Those apples look nice. How about some pictures of the tree?

Anita:

Could you give us a hint as to what apple variety this is, if you know it? Otherwise, we might get another of our guessing games going here, which can be kind of fun, but often inconclusive.

When you say the tree was sprayed only twice for "rust" are you talking about cedar apple rust? Or scab or something else entirely? What chemical did you apply, if it was a chemical, and roughly when did you do it during the past season?

In my climate and conditions, it would be very difficult to raise apples to maturity without some kind of protection from insect damage, either spraying, bagging, or both. You must be located in an area where pests like plum curculio, codling moth, and apple maggot are uncommon or for some reason not present at all. Where, exactly, is this marvelous area?

Other than sweet, is there anything you can add to the flavor description of these apples? Are they very crisp and crunchy inside? They seem to have a touch of russeting, which is not a bad thing, but they do not seem to have colored up much during ripening. Is your tree heavily crowded with branches, keeping sunlight off the fruit? If so, you are certainly doing the right thing by having it pruned.

Given your zone location, my guess on variety would be something like McIntosh, but only because it is commonly planted. Those apples look a little too long to be Macs, which would normally have more overall red color in a cool climate zone.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Hi Don and Murky, thanks for writing. I don't know what variety this is. I imagine it's quite an old tree. Where my house stands was part of a farm at one time and my next door neighbor has an apple tree as well so this may have been an orchard. This area of New York has many orchards so no, it's not some magical place!! I guess I may be lucky that my tree thrives on benign neglect.

I posted a photo here once, years ago, of my tree and someone told me that it is the ugliest apple tree he'd ever seen. So I didn't come running back here feeling all warm and fuzzy!! But I'm being brave and posting photos of my tree, which I know is not a great shape for an apple tree, but as I said I have arranged to have it pruned this winter by an arborist.

Ok, so, I did not spray this tree myself. I have an arborist come and it appears from the receipt that I dug up that they sprayed horticultural oil and fungicide. The receipt says apple cedar rust and scab. That is the only thing that has been done to this tree. Last year I hung up some traps for moths but I caught NOTHING so this year I didn't bother. The last time I had this many large ripe apples was probably 5 years ago. Every year there are some but not usually this bountiful. The yard cart that you see in my photo is being filled for the second time with apples that have fallen. I remove them asap because of the deer.

Last of all, I cut one open and observed. Juices run out when I cut into it. It is crisp. It almost tastes like a sweet version of a granny. It's got that nice texture, not like a mac. The man at the local farm market guessed Baldwin but who knows. Ok here are the photos, and if you have any suggestions besides a good pruning, i'm here to learn! Thank you

{{gwi:124898}}

{{gwi:124899}}

{{gwi:124900}}

{{gwi:124901}}

Anita:

Aha, Baldwin. Your farm market guy may be right. This old apple originated somewhere close to you, and was widely planted throughout the northeast and even the midwest and Ohio valley.

I wouldn't be too ashamed of that apple tree. It looks like a normal tree no more than about 15 years old on a semi-dwarfing rootstock. That's what central leader trees begin to look like without regular pruning. It would be nice to get it down to a level where you could actually pick the apples safely from a ladder, since once they fall the deer seem to be doing a job on them. I would probably prune in summer to reduce the upward vigor of the tree. If you call in the pros to prune in the dormant season, it will really explode in bushy growth next spring, which is not what you want.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Oh no, I shouldn't prune in winter? Now I'm confused. i thought that is when it's supposed to be done. Is it too late to do now?

I'm not able to answer your question about pruning, as i'm learning myself. However ...

Shame shame on the grump who said it's an ugly apple tree! It's charming even now, and i can tell your going to love it to its full glory ... good for you!

Anita:

I am not saying you cannot prune in winter. However, pruning in the dormant season does result in a burst of vegetative growth the following spring and summer, and if you want to maximize fruiting of a tree it is best to avoid that. This topic has been discussed at length on this forum for at least the past 2-3 years that I know of. There is nothing to be confused about. Dormant pruning invigorates a tree.

I have found summer pruning is best done in the month of August. October is fall. If you were to prune now, you might still get some growth control benefit, but not as much as if done earlier. It would have been nice to do a little branch spreading on this tree a few years ago, but it may be a little late for that now, as the branch structure is pretty well set. Still in all, not a bad looking tree, and fairly productive.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Hi Don, shoot I was trying to coordinate the pruning with all the other ornamental prunings that need to be done. Would you suggest skipping the winter pruning of this tree altogether this winter or have it pruned and then again next summer? It needs quite alot of work, I think, but I could wait and just have the other trees pruned over the winter if it would be better. I guess that would mean losing lots of apples if it has apples next summer.

Also the Baldwin apples I see photos of are much rounder and redder than mine. I doubt if that's what it is. Are there apple experts that might give me a close guess if I could bring an apple for examination? My cooperative extension was no help! Thanks again for writing.

Anita, you might want to look at this web site to ID your apple: The Apples of New York

Gene, thank you for the website.