My espaliered Gold Rush tree planted this spring didn’t drop the leaves yet. It is expected 1F this night and very strong wind. Do I need to install some protection around it, or it is anyway too late? Now is 21F outside.
Did you stake it? If you don’t and it’s on a dwarf rootstock, I’d try to stake it.
The other thing I do it mulch it thickly. Don’t know if you could get mulch from Home Depot or Lowe’s at this time of the year.
It is espaliered, so it is tied to the wire. It is mulched also, and I have straw, can add more mulch. But I most concerned about the branches, they didn’t loose leaves, so I guess is not really dormant…
I stripped leaves off a few weeks ago when I sprayed. it forces dormancy and won’t cause branch breaking when snow stick to those leaves and weigh down the branches.
You don’t need to wait until all the leaves naturally drop. When I stripped my Goldrush, maybe, 40/50% of leaves were on. Other apples leaves were gone by then It’s time to help it go to sleep.
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Apples are pretty hardy compared to many other fruits. So hardy in fact that even the leaves can take real cold before falling. I think your tree will be OK with the cold esp if you’ve already had significant cold weather. If it were still pushing growth some of the branch tips might/probably would freeze back.
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[quote=“mamuang, post:4, topic:8182”]
I stripped leaves off a few weeks
[/quote] I didn’t know it forces dormancy, will do it next year.
[quote=“fruitnut, post:5, topic:8182”]
Apples are pretty hardy
[/quote] It is my first apple tree, so I need that assurance, thanks!
The weather pattern right now is not good. It’s low around 1 F tonight and high around 15 F tomorrow. By Sun, the high will be 51 F.
Never like the wild fluctuation. I hope the weather pattern here won’t try to imitate the one you have 
[quote=“mamuang, post:7, topic:8182”]
By Sun, the high will be 51 F.
[/quote] during the day… At night they predict 17 again 
. The weather is just all over the place…
Let me add to the re-assurance. Last Oct and Nov we didn’t get a freeze below 26F all through Oct and early Nov. Then we got 8" of wet snow and the temperature plummeted from 62F on 11/18 to 0 F on 11/22. All my trees had their leaves on the 18th and I stripped them to keep the wet snow from breaking branches. These were 1 and 2 year old trees.
I had only a very little bit of green tip dieback in the spring.
Thanks!
Galina,
Do you know Jed’s Garden Center on Rte 122A in Holden? Used to be Agway.
They have Bonide Turbo Spreader/Sticker. They carry many gardening products, a lot more than Home Depot and Lowe.
It is out of my way but I go there several times a year. It is worth a trip.
No, never been there. I usually order online, only place I go in person is Farmer’s Daughter garden center in Auburn, they have nice selection of things. I will check Jed’s one next year.
I agree Our trees have seen -27 degrees fahrenheit and come out ok. Our Gold Rush still has its leaves too.
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Everything at Farmers’s Daughters is more expensive than any other places. A pot rose at FD costs about $30-35. At Jed’s, you can get a big pot of Julia Child rose for $23.
Sprays, fertilizers, alfalfa, straw, hay, you name it. They have many products you cannot find at other nurseries.
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