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In My Garden Blog

December 6, 2007
Northern & Central Midwest
By Kate Jerome,
Pleasant Prairie, WI

These jewel-like crab apple fruits make a beautiful winter display.

Select a Perfect Crab Apple for Your Landscape

Crab apples seem to catch everyone's attention in spring when they are in full bloom, but they have lots to offer in fall and winter, too. We can certainly select for flower color, but these trees have so many other attributes that it seems a shame to put all our emphasis on only a two-week display in spring.

Fruits
The fruits on a well-chosen crab apple will last long after the flowers and sometimes even the leaves are gone. Many of the newer varieties have persistent fruit that gives us color through the winter. This also means that during the summer the fruits don't fall and make a mess to be tracked into the house.

We want to select varieties with fruits that keep their nice color in winter. Winter fruits can mean a beautiful bird display as well. Some crab apple fruits turn dull brown or black after freezing and thawing a couple of times -- not very appealing. Some fruits are not appetizing to birds until they have softened a bit in spring, but having a variety of different types of crab apple trees will assure a happy bird population.

Bark
Once the leaves are gone, we are left with bark and branches. Crab apples tend to have peeling bark in striking shades of cinnamon, brown, and gold, the perfect complement to the hanging fruits. Picture this against a backdrop of new snow and you'll be hooked.

Form
Whatever your landscape ambience, there is a crab apple with a shape to enhance it. They can have an upright, columnar form, a rounded and shrubby shape, a lollipop form, or a weeping form. Size varies from 6 feet tall to 30 feet tall.

Flowers
Last but not least is to select for flower color. Be sure to take into consideration the color of your home or whatever the tree will be adjacent to. You don't want to choose a pink flower if you have a salmon stucco fence. Beyond that, you can choose colors from clear white; pale, deep, or bright pink; fuchsia; magenta; carmine red; and burgundy. Flowers can range from half an inch to 2 inches across, in single or double form.

Certainly with all these attributes to choose from, you will be able to find the perfect crab apple for your landscape.

Since I have a low ranch style home, I chose five different
varieties of flowering crabs to grace my front and side yard.  I'm
in love with these trees for several reasons.  The blossoms are
right at window height, so be sure to plant them where they'll be
visible from inside your home.
Since they are of smaller stature, I've never had to clean crabapple
leaves from my gutters.
The height of their branches is perfect for hanging wren's houses
and feeders.  My hummingbirds enjoy using them for nearby cover to
enjoy their feeders at my front porch.  I'm delighted to count the
nests built in them each year.  
By planting different varieties, there will be a varied fruit supply
for birds in winter.  Some ornamental berries need a few freeze and
thaw cycles to become edible, while true crabapple fruits are an
instant favorite for squirrels.
My home office windows look out at two of these trees.  In the midst
of February blah, I've seen fifty Cedar Waxwings drop in to feast on
the crabs' ornamental berries, at a time when it was too cold for me
to be out doing bird feeder maintenance.
They're an easy tree to prune for ease of summer mowing around them.
 If you're a woman looking to grow a tree you can handle by
yourself, plan on getting several.

I love crabapples, but unfortunately I cannot have them on my
acreage. My property is surrounded by Cedars which have Cedar rust
in the spring. The spores will contaminate any sort of apple or
hawthorn with cedar-apple rust. I bought a beautiful Hawthorn two
years ago when we purchased the property before I knew about the
rust. It has been a battle every spring spraying my poor little
tree. I just wanted to warn anyone to check out there surrounding
area before investing.

Woodsy - 
You are absolutely right! I couldn't have made a beter
recommendation myself. There are so many beautiful new cultivars
coming out every year that there's something for everyone.

Theresa - you are right that crabapples are  alternate hosts for
cedar apple rust, but there are many crabapple varieties that are
resistant to rust. If you go to the Morton Arboretum website
(mortonarb.org) you will find lists of crabs with their disease
resistance noted. Good luck - hope you can find one that works for
you.

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