Decorative varieties of apple trees
Content:
Decorative varieties of apple trees are not inferior in the number of advantages over other varieties. They can also have good frost and drought tolerance and have the advantage of growing up even in the most unfavorable and rather unpleasant climates. Decorative apple varieties are unpretentious to the composition of the soil in which they are grown. If a tree grows in fresh and fertile soil, then it will certainly delight you with its abundant, wonderful flowering and a good harvest. Although, growing in depleted soil, the plants are not inferior in attractiveness, they are simply with a slower growth. The only very important condition for the growth of these trees is fairly good lighting. Because for such varieties, even a small shadow strongly affects the brightness and number of flowers, as well as the amount of harvest.
The most common decorative apple trees: varieties, photos
Ornamental apple trees, their varieties, like columnar, are not capricious crops, and do not require special control and attention for their cultivation and care. These varieties of apple trees can be grown even by beginners in gardening, without much effort and expense.
The most common of the decorative varieties differ in the color of the fruits and flowers. By their appearance, such varieties are more similar to an ornamental tree than to the usual and ordinary fruit tree. That is why, in most cases, they are grown for the purpose of decoration, and not for obtaining an excellent harvest of fruits.
During active flowering, these trees not only delight the eye with their excellent appearance, but also saturate the site with a wonderful aroma. Due to this fact, these trees are well pollinated and give a good harvest of small fruits. Here are the most popular varieties of such ornamental plants:
Ornamental apple trees varieties Nedzvetsky
How the crown of this variety will initially be formed, this will be the appearance of the plant in the future: a bush or a tree. The apple tree can live for about 60 years and grow up to 6 meters in height.
The flowering period occurs in the spring, and at this time the tree is almost entirely covered with flowers of large size and pink color. The exact time of flowering depends on the place of growth, varies from early to mid-May.
In the fall, small apples with a red-purple color begin to ripen. The pulp of the fruit has a pink tint. The fruits can hang on the tree all winter. And the variety itself is quite hardy to frost, numerous infections and harmful insects.
Red obelisk
When growing up, it can be 6 meters high. The crown of the tree is endowed with a columnar shape and reaches a diameter of 3 meters. At the time of flowering, the tree is covered with pink flowers, which eventually turn almost white.
The tree bears fruit with large red apples, which can be stored for a long time, until next spring. Ripe fruits are great for making cider, preserves, or jams.
Also, the plant itself is actively used for landscape design. This variety has one more feature - the apple tree can give color again in the fall, though not so abundantly compared to spring.
Decorative apple trees of Makovetsky variety
This variety belongs to one of the Nedzwiecki purple apple hybrids. The variety is distinguished by its unpretentiousness to the place of cultivation, due to which it feels great both in the middle zone of our country and in the southern regions. The apple tree grows up to 5-6 meters in height.The crown of a fruit tree has a spherical shape, the diameter of which is about 5 meters.
The flowering period occurs in May-June and lasts an average of two weeks. The flowers of this variety are endowed with a deep dark pink color. This variety has rather high pollen fertility rates, due to which it is often used as a pollinator in industrial gardens.
After the flowering period, rather small bright scarlet apples are formed. The fruit has such a flavoring characteristics that it can only be used in processed form. This is, for example, jam, dessert, or preserves.
In general, this variety is quite resistant to cold and dry weather, and is also moderately hardy to scab. Apples may well be used for medical purposes. For example, in the treatment of anemia, or as a drug with a laxative effect, or with a bactericidal effect. Or to strengthen the entire human body.
Weeping
This variety is characterized as a small ornamental fruit tree with a weeping crown with scarlet foliage. Such a tree grows up to a maximum of 2.5 meters.
Easily grown on ordinary soil, prefers abundant watering. Although it can easily endure a small dry period. The apple tree feels great both in a separate and in a group planting.
The most active flowering occurs in the month of May. During this period, the tree is entirely covered with pink flowers, and later - with small, scarlet-colored fruits. Such fruits fully ripen in September.
Very tasty jam or jelly is prepared from them. This apple variety is quite resistant to some diseases, for example, brown spot. But powdery mildew and scab are in need of preventive measures against diseases, which are capable of infecting not only the buds, but also the stems and all the foliage.
Profusion
The maximum growth of this tree is 5 meters. The variety is endowed with a rather spreading and chic crown. The flowering period falls in May, then the branches of the tree are covered with flowers of a scarlet color with a pink tint. At this time, the apple tree is very similar in appearance to sakura.
Closer to autumn, instead of flowers, small apples of bright scarlet color begin to appear. They can easily stay on the apple tree until winter. This variety is perfect for garden and vegetable garden decoration, as well as a hedge.
Helena
The tree of this variety grows up to 4 meters. It has a rather spreading and lush crown with a diameter of up to four meters. This apple tree has a rather slow growth, and it reaches its maximum only by 10 years of age.
The period of abundant flowering occurs in the spring, after which whole clusters of bright red apples are formed, which have the ability to not fall off until late autumn. In winter, the tree's bark acquires a reddish tint, which also makes it decorative.
