10'x8', with green foliage and burgundy fruit. The pink buds open to white flowers. It has excellent disease resistance.
- Firebird has excellent disease resistance in all four categories. It is a smaller tree, 8'x10', with red buds that open to white flowers. Firebird has bright red fruit. The foliage is dark green.
- Prairifire has good to excellent disease resistance. Prairifire has a sprawling canopy, matures 20'x20', with bright rosy red flowers and red green foliage. The fruit is dark red.
- Purple Prince is currently one of my favorite crabapples. The flowers are rosy red, similar to Prairifire, but the canopy is more formal. It also has good to excellent disease resistance. Purple Prince has red green foliage and dark purple fruit.
- Royal Raindrops is a new variety that is holding up well with excellent disease resistance. It has cutleaf foliage, similar in form to Golden Raindrops, but Royal Raindrop's foliage is deep purple and isn't susceptible to fireblight. The spring flowers are bright rosy pink and it has small red fruit. Maturing 20'x15', Royal Raindrops has an upright vase shape form.
- Sargent Tina is a dwarf variety, matures 5'x6', with excellent disease resistance. The red buds open to white flowers. The fruit is red and foliage is green.
A crabapple you will not see on my lists of favorite trees is Spring Snow. This crabapple is sterile, produces no fruit, and has become a favorite of landscape architects. It is used heavily on commercial properties and in planned residential communities. Selecting a different variety for your project will help promote a healthier landscape.
I want a Purple Prince Crab but will probably select a Royal Raindrops for my yard. The narrow vase shape will keep the branches on my side of the property line away from the neighbor's pruners.
Click on Plants and Bulbs for more articles by Susan Mertz.
