All About the Flowering Crab Apple

Crab Apples Provide Beauty, Shade and Edible Fruit for Birds, Animals and People Too

Is a crab apple tree right for your landscaping project or orchard? Read on to find out.

A close relative of the apple tree, crabapples come in 35 species and more than 700 varieties. Though edible, most crabapples are not all that tasty. Their popularity comes from their small size and the beauty of their spring blooms which make them a wonderful addition to many landscaping projects.
Flowers of the Crabapple
Buds emerge in a deep pink which gradually fades as they open and throughout their short life cycle. Like the flowers of its relative the apple, the crabapple has 5 petals per flower with a yellow center made up of 15 to 20 stamens. Before any leaves begin to emerge, the crabapple tree is covered in these dark pink buds creating a pink cloud effect sometime between April and May, depending upon the area of the country.


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Everything You Need to Know About Fertilizing Cherry Trees

Growing your own cherry trees is pretty simple to do and even easier when you understand fertilizer as it applies to cherry trees. Understanding what it is, what it does and the types available can help you make an educated choice about the fertilizer you choose for your cherry trees.




Understanding Fertilizer



Fertilizer can be anything you can add to the soil, either of an organic or chemical nature, that improves the soils ability to be support life. Lots of things can be used to improve soil fertility. Organic sources are those that either are or come from once living things like compost, animal manures or cover crops that are later turned under. Inorganic or chemical fertilizers are man-made and blended to meet specific needs.

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Pruning Flowering Cherry Trees

Pruning Considerations for Flowering Cherry Trees

So you've added a beautiful flowering cherry tree to your landscape and now you need to know how to prune it. There are some basic things you'll need to consider and a few tools you'll need in order to prune your flowering cherry tree.


It is important to understand why you need to prune your flowering cherry tree before you begin lopping off branches. One reason is to remove dead, damaged or diseased limbs. You'll also want to remove any branches that rub on one another or that cross over each other. Sucker growth from the bottom of the tree should also be removed. Branches that grow toward the center of the tree should also be removed. Lastly, you want to prune to give the cherry tree an overall shape.

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