Crab apple

Crab apple: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Small tree of 5–10 m with a broad, rounded crown about 6 m across; often with thorny short shoots.

Leaves

Alternate, 4–8 cm, oval to round with a short pointed tip, scalloped to toothed; mature leaves hairless on both sides.

Bark

Grey-brown, flaking; short shoots often end in a thorny point.

Flowers

White to pale pink flowers in clusters, in April–May.

Fruit

Yellowish-green apples 2–3 cm across, sometimes flushed red; sour and astringent.

Difference from apple

The cultivated apple has larger, sweet apples, leaves that stay felted underneath and twigs without thorns.

Difference from wild pear

Wild pear has a glossy leaf on a long stalk, and hard little pears with grit cells.

Flowering: May · Harvest and fruit: September–November · Pruning: November–March

Identify by feature: White blossom · Pink blossom · Thorns or prickles

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Apple Malus: larger, sweet apples, leaves that stay felted underneath, and twigs without thorns. Difference from apple
• Wild pear Pyrus pyraster: glossy leaf on a long stalk, and hard little pears with grit cells. Difference from wild pear

Why grow it?

• Blossom in April–May for bees and bumblebees.
• The little apples are winter food for thrushes, blackbirds and mammals.
• Ideal for jelly or to give apple sauce some bite.
• A rare native tree for hedgerows and wildlife gardens.
• Can help pollinate apple varieties nearby.

Crab apple: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; it flowers and fruits most freely in sun.
• Ordinary garden soil, sand, loam or clay, neither too dry nor too wet.
• Allow for 5–10 m in height and a crown of about 6 m: it suits an average to large garden, a hedgerow or a mixed hedge.
• Don’t plant it under or right next to a walnut: it is sensitive to juglone, the substance walnut trees release.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

8 m tall, 6 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Apple: A crab apple nearby can help pollinate your apple varieties.
• Blackthorn: Flowers earlier, in March–April: together they give bees blossom for a long time in a hedgerow.
• Dog rose: Flowers after the crab apple and bears red hips: together a colourful native hedgerow.
• Hazel: A native shrub that thickens up a hedgerow and gives nuts.

Good and bad companions

Best kept away from

• Walnut releases juglone, to which this plant is sensitive: walnut
• Fruit trees that can catch fireblight from this plant: apple, pear, nashi pear

Crab apple: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March when the ground isn’t frozen.
2. Ask for planting stock of native origin: many ‘crab apples’ in hedges and on sale are crosses with the cultivated apple.
3. Put a stake on the windward side and tie the trunk loosely to it.
4. Mix a little compost into the planting soil, and water after planting and during dry spells in the first summers.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first few years.

Feeding

Not needed; a little compost around the base is enough.

Harvesting

Pick the little apples in September–October for jelly, or leave them for the birds.

Thorns

Wear gloves when pruning and picking.

Tip: Make crab apple jelly: their acidity and high pectin content make it set on its own. Mix them into a sauce of sweet apples too, for a fresher taste.

Crab apple: when to prune it?

Pruning months: November–March.

When: Dead, diseased and broken branches can be removed at any time of year. If pruning is needed, do it during winter dormancy (November–March).

How:

• Little pruning needed. A young tree can be shaped into an open crown in winter.
• Later, remove only dead, crossing and inward-growing branches; in a hedge or hedgerow it can grow freely.

Caution: If you see fire blight, cut well into healthy wood in dry weather and disinfect your secateurs after every cut.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Sowing

In autumn, take the pips from ripe apples and sow them outdoors in a seed tray: they need winter cold to germinate. If cultivated apples grow nearby, the seedling may be a hybrid.

Grafting

A scion grafted onto a rootstock gives a tree identical to its parent.

Crab apple: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy; only the blossom is sensitive to late night frosts.
• Little apples that stay on the tree or fall are winter food for thrushes, blackbirds and fieldfares.

Diseases and pests

• Fire blight: Flowers and twigs wilt and turn brownish-black as if scorched, with a tip bent over like a shepherd’s crook. Cut out affected branches well into healthy wood.
• Scab: Dark, rough spots on leaves and fruit. Rarely a problem on a crab apple; clear away badly affected leaves.
• Powdery mildew: A white, powdery coating on young shoots. Cut off affected shoot tips.
• Aphids: Curled shoot tips in spring. Let ladybirds and hoverflies do their work.

Through the year

• January: Prune if needed.
• February: Pruning; planting season when there is no frost.
• March: Last month for pruning and planting.
• April: Flowering: bees and bumblebees; watch out for night frost.
• May: Last blossom; watch for fire blight in warm, damp weather.
• September: Little apples ripe: pick for jelly.
• October: Pick the last apples or leave them for the birds; sow the pips.
• November: Planting season; pruning can start again.
• December: Prune if needed.

What can you use it for?

For wildlife

Blossom for bees; the little apples are winter food for thrushes, blackbirds and mammals.

Food and drink

Too sour to eat raw, but ideal for jelly or to give apple sauce some bite.

Garden and landscape

Native tree for hedgerows and wildlife gardens.

Caution: Host of fire blight, like the cultivated apple.

Edible and useful

Fruit (September–November)

Pick the apples from mid-September to the end of October, when they are yellow to yellow-green, sometimes with a red blush, and come away easily from the branch. They are small, hard and very sour: raw they taste harsh, but cooked they give plenty of flavour and pectin for jelly. Pick them from the tree if you can, or gather fresh windfalls, and leave damaged, rotten or mouldy ones where they lie. Always leave part of the crop hanging as winter food for thrushes, blackbirds and mammals.

Storing

Whole, undamaged apples keep for a few weeks up to several months in a cool, dark place such as a cellar, in a single layer in a crate. Cut into pieces, they can be frozen or dried. Jelly, apple sauce and vinegar keep for several months to a year, depending on the recipe.

Fermenting

Wild apples have been used for centuries to make cider and apple cider vinegar: the natural yeasts on the skin turn the sugars into alcohol and then into vinegar. See the vinegar recipe.

Caution: Do not eat apple pips and cores in large amounts: apple pips contain amygdalin, a substance that can release hydrogen cyanide. In jelly and apple sauce they are strained out. Throw away apples with rotten patches, mould or maggots, and do not just cut the mould off a mouldy fruit. People who are allergic to apples (or to birch pollen) may react to the raw fruit. The wild apple is rare: do not pick in nature reserves and take only part of the fruit. Do not pick from ornamental crab apples in parks and public gardens, which are often treated, nor from trees beside busy roads or in sprayed orchards. Never eat anything you have not identified with certainty.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Wild apple jelly (Jelly · ± 3 jars of 250 ml · 1 hr + 1 night draining)
• Apple sauce with wild apples (Compote · ± 3 jars of 250 ml · 45 min)
• Wild apple vinegar (Vinegar · ± 1 litre · 30 min + 6–8 weeks)
• Dried apple rings (Dried · ± 150 g · 30 min + 6–8 hrs drying)

Did you know?

• Our cultivated apple does not descend from this species but mainly from a wild apple from Kazakhstan (Malus sieversii). The crab apple did cross with it later on.
• True crab apples are rare: many trees that look wild turn out to be crosses with the cultivated apple.