or fire blight ....

yes the heavy rainy wet spring is complicating it ...

if treatment is not really reasonable.. i never treat mine.. then spend the money or effort on removal ... i dont really think an arborist is going to tell you anything different ....

there are resistant varieties .... but you would be better off with other things.. like red bud .... at least they dont sucker ...and anything in the apple family is not the best root scenario for gardening under ...

ken

It doesn't sound like fireblight to me. It could be apple scab, as Westy guessed. A picture might help, especially if posted in the Fruit and Orchards Forum. If it is apple scab, good sanitation practices (removing the infected leaves) may help to lesson or eliminate the problem. I doubt the disease will impact any of your other plants; I think it's pretty much limited to apples and crabapples.

I will post a pic by week-end - he's got the digi on a trip. You'll be too busy to be on GW anyway, Ken, for the next few days. Good idea to post it in the Fruit & Orchards Forum, too, Brandon. I did look up Fireblight online and I don't think that's it cuz the other symptoms like the oozy sticky stuff isn't there. I do think I'm going to beg for them to be cut down and replaced but I'm sure he'll tell me we're moving anyway...but that could be a year or two - this is so ugly - we need the curb appeal to even sell!

Thanks, guys.
Westy

girdle it.. and leave the dead tree standing as GARDEN ART ... lol

ken

It DOES sound like apple scab, which is a common enough problem with various apple varieties. The good news is that it will not spread to plants that are not apples - most plant diseases are very species-specific - and it is also quite treatable. As Brandon notes, clean up the fallen leaves and research a spraying program to begin this winter. It's too late this season to treat now. And it won't cost a fortune - a copper-sulfur or lime-sulfur spray is relatively inexpensive and easy to do. And it IS exacerbated by wet springs. Correct pruning to remove excessive sucker growth and to increase air circulation can help. But cleaning up and good garden sanitation is most important.

DH says it'll cost a fortune to have them treated and thinks if we just fertilize them, they'll be strong and will get better.

No.

What will help is cleaning up all the litter - lvs, stems, bark, any few fruit, leaves, stems, bark, all of it. And the 'too close together' is a big contributor to the problem. I don't think a routine of spraying by purchasing a sprayer and appropriate product will be 'a fortune', either.

Dan

Thanks, Dan. Major clean-up job coming for Fall!!!! And an arborist will be here - when he has time! Jeez.

Westy