Dwarf apple trees: varieties, reviews and description

Today, every second gardener wants to plant a dwarf apple tree in his area. Especially small fruit trees attract those who have a limited garden area. "Dwarfs" are becoming increasingly popular. Everything depends on their compactness: they take up much less space than tall trees with a powerful root system and a spreading crown. A significant level of productivity of dwarf apple trees is also gaining increasing popularity.

The cultivation of this culture has its own characteristics, which amateur gardeners need to know about. What are dwarf apple trees (varieties, reviews, advantages)? What are the nuances of planting trees and caring for them?

One of the most popular garden crops

The apple tree is one of the most common fruit growers among Russian gardeners. Its seedlings, the flowering time of which is from May to June (depending on variety), are widely used in landscaping parks and gardens as a decorative flowering plant, but more often for harvesting.

The beneficial properties of apples (spherical fruits of green, red or yellow, with a diameter of up to 15 cm) have been known for a long time. It is believed that every day you must eat at least one apple so that the body is replenished with the necessary dose of iron and other useful substances and vitamins.

Mistresses make excellent jam from apples, jam, compotes and juices. Delicious fruits are also used to make apple wines, widely popular among lovers.

Classification

These fruit trees differ in terms of fruit ripening: early (summer varieties), middle (autumn) and late (winter, late winter). Their stocks are also heterogeneous. Among them there are: seed stock (strong-growing apple trees grown from seeds) and clonal, grafted (dwarf, semi-dwarf, mid-growth).

Varieties of apple trees are classified:

1. Tall - plants up to 8 m tall, a well-developed root system that penetrates deep into the soil. Recommended for cultivation in areas with groundwater below 3 m.
2. Semi-dwarfs reach a height of up to 5 m. They are grown in areas where groundwater lies at a level of up to 2.5 m.
3. Dwarf - low-growing crops up to 2.5 m in height, with a relatively shallow (up to 1 m) root system. Suitable for areas with high (about 1.5 m) groundwater.
4. Coloniform have one erect trunk without significant branching.

By resistance to cold, varieties are distinguished: frost-resistant, heat-loving. By taste: sweet, sour, dessert, etc.

Dwarf apple trees: varieties, reviews

A clear selection of varieties for each particular site is necessary so that fruit trees annually delight owners with a high yield. Gardeners generally respond positively to dwarf birches. After all, they are not very whimsical to care for.

The famous I.V. Michurin believed that the success of the whole thing, i.e. achievement of the desired indicators of garden productivity is decided precisely by a successful selection of varieties. Dwarf apple trees are no exception. Varieties, reviews, planting and care features are in the public domain. More than 10 thousand varieties of such trees are known. Users in their reviews highlight the best dwarf apple trees, varieties.

Reviews, photos can be read and viewed in the article. Gardeners believe that by choosing suitable varieties of dwarf trees for the region of residence, adhering to the rules of planting and care, it is possible to ensure rich fruiting.

Summer

The best summer dwarf apple trees (varieties, reviews, description):

• "Melba" is a high-yielding variety. Fruiting begins in the third year. Ripening apples belong to the period: end of July - August. They are medium in size, have a juicy pulp and caramel flavor.
• “Candy” is an early ripening variety developed by breeder I.V. Michurin. The fruits of this hybrid are aromatic, very tasty. In warm and not rainy summers, their ripening begins in August. The weight of individual fruits reaches 120 g. They are round in shape, have a dark green peel, dense and juicy flesh.
• "Wonderful" is a late summer variety with high winter hardiness. Its fruiting begins in the fourth year of planting. It gives high productivity (up to 75 kg). The weight of the fruit is 140 g. The shape of the apples is flat-round, slightly ribbed. Color - yellow-green with a rich dark red blush and a bright dessert flavor.

