Harvesting a rich apple crop in Western Siberia and the Urals is quite problematic due to the harsh climate in these regions. Tender and heat-loving trees often die from winter colds and return frosts. Trees of standard size with a vertical crown are often zoned only for the southern latitudes, therefore they do not take root in places where the temperature is characterized by sharp fluctuations. If such a variety does not die, its fruits grow tasteless and small.
The best apple varieties for Siberia
In cool conditions, it is best to grow non-standard low-growing creeping trees. They are not as productive as ordinary apple trees, but their unusual shape allows them to completely hide under the snow cover and not freeze. Seedlings grow low above the soil in an inclined position, because the fruits have time to ripen faster, before the onset of frost. In addition, creeping apple trees look unusual, and the compact size of the crown simplifies harvesting. You can pick apples manually without using special tools.
The best apple varieties for Siberia and the Urals are: Bayan, Altai Souvenir, Borovinka, Zheblovskoe, Melba, Northern Sinap. These plants are most adapted to the conditions of regions with a cold climate. Apple tree Melba is a Canadian variety, characterized by large fruits ripening in late August. Apples of this variety are not stored for long, only for a month. Description, photos and reviews about the apple tree Borovinka suggest that this old variety has excellent winter hardiness and attractive tasty fruits ripening in the fall. Their shelf life is twice as long as that of Melba - 2 months.
Features of the undersized apple tree
A low-growing apple tree with a horizontal crown was the result of experiments by Siberian gardeners who had long dreamed of creating a plant adapted to local growing conditions. The height of the creeping apple tree usually does not exceed half a meter, and the shoots located almost above the ground bend under the weight of the fruit. Harvest from the bush can be obtained 3-4 years after planting. On average, the life expectancy of creeping apple varieties is about 50 years. Shale trees are not a specific variety, but a group of plants whose crown is specially formed as a result of the painstaking labor of agronomists.
From any variety can be made creeping. But top dressing should be done more often than standard trees. In winter, seedlings are bent to the ground so that about 5 cm remains to the surface of the soil, covered with lapnik, humus and other materials. If the snow melted in the spring, you need to throw an additional layer on top of the trees, and after the thaw, on the contrary, in time to free the plants from shelter.
How to choose the right seedling
Apples in creeping forms can have a different ripening period, but one should carefully consider the choice of seedling, choosing the most suitable apple trees for the Urals and Siberia. It is recommended to use local wild game as a stock, and make the scion of any variety you like. Plants with similar characteristics are most often sold in nurseries. Judging by the description, photos and reviews about the apple tree Borovinka, it is well suited for scion and is widely used in these regions. When buying an apple tree, it is better to give preference to plants with a developed root system, fresh foliage and a thick stem.
Preparing the soil for the apple tree
As seedlings, one-year-old trees with a fibrous root system are used. The diameter of the trunk should be about 1 cm. The roots are kept moist when placed in an earthen mash. For group planting, the distance between creeping apple trees should be at least 4 meters from each other. A place for landing is chosen, protected from drafts, so that snow in the winter does not blow off by the wind. The best harvest can be obtained by growing an apple tree on soddy ground.
The upper layers of the soil must be fertile, because the tree receives nutrition from them. It is advisable to avoid moist places, because overmoistening of the root system leads to its decay. The landing pit is prepared in advance, conducting standard pre-landing work. The best time for planting is the beginning of spring, when the buds on the trees have not yet blossomed, or late autumn, two weeks before the onset of frost.
Planting undersized apple trees
A pit is dug shallow, but wide, and filled with nutrient soil at 2/3 of the height. The soil is mixed with mineral fertilizers and humus, make a mound in the form of a cone. Planting stlanets has some features: a seedling should be placed in a pit not vertically, but at an angle of 35 degrees. The top is turned south. You can protect a young apple tree from breakage during bending if you turn the place of the spike carved into a stock to the surface of the earth. The root neck cannot be deepened or planted to too shallow depth. It will be enough 5 cm above the soil level, otherwise a lot of shoots will form around the rootstock, and it will have to be regularly cut. Excessive deepening leads to waterlogging of the root neck and can cause its decay.
The roots during planting should be carefully straightened and distributed over the embankment inside the pit, after which it should be covered with soil and compacted. The seedling is abundantly watered. One tree will need 2-3 buckets of water. Then the soil around is mulched using peat chips, humus or manure. A bundle of straw or grass is placed under the south side of the young apple tree to prevent burns on the bark. When planting in late autumn, annual seedlings should be bent to the soil and fixed with hooks so that they do not freeze in winter.
The correct formation of creeping apple trees
The most common methods of forming stlanets are considered to be arctic and melon. In the Arctic version, the branches of seedlings are bent in different directions, in the melon branch they are arranged in the form of a fan. Such forms of an adult apple tree occupy a large area, therefore, to save space, the formation of a two-armed stanza is used. Before the start of the bending process, in early spring, all the trees are freed from the covering material and the crown is cut by one third of the annual growth. In June, the formation of the crown begins.
The tree is neatly bent, holding the grafting site so that the trunk does not break. Before forming a creeping apple tree, it is fixed with wooden hooks. To protect the seedling from burns, it is necessary to bend it to the soil surface so that 5-6 cm remain before it. It is necessary to ensure that the base of the trunk does not bend, otherwise the tree will develop poorly. The lateral parts of the barrel are sent to the sides and fixed with hooks. Skeletal branches bend and twist a little so that they do not break during formation. By mid-autumn, the raised shoots are also fixed with hooks.
