It's gonna depend a bit on what kind of apples they are, and how old the trees are. Some apples have longer life-spans, but almost all apples stop producing fruit before their lifespan is up- kind of like how chickens get too old to make eggs and dairy cows too old for good milk production.

So, what kind of apples are they, how old are the trees, and how long ago did they stop producing fruit?

Pruning along with some other coddling might help a bit, but those trees look like they have already been pruned up, so you won't be getting more low hanging branches for fruit.

I'm moving into the property at the end of October. Looks like I will have a bit of an arborist's adventure getting my arms around all the trees, specifically these two. My guess is they are pretty old. The seller didn't know the variety, so I may need to do some identifying. Might be time for some new young trees!

Thank you.

My BIL severely pruned some old non-productive apple trees. And by severely i mean he left a foot or two of the main branches and the trunk.

It takes a season for new branches but after that, it bore fruit profusely.

Don't know how many years afterwards or what kind of apple it was but I was pretty impressed.

i would leave them alone.. and just look at them as trees ... or just remove them ...

its not like you are lacking for useless grass ... crikey.. just plant some new ones ...

but understand.. to be successful with fruit growing.. there is a 4 to 5 application regimen of spraying that must be done.. to end up with the pretty fruit you see at the store.. and that starts in early spring.. before they leaf out ... i quickly lost interest at that point ....

of course if you dont care about such.. and just want some ugly fruit for jellie... butter.. juice.. apple sauce.. it really doesnt matter how ugly they are ... and a little extra protein probably wont hurt .. lol ...

the happiest day after i bought my first house.. was 5 years later.. when i got rid of the last nightmare the prior owners had left me .... do as i say.. and dont waste 5 years... lol ... but there is no downside to seeing what happens next year ....

btw: without an actual fruit.. i doubt you will be able to ID it ...

ken

ps: if budget is of no concern ... you could probably track down a custom grafter.. and send them some cuttings to have a few new grafted trees made for you ...

Don't put too much weight on ken's response :-) It is entirely possible to grow perfectly decent, eat-out-of-hand apples without a copious spray program.

And apples can live and produce well for decades if given the proper care. And hard pruning of neglected trees will often encourage a regeneration of fruit production. But pruning fruit trees for production is not at all the same as pruning a shade or ornamental tree. If you have not done this before, I'd strongly urge you take a fruit tree pruning class early ext spring. Nurseries in my area routinely hold free pruning classes or check with your local extension service or local orchardist for advice.

Thank you for this info. I'm in north IL. Your second treatment is in December then, I am seeing? I've heard about four different "theories" on how to prune old apples, so it's good to hear from your perspective how you'd handle.

…ryan

"Your second treatment is in December then, I am seeing?" Not sure what you mean. Triazicide is applied after the flower petal fall, typically in May, and then again 4-6 weeks later, usually late July. Rain is the biggest reason for the variation in timing on the 2nd application as it has to be no rain on a day I can do it. Pruning is primarily done late in the winter just before things start turning green again and the sap is flowing in the trees.

Whoops, I mis-read petal fall for "leaf fall", my bad. Thanks for the clarification. I was confused as well! :)

Actually "chain saw pruning" of old apple trees can be quite detrimental to their heath - never mind their appearance - same as with topping of other kinds of trees. So that occasional removal of complete individual branches that are no longer very productive, while the rest of the tree is left mostly unpruned has been recommended as a preferred alternative, when orchard apple trees are in a well advanced stage of life.

Here in my area there are lots of radically topped, mature apple trees that are in quite derelict condition due to apple anthracnose coming in after the topping and rotting out the up facing halves of the main branches that were retained. With the sudden removal of the upper crown having resulted in burning and cracking of their bark in the greatly increased sun exposure, followed by admission of the fungus.

So that when such branches have been worked on by the anthracnose for many years they come to look like dugout canoes.