Perfusion Crab Apple

I went to tennessee and found this in a nursery there.. what do you think about useing the top leader as a new apex ???? suggestions wanted please..i finally found one that flowers and fruits..thank you very much take care john

If it were mine, I would feed, water well and see how much growth it pushes out (get to know this particular tree). It has a long, untapered trunk and I would want to wait and eventually cut it back hard (crabs love to grow can shaped). The best time to do that is before the buds swell up, so your usual window is fall to late winter. I would also remove the flowers since it'll help produce more growth and save energy for next year. Do you know what particular crab species you have??

John

The cultivar name is 'Profusion.' It is apparently an old reliable cultivar and is probably fairly disease resistant. It doesn't look to be grafted. However, that straight taperless trunk should go. If I were you, I would make cuttings or air-layers of those two branches. Once they are rooted, you can wire some gentle curves into them. My experience with a crabapple of similar ancestry is that they respond well to trunk chopping to get trunk movement & taper.
Iris

I guess it depends on what kind of tree you want. That trunk is quite straight and without taper. If it were mine...I'd probably let it grow this season (since that has already started), keep it healthy, then consider cutting back quite a bit for next year...to get some movement and taper in the lower trunk. Maybe even put it in a larger pot or the ground. Once it gets growing strongly, you could probably even layer the main trunk below the lowest branch and then have two trees with relatively large trunks.

Thank you John ,Mrs iris,chris for your comments..i got the guy to saw the tree off at the lowest branches so i could get it home.. i am checking for the way i need to go...i wanted a crab and found this one so we will see how it goes...thanks take care john

It is very long and straight. Whatever you do, I would probably try to feature the contrast between the pink/purple flowers and that grey bark.

Peaceful acers,,That is the rearon i wanted this tree the red leaves ,,gray bark also it is suppose to bear fruit... thanks take care john

This might be of help...

http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/crabappl.htm

Quote from that link...

"Developing Trunk and Taper

It is difficult to get good taper on Crabs despite the fact that they are relatively fast growing. They always want to be cylinders, albeit fat cylinders as they get older. The way around this problem is to reduce the whips to within about 6 inches after letting them grow completely wild for 2 or 3 years. This can be in large containers or in the ground. The plant will respond by throwing many branches below the cut in all directions that eventually bend back upward. Let all these grow wild until winter. Then head them all back to within several inches of the trunk, but preserve a new leader from the top of the plant.

Repeat this process as long as you like. What happens is that the multitude of low branches will form an enormous lower trunk. These lower branches can be removed (they will be too large for bonsai ) when the tree is dug up and new scaffolding branches trained once it is placed in a smaller training pot. Trees in the ground will develop 4 to 6 inch trunks in 5 years with this method."

DARIO,,,Thank you for the link,,I will read all this and see what i can do with this thing...thanks take care john

I worked with the apple last night.. i angled the chop,,wired the branch up for the apex then cut the branches back to the second set of leaves...the little branches are about 3 in. long now.. maybe it will work ,,it really cdon,t look too bad except the long trunk..... take care john