Autumn

Users highlighted the best autumn dwarf apple trees (varieties, reviews):

• "Zhigulevskoe". Fruiting of trees begins in the third year. The variety has a high level of vitality, is not amenable to pests and diseases. Ripening apples - in late September. These are large fruits with a red-orange peel. According to gardeners, under the condition of annual top dressing, the tree for a long time saves good fruiting and large fruit size.
• "Autumn striped." Trees of this variety are recommended to be covered for the winter, as frosts can damage its high-lying root system. The fruits have a rounded shape, their weight is about 200 g, the color is bright yellow, the taste is bright, sweet and sour. The variety is characterized by unpretentious storage conditions (at temperatures up to 6 degrees).
• "Ground". The variety is resistant to low temperature and scab. The beginning of fruiting, depending on the region, refers to the third year after planting. Productivity reaches 130 kg. The fruits are large, flat-rounded, with a dense smooth skin of a greenish-red color, have a bright sweet and sour taste.
• Sokolovskoe. Fruit bearing varieties begins in the fourth year. Productivity - about 85 kg. Apples are large, weighing about 190 g, with a greenish-yellow color and a bright blush. The taste is sweet and sour, characterized by saturation.

Winter

As the best gardeners call winter dwarf apple trees (varieties, reviews):

• The Bratchood. A tree of medium height (up to 2 m), begins to bear fruit at 3-4 years of age. Its yield is about 120 kg. The variety has high winter hardiness and regular fruiting. The fruits have an elongated rounded shape with a noticeable ribbing and a characteristic lateral suture, reaching a significant value. The skin is smooth, shiny, with a greenish-yellow color. The pulp is white, slightly succulent, coarse-grained, with a bright sour-sweet taste.
• Grushovka, Moscow Region. One of the varieties mentioned by gardeners. Many also claim that these are the best dwarf apple trees for the Moscow region. Varieties, reviews of which are different, have their strengths and weaknesses. "Grushovka Podmoskovnaya" is a popular variety resistant to scab. Fruits in 5-6 years, high productivity is stable. Apples are small in size, rounded in shape. Virtually not susceptible to decay. The skin color is yellow, with a red side.
• “Bogatyr” is distinguished by a wide branchy crown, which requires annual trimming of old branches in order to increase productivity. The tree has significant winter hardiness, practically not susceptible to pests and diseases. The fruits are elongated, with a red-yellow color. The taste is sour, reminiscent of Antonovka.
• "Moscow Necklace" is a new variety that bears fruit three years after planting. The fruits are large in size. The skin color is bright red, juicy, soft pink pulp with a sweet and sour taste.
• "Carpet" bears fruit in the fourth year after planting. Productivity reaches up to 110 kg from one tree. The fruit size is significant, the shape is flat, shiny skin has a greenish-yellow color. The taste is dessert.
• “Snowdrop” is a winter-hardy, scab resistant variety. Productivity - about 90 kg. The shape of the fruit is round-conical, weight about 170 g. Peel color - light yellow, with a red blush. The taste is sweet and sour.

How to distinguish seedlings of dwarf apple trees from other varieties?

Many people wonder about how to grow and what are the dwarf apple trees, varieties, reviews. When buying, you need to choose a seedling very carefully.

A dwarf apple tree is grown from an ordinary seedling using a stock of the required variety. This process is quite lengthy, so gardeners prefer seedlings to buy ready-made ones.

When buying, there is a risk of confusing "dwarfs" with seedlings of other varieties.

To avoid this, it is necessary to take into account their distinguishing features:

• at the site of vaccination, where the junction of the neck of the seedlings with the stem is located, the protrusion should be clearly distinguished;
• ordinary apple trees have a rooted root system, in dwarf ones it is fibrous with small roots;
• The main difference between the good roots of seedlings of dwarf apple trees is that they are usually fresh and elastic;
• on the ground part of a quality tree there should be no drying out of the bark or branch injuries;
• the trunk of a columnar apple tree, unlike dwarf apple trees, is smooth, almost without branching;
• the two-year-old seedling of a dwarf apple tree at the ends of branches has large buds, the height of the stem does not exceed 50 cm, the number of formed branches is insignificant.

