Big ol' Mcintosh tree-

[Foxhd]

Hi, I live a in the Frederick, MD area and have a 30+ year old 20 foot Mackintosh tree. It came with the property we bought 30 years ago. It had been.allowed to grow as it wanted until about 5 years ago when we had a tree service come in to cut back some branches which were growing into the roadside phone line. We also had them thin out the tree in general. Nothing was done in the ensuing 3 or so years and as you can imagine, there are tons of mature water sprouts up there now, and branches are reaching out to the phone lines again.
It is going to need pruning again and I have some questions I hope some of you can answer…

First, Are there any of you in my area who have a specific tree service or arborist you could recommend that is specifically knowledgeable about pruning fruit trees? The tree service I used last time was professional but seemed a little rough and did not seem especially knowledgeable about fruit trees I have already called nearby orchards and the University of MD Extension Office for suggestions, but they could offer no help other then that the UME directed me to information on DIY instructions, but I don’t feel like we can safely (for the tree or us) do it ourselves.

Second, I was wondering if it would be better to have the tree pruning done in early summer rather then next spring. I heard that summer pruning limits water sprouts.

Lastly, I know I want to keep it out of the phone lines, but is it in the trees best interests for us to remove the current water sprouts, and/or thin out other branching? We are satisfied with the imperfect fruit we get. Mainly, I would like to keep the tree alive as long as possible…

I greatly appreciate any information or suggestions. Thank you

[mamuang]

A similar thread was just posted. Please check it out. There is useful advice in the thread.

Pruning Old Apple Trees

Hi Mick, That second tree is a beautiful tree. It might be nice to maintain that stately look while bringing it down to a more workable level. I’ve pruned a number of similarly sized old tree and in my experience doing it over many years, five or more, slowly, has worked best. I go for not more than a quarter or less a year. The tree seems to handle it better without the stress of a more major cutback that it would need to recover from. It also helps lessen the overwhelming watersprout growth a…

I hope @alan will chime in.

[alan]

The leaning tree has lost the battle in a way, but can survive as a leaning tree if a strong cedar post or pressure treated 4X4 is used to support it. The winner is a codominant monstrosity that threatens to tear itself apart, apparently, especially if there is inverted bark where they are joined.

That will make reconstruction a bit tricky as the left side of the tree can’t just be cut off without a few years of subsequent aesthetic agony. The trick is to reduce the left side more quickly than reducing the right side to create the ultimate reconstruction.

I would remove a lot more than a quarter of the small branches and focus on opening up the top and reducing the height of the tree. A tree like that could lose a half of its branches without getting any trunk scald or other consequences- the tree is actually quite young and very vigorous. I’m thinking from here (not very reliable) that it’s not more than 50-60 years old.

Tippy, can you provide Foxhd with a link to the topic where we were just discussing this.

[mamuang]

The link was there in my post above.

[alan]

oops

[David_DeafGardening]

You need to seek an arborist not landscaper. Just saying, because here in WA State the fools just hire landscapers and they hire homeless migrant workers from Mexico who just top everything. I mean you are lucky, because they butchered all the flowering plumbs by sawing off arms To be three foot nubs for no reason. Eventually all became diseased and looked ugly so we lost about 50. The fools here then replaced with their service’s suggested fast growing trees, which now are growing roots under the apartments and were planted about three feet from the apartments. If you seek a master gardener in your area they may suggest someone good, you could drive past nice homes with trees and then if they are home in yard ask who they use, or try contacting local small businesses with good cared for trees and ask the managers.

[Foxhd]

@mamuang Thank you for the link to the similar thread “Pruning Old Apple Trees”. I read it. It and the post from @alan have given me a good idea of what I should discuss with whomever I find to do the work.

. I am new to this forum. Would it be proper etiquette to use Personal Messaging to contact the members who live in the same area as me to ask if they know of any person or company that they could recommend ?

[Foxhd]

@alan Thanks for the information you provided here and on the other thread. Your analysis is very helpful. I am very surprised to hear that this tree might be over 50 years old and that could be considered young.! It makes me want to keep it going all the more

That brings me to another question .The tree developed what I think might be Bacterial Wetwood where the trunk splits off. (Picture below ) I couldn’t find any specific information on what the outlook is for the tree because of this. Have you had any experience with this or suggestions on anything to do?

[Foxhd]

@David_DeafGardening. Sorry to hear about what was done to your flowering plums. That is why I was hoping that a member in my area might be able recommend a person or company that they know knows what they are doing.
The Master Gardeners in my county were not able to give me any recommendations, but I like your idea of checking out nice homes or business properties for possible leads. Thanks

[alan]

Ideally there is a single trunk with branches coming of it not more than half the diameter of the trunk at point of attachment. This allows the tissue of the Trunk to wrap around the branch and make the union strong- the swelling at the base of scaffold branches is supportive tissue from the trunk.

With a tree that has two leaders, like this one, the lack of dominance creates pressure (oh the potential metaphors here). The two leaders are growing almost equally every year and as their diameter increases they press against the other and actually crush cells and injure each other. The dead cells become food for fungus (disease).

By reducing the leaning side you are reducing it’s overall growth and reducing the pressure that is killing cells.

[Foxhd]

@alan Thanks again for all the helpful and detailed information… I want to make sure I understand. You are suggesting that I gradually reduce the side of the tree that is leaning towards the street with the goal of eventually removing most of it? In the mean time, I should brace with a post or 4X4?

I wish I knew that I could hire a tree service and expect them to have your level of understanding of the situation. I may PM a few of the members in my geographical vicinity to see if they can recommend a tree service or individual for this kind of work.

Also, is the fungus that is attacking the tree now only going to get worse, or does the tree have a chance of overcoming it?

[alan]

Perhaps if you provide my guideline to an arborist they can follow it. I was talking about bracing the nearby tree, if you cut back the competing leader aggressively it is very unlikely it will break off.

What fungus? Obviously the tree is growing very vigorously in spite of any disease issues.

[Foxhd]

The two leaders are growing almost equally every year and as their diameter increases they press against the other and actually crush cells and injure each other. The dead cells become food for fungus (disease).

I thought that what you wrote was in reference to the photo that I posted showing what I thought was bacterial wetwood, and that you were referring to it as a fungus

[alan]

The bacterial wet wood is what? You must have had it diagnosed because such problems are usually fungal, and I expect it’s from the pressure which will be reduced as the one side is reduced. The infection is likely well walled off from healthy wood. Trees don’t usually kill fungal invaders, they wall them off.

[Foxhd]

Well, I had been really just guessing on the Bacterial Wetwood based on previous internet searches. It has a sour smell (which I forgot to mention in earlier posts) and the search results usually suggested Bacterial Wetwood/Slim Flux. But in reality, I don’t know and I am going to take heart in your suggestion that the infection may be walled off and reducing the one side will ease the pressure and benefit the tree .

I will be hunting for an arborist and thank you again for your guidlines which I am definately going to pass on to him/her…

[alan]

If you are worried about the smell and fluid, you can always contact your cooperative extension and for about $30 or so have a sample sent to a pathologist. However, I think your tree is fine.

[franc1969]

I did answer in PM, there are a couple tree/landscape people locally who will probably be good.