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When to Prune a Crabapple Tree

Hundreds of different cultivars of crabapple (Malus spp.) exist for gardeners to grow as trees that provide springtime flowers, summertime shade and colorful tiny fruits for songbirds in fall. Crabapples require the same growing conditions as apple trees, and are susceptible to the same diseases and issues associated with edible apple trees. The best time for any pruning maintenance on crabapple trees is between late winter and late spring.

  1. Pruning Time Frame

    • Typically, gardeners follow the rule of pruning trees in late winter to early spring when the trees are dormant, just before new growth begins. This is applicable to crabapples, but pruning in early spring means you remove branches that will produce the ornamental flowers. A better way to schedule pruning with flowering crabapples is to prune immediately after spring flowering ends, which varies between mid to late spring depending on cultivar and geographic location.

    Reasons to Prune

    • Dead, damaged or broken branches are best removed as soon as you notice them, any time of year. Ridding the tree of these undesirable parts improves plant health, since you help prevent rot and the spread of disease across the tree. Pruning creates smaller wounds that are quicker to callus and heal than a larger damaged branch would be. Structural pruning addresses issues involving branches growing into a building facade or blocking a walkway, along with removing rubbing, inward-growing or narrow-angled branches. Strongest branches occur where the angle formed in the crotch is between 45 and 60 degrees.

    Pruning Tips

    • Hand pruners easily cut crabapple twigs less than 1/2 inch in diameter.

      Always use a sharp-bladed pruning tool, as these leave the cleanest, smallest wound on tree branches. For branches and twigs less than 3/4-inch in diameter, use hand pruners. On branches larger than 3/4-inch, use loppers or a pruning saw. When pruning a crabapple, make the cuts 1/4 to 1/2 inch above a lower branch junction, leaf or dormant bud. It's best to create as little damage as possible, especially to the bark, when removing branches that connect to the main tree trunk. If you are pruning away tissues you think are diseased, rinse the pruning blades with rubbing alcohol to sterilize them before continuing to prune on healthy branches.

    Concerns

    • Crabapples bloom in spring, but flower buds for next year form by fall.

      Crabapples demonstrate varying resilience to fungal and other diseases. Open, moist pruning wounds are a means for spores, bacteria and even insects to find a way into the tree to cause problems. Therefore, prune as early in the growing season as possible, but definitely before humidity or rains increase in late spring and summer. Crabapple trees also develop the initial flower bud tissues on their branches from mid- to late summer. Pruning after midsummer, for any reason, removes tissues that yield flowers on branches and twigs next spring. Any root suckers or leggy sprouts that rise on the trunk or basal root flare can be pruned as needed to keep the tree looking tidy.

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