Gardeners leave positive reviews about dwarf apple trees. But you need to be very careful about transportation. Immediately after purchase, the dwarf apple tree seedling should be wrapped in a damp cloth. To preserve the branches during transportation, they are pulled closer to the trunk and secured with twine. Upon arrival at the place, a tree is immediately planted and necessarily watered.

About landing

How to plant dwarf apple trees in the ground? Varieties, reviews whose advantages were considered in the article, require prepared soil.

The best time for planting, according to gardeners, is spring, immediately after the snow melts. The required amount of fertilizer should be applied to the soil. The place should be elevated and protected from the wind. Dwarf apple trees (varieties) grow not only in sunny, but also in weakly shaded places. The reviews, the planting of which is considered first of all, confirm that you need to choose the right place for the tree.

Before starting planting, seedlings should be trimmed a little to form a lower crown stem. After a year, growth is cut off. With the proper conduct of these procedures, the apple tree retains youth longer, and the fruits are of considerable size.

Seedlings of dwarf apple trees are planted in areas where groundwater occurs at a distance of at least 1.5 m from the surface. The distance between the trees should be 2X3 or 3x3 m. Parameters of the landing pit:

• depth: 50 cm;
• diameter: 60-70 cm.

The topsoil, taken while digging a hole, should be set aside separately from the rest of the excavated earth.

A bucket of humus should be added to the dug landing pit, mix it with the top layer of soil, pour a bucket of water and mix again.

The root system of the seedling is placed in the resulting wet mass and is covered with earth. The vaccination site should be 2-3 cm above the soil level. The earth must be compacted by the diameter of the trunk circle, making a roller up to 10 cm high for irrigation.

About the features of seedling care

An important question is what kind of care require dwarf apple trees (varieties). Reviews, tree care should be studied in advance, before the purchase.

Saplings of dwarf apple trees are very unpretentious in care.

During the summer, trees need watering (1-2 buckets of water once a week). In addition, top dressing is required:

• Mullein infusion (1:10). Mullein (1 bucket) is dissolved in water (10 buckets), fermented (insisted) for 10-12 days. The resulting infusion (1 l) is then dissolved in 10 l of water.
• Chicken droppings (1:20). A solution of chicken droppings (1 bucket) is diluted in 20 buckets of water, fermented (insisted) for 10-12 days. Then 0.5 l of the resulting mixture was diluted in 10 l of water.

Seedlings should be watered with fertilizer in the amount of 1-2 buckets under 1 tree. After watering or past rains, the soil must be loosened. Top dressing ends in August, in more northern areas - at the end of July.

Adult Apple Care: Spring

In the spring, as soon as the sun begins to warm, the heaters with which the trees were sheltered for the winter are surely removed from the apple trees, and then they begin sanitary pruning. Branches damaged by frost must be cut. You should also carefully inspect the crown, remove existing pests. After that, fertilizers are applied under the apple trees, garbage is removed near the trees and burned. The soil must be dug to a depth of 5-7 cm, complex (containing trace elements saturating the earth) and nitrogen-containing (to activate vegetation processes) fertilizers should be introduced into the trunk circles. In clear weather, the trunks are whitened.

In the spring, three-time spraying of trees with special solutions is also carried out:

• before the swelling of the kidneys;
• during the period of swelling;
• after budding

The procedure eliminates pests and fungal diseases. Before the beginning of the awakening of insects, water obstacles should be built: traps, trunks wrapped in fishing belts.

Activities for the care of adult trees in the summer

With the onset of summer, it is necessary to carefully monitor the soil near the apple trees and the state of the trees themselves. At this time of the year, care consists of timely watering and pest control (treatment of diseased trees and nearby plants with a special solution when they are discovered).

At this time, foliar top dressing is carried out. In the hot period, dwarf stands are fed with nitrogen. If a deficiency of any trace element is detected, the plants are sprayed with a special tool that can provide the apple trees with everything necessary. With a lack of iron (which happens most often), plants are treated with iron sulfate.

Autumn care for adult apple trees

Autumn is the time of harvesting. Around the apple tree, all garbage should be removed: fallen leaves, branches and apples - in order to prevent the appearance of fungus and rot. It is also necessary to make mineral fertilizers, pruning branches that are damaged by insects or have other damage.

