There are a number of factors that cause fall leaf drop, but I wouldn't worry about it. They will fall off soon. Did you fertilize it later than you should have, or is it a new transplant? I have 3 new apples this year and the cold didn't phase them a bit at first. They're hardy to zone 4. Now they still have a few leaves but they are slowly yellowing and falling. Just give it a few more weeks and they'll go.

No, they haven't been fertilized ever. They have had sufficient shoot growth every year. the trees have been in the ground from bare root for 3 and 2 years respectively. My problem, if stated poorly previously, is that they won't drop their leaves at all and I have to pick them off by the following spring to get rid of any disease organisms that may be overwintering on them.

Michael:

I have 33 varieties of apples in an orchard begun 30 years ago, and added to ever since. Some varieties drop their leaves promptly in early winter; some don't. I am looking out at the orchard right now, and Jonagold, Empire, and yes, Freedom, still have quite a few dead or yellow leaves hanging on. But many of the other varieties are completely bare. A young (5-year) Pink Lady tree still has quite a few on it, though all are dead or yellowing. The same varieties do the same thing every year. All of these trees are treated exactly the same way, and no specific fertilizers are applied, although I do put down 10-10-10 on the lawn around them in fall.

I like to have the leaves down when I dormant spray in March, since it makes it easier to see if I am getting good coverage, but other than that I don't worry about it. I try to idly pick off the leaves from the trees I can reach easily, but that would be impossible on the larger trees. I wouldn't worry much about possible disease transmission from the leaves unless you have had serious problems with something like powdery mildew, which can happen on Jonagold. Nor do I try to systematically pick up apple leaves from the orchard floor, since they are small leaves that break down quickly. I run the mower around the trees to speed up the process.

I dormant spray with a combination of paraffin based oil (Bonide All Seasons) and copper (Kocide), and believe that is the most useful thing I can to to combat disease transmission from year to year as well as eliminating summer pests such as aphids and mites. I bag my apples in ziplock sandwich bags immediately after thinning, and do no more spraying from that point all summer long. Yet, aphids and mites, which used to be serious problems in the early years of my orchard, are seldom seen. No apple scab either. I credit the thorough dormant spraying for this state of affairs.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Thank you Don. I've been dutifully applying my dormant sprays also and except for this last summer on the Freedom (CAR), haven't seen any problems ...yet. I plan on bagging my fruit this year and hope the constant north-central KS summer winds don't remove them. By the way, after reading through many of these pages, it's suprising that nobody appears to have recommended planting virus-free stock for raspberries or strawberries. Off the top of my head, Miller sells such stock.