I can find no complaints about Red splendor crabapple trees dropping fruit and it didn’t drop fruit for 28 years. One possibility is that it needs pruning because the root structure can’t support the increased apple production. What has your pruning practice been?

Another possibility is that it is aging, although the range for crabapple trees is 30-70 years.

Please send pictures of the tree, closeups of apples and leaves and branches/trunk. We will try to help diagnose the problem.

Thanks for getting back to me.  I'm attaching pics of the tree, apples, and apple drop ground areas.  Also, woodpeckers have puts lots of hole in both main branches that come up from the trunk.  I've never pruned the tree other than the water sprouts as far up as we could reach them standing in the fork of the trunk.  It does have lots of apples - hopefully you can determine what the problem is.  Apparently I will have to do a 2nd email as it won't let me upload more than 3 pics.

balance of pics of red splendour crab apple

The holes are from sapsuckers. They do the holes all in a line.  The following website will give ideas on how to get them to leave your tree alone. I have had good luck with tinfoil strips to stop woodpeckers from my siding.  Sometimes a combination of strategies works best.  See:  http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/pastpest/199902i.html

The tree definitely needs to be pruned this winter.  Because it is large and near a building, it is best to have an arborist onsite to evaluate the tree. I suspect the tree is dropping apples because it is produces more than the roots can supply water and nutrients to.

See: https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/how-hire-tree-care-professional

Another issue is that the grass is growing right up to the trunk.  This means that the grass gets the moisture and nutrients first before the tree.  A circle of mulch would help hold moisture for the tree and bypass the grass.  Keep the mulch 6-8 inches from the tree trunk. Mulch touching the trunk encourages pests.

The combination of hot dry weather and overproduction of apples means that the tree will drop apples and leaves to minimize the demand for water and nutrients at the root level. Water the tree until the ground freezes. 

I can see no signs of apple tree diseases on the closeup of the leaves, but stressed trees are more likely to acquire pests and disease now and in the future.

To summarize, stressed trees drop leaves, apples and are more likely to get diseases. Pruning and watering deeply to support apples and leaves should prevent the messiness that you are currently experiencing.

See the following websites for more information on mulching, pruning and disease prevention.

1. https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/flowering-crabapple-trees-7-424/

2.