It is also necessary to loosen the soil near the apple trees: to violate the thermal insulation of the potential winter overnight of insects. It is necessary to protect the trunks from rodents by warming them with roofing material, placing baits for mice.

Dwarf apple trees: varieties, reviews, advantages

• The small size of the trees allows you to plant a significant number of them on the site.
• Much earlier than in an ordinary garden, the fruiting of dwarf trees begins: usually in the 3rd year after planting. For example, users mark the “mundane” variety as an early fruiting bearing in the 3rd year after grafting. The duration of the vegetative period of this variety is about 150 days, yield - up to 130 kg from one tree.
• The yield of dwarf trees is growing rapidly every year and does not differ from the performance of high-growing apple trees. So, gardeners of Polesie and even Non-Chernozem Region speak positively of the varieties "Melba", "Northern Sinap", "Antonovka" grown by grafting a dwarf insert. These varieties do not require special care, are characterized by high productivity, and more regular than nearby nearby growing apple trees.
• Productivity of ordinary tree species: 1 time in 2 years, in dwarf trees - 1 time per year.
• Due to the low growth of trees, it is easier to harvest from them, to monitor the ripening of trees. There is no need to use special devices for trimming branches. Gardeners note the compactness of the crown of many dwarf varieties and their low growth: the "northern synap", "melba", "Antonovka" and some others at the age of 10 have a height of no more than 2.5 m.
• Small growth of apple trees and relatively insignificant branching of the crown require less nutrition, which leads to increased nutrition of fruits.
• Placing the root system near the soil surface allows the tree to instantly respond to top dressing and watering. So, apple trees of the Melba, Northern Sinap, and Antonovka varieties, according to reviews, can not be planted in pits. Gardeners recommend pouring small knolls, about 30 cm high and up to 100 cm in diameter, make holes in them and plant trees there, while dipping the dwarf insert by more than half. This method of planting will provide in the first year a regrowth from the place of grafting of one's own root system. The authors of the reviews note the lack of the need for frequent watering of dwarf apple trees. Trees of the varieties “Grushka of the Moscow Region”, “brood”, “snowdrop”, according to reviews, need regular watering only during the first summer after planting. Mature trees do well without watering.
• The small size of the trees allows you to use less fertilizer for them, as well as reduce the cost of spraying.
• The small growth of apple trees increases the time for their preparation for winter sleep, as a result of which they are not afraid of autumn frosts. Users note frost resistance, as well as resistance to diseases of such winter varieties as "snowdrop", No. 57-145, No. 57-233. The latter variety is semi-dwarf, its frost resistance exceeds all known varieties: the roots of the tree tolerate temperatures of minus 16 degrees Celsius. Also, many reviewers note that semi-dwarf varieties are more viable than dwarf ones. A deeper root system allows them to give a larger crop with a small tree size.

disadvantages

• The life span of dwarf apple trees is half that of their tall counterparts. But this has its own plus - the ability to replace varieties with more modern ones every 20 years.
• Finding roots near the surface is fraught with the threat of freezing. A thorough warming of the root system is necessary.
• Superficial location of roots requires fertile soil.
• The high yield of apple trees sometimes leads to poor quality of their fruits. Depletion of trees leads to irregular fruiting. To eliminate it, it is necessary to break off excess inflorescences.
• A load of fruit can sometimes break small trees. To prevent this, special supports should be installed for branches and trunk.

Varieties for the middle strip

It is known that fruit trees ripen fruit directly depends on climatic conditions.

Gardeners well remember the words of the founder of domestic selection I.V.Michurin about the need to conduct regionalization of varieties, taking into account the ability of apple trees to withstand diseases of a particular climatic zone and their frost resistance.

Above, we have already mentioned the best dwarf apple trees for the Moscow region (variety). Gardeners' reviews also mention hybrids, as well as artificially bred trees with different ripening periods.

The Moscow Region is an area of ​​the middle lane ideal for growing precocious, mid-ripening and late varieties.

