Is this terminal"

[ghost1]

Trunk at soil level of four year old Williams Pride apple tree. Can and should anything be done?

 

[Chuck]

Your tree appears to be planted WAY too deep and at the graft. The graft should be above the soil line and the main roots should be visible. Terminal? Possibly, but probably not for another couple of years or so. What you will see is a lack of or a reduction in production. The tree will also be more succeptible to disease. It is probably too late to do anything now but you could try to dig away the soil until the graft is fully uncovered and the main roots visible. Google root flare grafted apple tree for a more complete understanding.

 

[ghost1]

Thanks for reply Chuck. I think I lost another tree last year for same reason. I'm afraid I planted all apple trees too deep. I'll try to lower the soil level on this one.
Thanks again

 

[Chuck]

Thanks for reply Chuck. I think I lost another tree last year for same reason. I'm afraid I planted all apple trees too deep. I'll try to lower the soil level on this one.
Thanks again

You must be very carefull when you purchase a tree from the nursery to make sure it isn't too deep in the container, but, if it is it is much easier to fix the problem then than to plant the tree and have to come back in a year or two and do it then...Just study root flares and you will be OK.

 

[oneeye]

Trees planted too deep in the nursery often come from them that way. The reason is the trees can be managed easily while they are in containers growing for years. Trees planted deeply in the container stay in there containers during rains, winds, and when shuffled around. It's recommended to take the top couple of inches of soil off the root ball before planting, exposing the root flair.

Besides being planted too deep your tree looks like it has a case of sunscaled. When tree bark is exposed to freezing temperatures and solar heating during Winter the bark will split or crack. Young fruit trees planted too deep are susceptible the most. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[ghost1]

Will tree heal itself from sunscald?

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

Will tree heal itself from sunscald?

Usually no, I've seen it happen with Japanese maples but yours looks too far gone. It can live for years however

We had a favorite montmorency cherry that split one winter and lived about a decade before giving up, each year producing fruit

 

[ghost1]

I went out yesterday and scraped soil away from trunk until I started hitting roots. I did notice there seems to be new growth trying to wrap around the damage. Fingers crossed, will update later in spring.