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Columnar apple tree growing fast! #810703

Asked September 13, 2022, 10:28 PM EDT

Hi, I have a couple of columnar apple trees, specifically "urban/ blushing delight" they're doing great! And by great, I mean one is 18' in 5ish years. My question is, how tall should I expect these trees to get? I've let them grow with no pruning or directing, and they're growing like weeds. The two that I have are planted next to my deck, so what I see is already 5' off the ground, and then they're another 10' on top of that. I planted them next to the deck so we could just grab an apple when we felt like it. Also, I got very few fruit off these trees this year. I expect it was from our strange spring weather? I have two of the blush varieties and another columnar apple variety that flowers at about the same time, as I understand that they need an external pollinator. When I bought the trees, I thought they'd get like 10-15 feet tall and stop, but, that doesn't seem the case here. What should I expect for height? Should I keep the trees smaller? Also I'm in Portland. Thanks!

Multnomah County Oregon

Expert Response

Thank you for your question and patience, Joel. Descriptions of this variety indicate that their mature height is 8-10 feet tall, so yours may be on steroids.  More likely, a fertilizer high in nitrogen (the first number on the label, like 10-10-10).  The higher the nitrogen, the more leaves and less fruit.  Here is a description of columnar varieties, generally:  https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/cass/Columnar%20Apples%20-Growing%20Fruits%20in%20the%20Small%20Home%20Orchard.pdf
As for fruiting, the typical causes of little to no fruit are over application of nitrogen, little to no pruning and/or a lack of a compatible pollinizer nearby.  Pruning opens up the tree's foliage so sun reaches the leaves to increase photosynthesis, necessary for flower and fruit production.  A compatible pollinizer means another variety of the apple species that produces pollen that is needed for pollination.  Crabapples are good trees to plant nearby for this task.  https://extension.psu.edu/orchard-pollination-pollinizers-pollinators-and-weather
I suggest that you trad the following Extension publication to get an idea of the most effective ways to achieve these goals:  https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/ec819
I hope this helps.  Good luck!
An Ask Extension Expert Replied September 21, 2022, 12:08 PM EDT

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