What is wrong with apple tree?

[catjac1975]

View attachment 2752 Yes, the leaves look like that.Does this help? It looks like the bark has been rubbed away then healed with tufts of wood sticking out. When I cut the twig it was a dark streak under the bark. What can I do? The one tree is an heirloom that I grafted and I hate to lose it. The other tree is a gift from my daughter but just a Home Depot tree. Thank you for your help. Connie

Any chance that it is deer damage?

 

[ducks4you]

I had my education on pruning when I learned too late that my old apple tree an old peach tree had past it, and partly because I had not pruned them. EVERYBODY told me that apple trees can take a LOT of pruning and come back healthy, so don't be afraid to cut. Like Marshall said, sanitation is the key. Sorry!!! I'm pruning my fruit trees on the day before Easter and my apple trees are a gonna get really scalped because of all of the waterspouts!

 

[catjac1975]

I had my education on pruning when I learned too late that my old apple tree an old peach tree had past it, and partly because I had not pruned them. EVERYBODY told me that apple trees can take a LOT of pruning and come back healthy, so don't be afraid to cut. Like Marshall said, sanitation is the key. Sorry!!! I'm pruning my fruit trees on the day before Easter and my apple trees are a gonna get really scalped because of all of the waterspouts!

They say no more than 1/3 a year in an overgrown tree. Waterspouts don't count in that equation.

 

[baymule]

What's a waterspout?

 

[catjac1975]

What's a waterspout?

The young shoots that come up all over the place on your branches.

 

[thistlebloom]

Watersprouts grow very vertically and rapidly. Sometimes you'll also see them coming out on the side of the trunk. They can be caused by heavy pruning.
They should be removed but sometimes you can use them to form a new branch, they should be trained to grow more horizontally if that's the case.

 

[baymule]

Thanks. I will be on the lookout for any that dare to show up.

 

[Smart Red]

One warning on pruning water sprouts. If you just cut it off the branch, it will re-sprout in doubles. Cut those and you will end up with water sprouts in quadruples. The trick is to dig just a bit of bark from around the sprout base after you cut the sprout off.

 

[thistlebloom]

Also the timing of your cuts makes a difference. If you wait until August you will have less growth hormones present and the tree won't push such exuberant growth.

 

[Nyboy]

Bay water sprouts don't produce fruit. Only horizontal branches produce fruit, so you don't want tree to put energy into growing water sprouts