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All about apples, pears, plums, and cherries - and orchards where they are grown

Dolgo Crab-apple tree

Owner: David

Location:  Two Rivers, WI, United States

Age:Planted in about 2012
Age of this tree:12 years
Soil:sandy with a little clay 
Climate at this location:Zone 5a - cool, within 1 mile of Lake Michigan
Pruning:not pruning at this time
Tree form:Central leader (widest at bottom)
Height:Not sure
Cropping:Medium crops
Growth:This tree grows fairly well here
Herbicides:Manual treatment (hoeing and weeding)
Pesticides:Un-treated
Local pests:aphids, my dog, fireblight

Owner's comments

Despite fireblight, successfully grafted one scion onto my Cortland tree in April 2012, which in later years produced small handfuls of tart fruit. Dang dog kept eating most of the apples. In spring 2017, fireblight spread up the trunk of the mother Cortland tree and exhibited orange ooze. In an attempt to rid this tree of blight, I removed the grafted Dolgo limb entirely as I believe that is where the whole issue originated. Too late. Entire tree was dead fall 2017.

Season records for this tree

  • 2016

    Spring blossom: 20 May
    Dog ate all ~8 apples and tore branch in half.
  • 2015

    Spring blossom: 24 May
    Harvest: 1st week September  1kg / 2lbs
    At least 100 flowers, pruned back to 26, dog ate half of them!
  • 2014

    Spring blossom: 2 June
    Harvest: 1st week September
    Fireblight: Not present
    Woolly aphid: Not present
    About a dozen blooms, 2 apples. Animals and kids stole both apples.
  • 2013

    Spring blossom: 5 June
    Harvest: 1st week September
    Bloomed this year! One beautiful red apple blew off Sept. 1, was tart.