Before the onset of winter cold, young seedlings spud with soil to protect against freezing. The following year, when the snow melts, the trunk is dug up a bit, and the hooks are removed. In August, the formation of skeletal shoots of the stane continues, because at this moment they are the most flexible. Branches are sent to the sides and pinned.
In the process, broken and dried branches are removed, the crown is thinned out in early spring so that there is no excessive shading, then the buds develop better. All shoots should be illuminated and correctly directed, since the tree is located near the ground. If some branch interferes with the development of the crown, it is pinched over the fourth leaf in order to turn it into a fruiting one. When it grows back, the process should be repeated. Adult creeping apple trees before the onset of cold weather should be 25 cm above the surface of the soil, otherwise the crown will freeze if there is insufficient snow.
Care for the crown of the stlanes
A properly formed skeleton is obtained when the shoots of an adult tree do not rise higher. Each year, young branches are fixed on the ground before wintering, and in the summer they carry out sanitary pruning. Before pruning a creeping apple tree, you should prepare a sharp tool and a garden var to cover the saw cuts. In August, pinch the tops to stop the growth of branches and the bark has time to numb before the onset of cold weather. The crown is fully formed 5-6 years after planting. The most important thing is to conduct all events annually. This is a time-consuming process, but otherwise the apple tree will cease to creep and turn into an ordinary tree.
This form is not natural for the plant, because it will tend to grow vertically and grow tops. It is possible to form creeping trees, including directly. For this, an annual seedling is pruned in early spring above the fifth bud, leaving a stump no more than 15 cm in height. Summer shoots are sent to the sides and pinned at a distance of 7 cm from each other. The subsequent crown formation process repeats the usual method. The most severe branching causes shortening of the trunk by 1/3 of the height. But this option is rarely used by experienced gardeners.
Apple care
How to care for a creeping apple tree? It is advisable to support the branches of the stlanes during the fruiting period using trellises. This will help prevent damage to the crop and rotting of apples. Fruits from the tree are removed manually with the stem, being careful not to damage the fruit buds, and carefully lowered into a box or basket for collection. For long-term storage, you must try not to spoil the wax coating on the skin. It helps apples stay fresh and prevents them from drying out.
Preparing an apple tree for wintering
Apple trees for the Urals require shelter for the winter. To do this, they are spudded with a layer of mulch and fertile soil 10 cm high. You can cover the tree’s crown with spruce branches, dry grass and foliage or other materials. Plants must be protected from rodents by wrapping kapron trunks or setting traps with poisonous bait. Poison must be removed in the spring so that the birds do not glue it.
One of the shelter options for the creeping apple tree:
- support all skeletal shoots with props so that they do not bend from the weight of the material;
- cover the tree with a dense cloth, such as burlap;
- fill the edges along the perimeter with earth;
- place a thick layer of insulation material over the burlap;
- protect the surface from getting wet with oilcloth;
- fix the frame with boards, sprinkle soil on top.
Trees need whitewashing of the trunk, which is carried out before shelter for the winter. This will eliminate burns from the bright spring sun. It is impossible to remove the shelter too early, otherwise the apple trees will freeze if the frost returns. Young trees are very sensitive to sudden changes in temperature, so the protection is removed gradually.
Sanitary pruning and crown care
The crown of seedlings needs to be thinned regularly, this greatly affects fruiting.
The consequences of irregular pruning:
- the spread of diseases and pests;
- late fruiting;
- low palatability of apples;
- loss of shape, chopping fruit.
Lighten the crown and remove excess shoots every year. This treatment rejuvenates the tree and stimulates its development. With abundant flowering during the first fruiting, thinning of the ovaries is required, since a young plant may not withstand a copious crop.
Diseases and pests of stlanes
The preventative treatment of creeping apple trees differs from that for ordinary ones. The trunk circle must be regularly cleaned of shoots and weeds in order to facilitate air access to the roots and not to take away nutrients from plants. It is advisable to regularly mulch the soil around so that weeds do not spread. The easiest way to handle trees with a two-shouldered crown, when the branches of the stanza are directed in two directions. This greatly facilitates the work with an adult large apple tree. Pests of undersized plants are less likely to be damaged than others, since insects prefer to lay larvae at a height.
One of the common diseases of apple trees is the scab of leaves and fruits. It manifests itself in the form of black dots on the fruits and soot deposits on the foliage. Infection quickly develops in wet years, especially on heavily thickened trees, where regular crown pruning is not performed. The fruits of the affected tree begin to rot, and the leaves begin to crumble. The disease should be treated with special chemicals. For prevention, Bordeaux fluid is used, regularly spraying plants with it. It is very important to regularly burn fallen leaves and fruits. Strong immunity apple trees do not get scab, even if the spores of this fungus attach to the leaves.
Another common disease is moniliosis. It is expressed in the rot of fruits, foliage and shoots. In young trees, a sharp blackening of skeletal shoots can serve as a manifestation of infection. Therefore, it is important to remove them in time, processing a slice and other cracks in the cortex with garden var. For prevention, regularly destroy damaged as well as fallen fruits.