These include already familiar:

• summer varieties "melba", "candy";
• autumn "Zhiguli", "autumn striped";
• winter "pear Moscow region", "hero", "Arbat", "Moscow necklace", "lobo" (a relatively recent variety with high levels of fruit taste, as well as preservation, fruiting, winter hardiness of trees).

Cultivation of "dwarfs" in Tatarstan

Amateur gardeners, based on the results of the experiments, confidently argue that Tatarstan is a suitable climatic region where dwarf apple trees (varieties) can be grown. The reviews, in which Tatarstan is mentioned quite often, confirm that it is in this region that you can get a good harvest.

For example, in the most extreme conditions of Tatarstan (the Bugulminsko-Belebeyevskaya Upland, where frosts reach minus 40 degrees in winter, the latest spring and earliest autumn frosts are observed), gardeners successfully grow the paradise 62-396, as well as the “Moscow pear” with an intercalary insert of this cuttings paradises.

As favorable for this, gardeners call two conditions:

• good snow cover (keeps the soil temperature to minus 5-10 degrees with a total air temperature of minus 35 degrees Celsius);
• heavy soil cover (clay and heavy loam), contributing to a good root system anchor, which keeps the tree from tilting in the presence of a plentiful harvest.

The same factors also have negative aspects that have to be fought: in spring, trees need to be dug out from under the snow so that the snow mass does not break the branches.

To protect against rodents due to high snows, the booms have to be raised to a height of 1.2 -1.4 m and wrapped in roofing paper or roofing material in autumn.

Cultivation of dwarf apple trees in the Middle Volga and Southern Urals (Bashkiria)

Low trees on dwarf rootstocks are becoming increasingly popular among gardeners not only in the southern strip, but also in regions with a harsh climate, which include areas of the Middle Volga and Southern Urals (Bashkiria).

Where else can dwarf apple trees (varieties) be grown? Reviews, Bashkiria is also mentioned in them, they say that in this region many plant this species of apple trees.

The most attractive for gardeners are apple trees with a height of up to 3-3.5 m, characterized by early maturity and a high level of productivity:

• “Spartak”, “Kutuzovets”, “Kuibyshevskoye”, “daughter of a folder”, “Zhigulevskoye” (Middle Volga region);
• “Bashkir handsome”, “Moscow pear”, “mundane”, “silver hoof”, “brother” (Bashkiria).

Varieties are well compatible with clone stocks. The first crop on semi-dwarf rootstocks is harvested for 3-4 years after planting, commodity - for 4-5 years.

Trees on dwarf rootstocks are less adapted: for 2-3 years they stop growing due to the load on the fruits. At the age of 7-8 years, bear fruit periodically.

In the harsh conditions of the region (the temperature of the arable horizon in winter is minus 13-15 degrees, in summer plus 60-64 degrees Celsius, soil fertility is low), they showed themselves from the best side:

• semi-dwarf stocks: E-56, 64-143, Ural-11, E-63.54-118, Ural-5;
• dwarf rootstocks: K-2, SPS-7, "arm-18", R-60, "ural-1".

"Dwarfs" in the southern regions

The southern regions, in particular, Rostov is an ideal region for growing dwarf apple trees. And here gardeners plant dwarf apple trees (varieties). Reviews, the Rostov region in which is also considered as a region for favorable planting of apple trees, say that first of all, attention should be paid to soil and climate.

The following varieties of fruit trees on dwarf and semi-dwarf rootstocks are definitely recommended for growing in the region:

• M1, M3 (mid-growth);
• M9, MM106, Budagovsky’s paradise (with a share of risk);
• 54-118, 3-3-35, 62-396, 3-5-44. 3-3-72, 3-1-76 (high winter hardiness);
• Paradyuk Serdyukov (extremely high winter hardiness).

Dwarf apple tree is a popular culture due to its undeniable advantages among gardeners in various regions of the country.

The selection of varieties of stunted trees suitable for the region of residence, the observance of the rules for planting and caring for them will ensure a high productivity of the dwarf garden for a long time.