We moved into a new house last October with about 20 apple trees of different varieties. Some were in poor shape with one or two apples hanging while others were flourishing with so many apples that the branches were broken. Unfortunately, I didn't get to remove all of the apples before winter set in and there were a lot of rotting/rotted apples on the ground.

I had an arborist come out and quote a pruning in May but he said it was too late to do any pruning due to the timing. He suggested cutting down about 7 of the trees since they were in poor shape or already dead.

My problem now is that some of the trees have dead branches with brown leaves. I see fireblight discoloration in some areas but there are also branches with brown leaves and no discoloration or no "shepherd's crook".

I was advised that the tree may just need some fertilizing.

1 - Referring to the photo, is this FB?

2 - Fertilizer recommendation? NPK? Timing?

3 - some of the trees that had apples last year did not blossom or fruit this year. I know excessive pruning can cause a tree to not fruit but I didn't touch those trees and it doesn't look like the previous owner touched them either. Could this be a fertilizing issue as well?