It’s fun to pick apples at an orchard, but it’s even more fun to look for crab apples in your own neighborhood. These small fruits are easy to find, simple to store, and extremely flavorful when used in food dishes.
Don’t believe us? Keep reading to learn more about the unsung heroes of the apple family.
The following excerpt is from The Fruit Forager’s Companion by Sara Bir. It has been adapted for the web.
A crab apple tree is a wonderful addition to any garden or orchard. With beautiful blooms in spring, tasty fruit in fall, and great benefits for pollinators, these trees have a lot to offer. In this article, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about planting, growing, and caring for a crab apple tree.
What Is A Crab Apple Tree?
Crab apples belong to the Malus genus and are closely related to standard apple trees, There are two main types
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Flowering crab apples that produce gorgeous blooms but no or very little edible fruit.
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Fruiting crab apples that produce edible fruit that is smaller than a regular apple, usually around 2 inches wide.
While the fruit is smaller, you can use crab apples just like regular apples for cooking baking and making jelly. The flavor is often more tart than sweet.
Some popular fruiting varieties include Dolgo, Centennial, Whitney, and Chestnut. Popular flowering varieties include Red Jewel, Spring Snow, and Sargent.
Why Grow A Crab Apple Tree?
Here are some of the best reasons to add a crab apple to your landscape:
Decorative Flowers
Crab apples put on a stunning floral display in spring. The blooms come in white pink red, and burgundy. Flowering can last 3-4 weeks, starting earlier than most other fruit trees.
Early Pollen For Bees
The early blooms provide an important food source for honey bees and native pollinators when other flowers have yet to emerge. Planting crab apples helps support bee populations.
Pollinates Other Apple Trees
Crab apples can pollinate regular apple trees, improving fruit set. Just make sure to plant the crab apple within 50 feet of other apple trees.
Compact Size
Unlike full size apple trees, crab apples can thrive in a small garden when grafted onto dwarfing rootstock. Choose a variety that matures at 12 feet tall or less.
Edible Fruit
The ripe fruit may be on the small side but it’s all edible. Crab apples have a tart, robust flavor that makes them perfect for cooking, preserves, and cider.
Choosing A Variety Of Crab Apple
For the best fruit production, select a variety of crab apple that was specifically cultivated for eating. Some top picks include:
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Dolgo – This hardy crab apple adapts well to cold climates. It has bright red fruit about 2 inches wide with great flavor. The blooms are deep pink.
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Chestnut – One of the sweetest crab apples, with a nutty flavor. It has large white flowers and fruits up to 1.5 inches wide.
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Whitney – A great choice for southern gardens. The fruit is red-striped with yellow flesh and ripens early. Good disease resistance.
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Centennial – A popular crab apple with sweet fruit and good disease resistance. White flowers and red fruit under 2 inches wide.
Growing Conditions
Crab apple trees need:
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Full sun – Plant in a spot with at least 6 hours of direct sun daily.
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Well-drained soil – The ideal soil is slightly acidic loam or sandy loam. Avoid soggy sites.
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Moderate water – Water regularly the first year then reduce once established. Mature trees have good drought tolerance.
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Cold winters – Most crab apples need a certain amount of winter chill hours to fruit well. Check zone compatibility.
Planting And Care
You can plant crab apples any time the ground can be worked, except when the tree is bare root which is best done in early spring. Follow these care tips:
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Space standard sized trees 20 feet apart. Dwarf varieties can be spaced closer at 10-15 feet.
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Water the tree deeply right after planting and weekly the first year.
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Apply a 2-4 inch layer of organic mulch around the base to retain moisture. Renew as needed.
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Stake the tree for the first 1-2 years until well anchored.
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Prune only to maintain shape, removing dead or damaged branches.
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Thin crowded branches for good air flow which reduces disease.
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Crab apples may need preventative fungicide sprays for apple scab and other diseases. Check with your local extension office for recommendations.
Pollination Requirements
For the highest fruit production and quality, crab apples should be cross-pollinated by a different compatible crab apple or regular apple variety. Plant another Malus variety within 50 feet that blooms at the same time. Two varieties of the same type, like two Dolgo crab apples, can successfully pollinate each other.
Harvesting Crab Apples
Crab apples ripen in early fall but may hang on the tree for several weeks after ripening. Pick them when they are fully colored but still firm. The fruits have a short shelf life of 1-2 weeks. You can store harvested crab apples in the refrigerator for a bit longer. Common uses for the fruit include:
- Cooking into applesauce
- Making jelly or jam
- Infusing into vinegar
- Pressing into cider
- Dehydrating apple rings
- Canning apple pie filling
Potential Problems
Crab apple trees are susceptible to several issues:
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Scab – Causes black spots on leaves and fruit. Improving air flow helps prevent it.
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Fruit drop – Early drop can be from lack of pollination. Late drop is the fruit maturing.
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Fire blight – Causes blackened, stunted growth. Prune out affected branches.
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Aphids – These small sucking insects can coat branches. Use insecticidal soap.
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Japanese beetles – These metallic beetles skeletonize leaves. Hand pick them off.
With proper care and pruning, crab apple trees are hardy and productive additions to any edible garden. The gorgeous flowers and tasty fruits are well worth the small amount of maintenance these trees require. Plant a crab apple this season and enjoy years of beauty and snacking!
Maintaining Crab Apple Trees
A crab apple tree will happily produce crab apples without any care, but pruning at the right time will keep the trees healthy and in good shape. Last year was a dry summer, and while my favorite fruit trees outside of my property struggled to produce a small amount of their normal crop, there were plenty of crab apples to go around.
So why don’t people fight to get these things? Because they are a pain in the ass. Ten pecks of apples can be picked in the time it takes to pick one peck of crab apples. And obviously you can’t just eat them out of hand. Even desirable crab apples are sour. Since the word “crabby” means a difficult or grumpy person, this sourness is probably where their name comes from. Another idea is that it’s a change from the Scots and northern English word “scrab.” The term crab apple dates from the early fifteenth century.
I am a sucker for underdogs, and so I adore crab apples, but with caveats. Their flesh, when cooked and pureed, is never silky like a good apple applesauce. You need a lot of crab apples to get a good harvest, especially if you want to core and chop their flesh to use in baked goods or chutneys.
How do you know which crab apples to pick when there seem to be so many kinds growing in yards and parks everywhere? It’s easy: if you’re sure it’s a crab apple tree, pick one and bite into it. If you spit it out right away because it’s acrid and impossibly tannic, skip that tree. If it’s sour but also has actual apple flavor and a crisp, not over-firm flesh, it’s got potential. Dark red crab apples are pretty but usually more tannic.
Always round up the time you expect you’ll need to gather any significant amount of crab apples. It can take ages to collect a pound. This is why the people who live in the high-end condos downtown keep seeing me at the crab apple trees that grow between their condos and the riverfront bike path.
In the middle of the day, the trees’ dappled shade is just what I need to relax, and I enjoy watching people ride by on the bike path. Getting a decent amount of crab apples is part of the point, but not all of the point.
In a perfect world, a good tree would drop lots of good fruit all at once. But you need to act quickly to get it before it goes bad.
Crab Apples: Small But Mighty
But someone who is resourceful and finds a tree with bigger, juicier crab apples will never be bored in the fall. Hours and hours of picking and goofy kitchen experimentation await.
The name “crab apple” comes from their small size, not the type of apple they are, because every apple seed is genetically different. For cooking purposes, you should think of crab apples as their own fruit, since you can’t use them the same way you would bigger, more common apples.
Why you should plant a crabapple
FAQ
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