Therefore, we can conclude that this variety can delight with its appearance almost all year round. Some gardeners use this variety as a hedge due to its relatively small size.
The tree needs preventive measures. Although it is considered a fairly resistant plant to a sharp drop in temperature and some diseases. The fruits are not eaten in any case. Therefore, this variety is used only for decoration.
Royal Beauty
The variety refers to itself as hybrids obtained from the Nedzvetskiy apple variety. The tree itself is small, up to about 3 meters high. The apple tree crown has a diameter of 2-4 meters. During growth, the tree takes on a weeping shape, which changes to an umbrella-shaped one with maturation.
In the first days of May, the tree begins to bloom intensively and continues to do so for about two weeks.If the weather is dry and hot, then the flowering period is reduced to one week. At the same time, the flowers become a thick dark pink color.
After a certain period of time, small dark red apples begin to form and ripen on the apple tree, which stay on the tree for a long time. Full ripening of the fruits occurs in the first half of September. But apples have a bitter taste, which is why they are considered unsuitable for human consumption.
In general, this species is very highly rated for its resistance to frost, it can easily survive the temperature regime of -33 degrees. Thanks to this fact, the variety is actively cultivated in the northwestern and central regions of the country. Although it also has a drawback - the tree has an average resistance to scab.
Scarlett
This variety has excellent active growth. It grows at a very fast pace up to 4 meters. The apple tree blooms in May. It is then that the tree is covered with a huge number of buds of a dark pink hue.
And by autumn, small fruits begin to form on the apple trees, which hang on the tree for a long time. This variety is demanding on lighting and needs a place of growth, sheltered from the winds.
Also, the tree needs preventive measures, as it is very unstable to attack by pests and infection with certain diseases.
But the variety is fully resistant to frost, due to which it is actively grown in the Moscow region. This plant is used as a hedge. Grows well in both single and group planting.
Robin
It has a medium size and a rather dense round crown. The average growth of an adult plant reaches 5-6 meters. During flowering, the tree becomes outwardly similar to sakura, thanks to its dense flowers of a red-pink hue.
And closer to autumn, small fruits of a bright burgundy hue appear on the tree. Although the size of the fruits is small enough, they still remain edible and are actively used for preparing compotes.
Also Robinovka apples are stored for a long time (you need to do this in wooden boxes). This species is quite hardy to frost and therefore grows well in the middle zone of our country.
The only negative is that the variety is prone to disease, which is why mandatory preventive measures should be taken.
Royalty
Refers to purple apple hybrids. This species is characterized by rather slow growth. It can grow up to 4 meters only by 10 years of age. The crown of the tree is oval in shape, up to 5 meters in diameter. At a young age, the crown is quite compact, and as it grows, it acquires a wide and spreading shape.
The period of active flowering falls on the month of May and can take two weeks. During this period, the apple tree is densely covered with flowers of a crimson-red color, or ruby. Fruits on the tree begin to form by autumn, they are small in size and dark red in color.
This variety is distinguished by the fact that it tolerates frost, dry weather and gusty winds with dignity. Although the apple tree still requires processing procedures in order to prevent it, as it is prone to scab. The fruits are not eaten, as they have a bitter taste and, when consumed, can bring the body to a severe form of poisoning.
Decorative apple trees: varieties, description, planting rules, care
When growing ornamental varieties of fruit trees, you may find that this process is slightly different from growing the varieties of this fruit tree we are used to.
Often, varieties of decorative apple trees are quite unpretentious to the soil.Their only requirement for the soil is that there is no surface groundwater near the growing area. They must be at least 3 meters from the surface. Also, avoid waterlogged, swampy, rocky and very dry sandy soils.
The very process of planting seedlings of decorative apple trees almost does not differ from planting other, ordinary varieties. Young trees are planted in the spring. Ornamental varieties of these trees are demanding in terms of free space. That is why, when planting seedlings, it is necessary to take into account that the distance between them must be at least three meters. As a result, one tree should have an area of about 6 meters.
The seedling hole is prepared in advance, about a month before planting. And the best option for preparing the hole will be a year before planting, in the fall. The hole should be about one meter deep and about 80 centimeters in diameter.
An excellent advantage of decorative varieties is that they are excellent for formative pruning, they recover quite quickly after this procedure. In general, these plants do not need to be pruned on an ongoing basis, you just need to prune dried and diseased branches.
Ornamental varieties of apple trees almost do not need additional care for them. The main thing in the first years after planting is to water the tree every month and do weeding in order to accelerate the growth of the plant.
Conclusion
Based on the foregoing, the following conclusions can be drawn:
- Apple trees can be not only fruit trees that bear tasty and healthy fruits, but also an excellent decorative element.
- Due to the variety of varieties of decorative apple trees, you can choose the one that will suit you.
- Each decorative variety has its own color of flowers and fruits, and may also differ in shades of foliage and even bark.
- In many ornamental species, apples cannot be eaten, but they can serve as a wonderful decoration, even in winter.
- Ornamental varieties of these trees are rather undemanding to planting and care, but in most cases they need fairly good lighting.