Slate tree shapes. Creeping crowns. Preparing for wintering the slate apple tree

To grow an apple tree in a stylized (creeping) form, you need an annual seedling whose stem is elastic and bends easily.
In the spring, an overwintered seedling is planted vertically, as usual, to the level of the root collar, but 2-3 weeks after planting, the stem is carefully bent into a horizontal position through a “thorn”, then the scion will not break off from the rootstock. The bent stem is secured in a bent position with a wire hook, and its top is cut 15-20 cm above the bud located at the bottom of the stem. In order for the horizontal base of the crown to be covered with snow in the future, the bend of the stem should be at a height of 15-20 cm from the soil surface. IN summer time It is not recommended to bend the stem.
In the first half of summer, new shoots that appear on the stem should grow vertically upward, but in the second half (July-early August) they are secured with hooks in a horizontal position. In this case, the shoots are positioned so that in the future they do not interfere with each other and do not intertwine with each other. The shoot that has grown near the bend is bent in the direction opposite to the direction of growth of the main stem. It is impossible to be late with the timing of bending down the shoots, because the lignified shoots will not be fixed in a horizontal position and, after removing the hooks, will again take a vertical position. Shoots bent in a timely manner finish growing faster, ripen well and are firmly fixed in a horizontal position.
To avoid damage to the seedling by mice in winter, the crown is covered with spruce needles and poisonous baits are placed under the crown.

The formation of the stale crown continues until the tree begins to bear fruit. The principle of formation remains the same - every year in the first half of summer, new shoots are allowed to grow vertically upward, and in the second half they are bent with hooks into a horizontal position. At the same time, make sure that there is no interlacing of branches, overlapping them on each other and excessive thickening. All unnecessary branches are cut out.
After the tree begins to bear fruit, the bending of the skeletal branches is stopped, because the fruit-bearing branches in most cases themselves fall to the ground under the weight of the fruit. When pruning the peripheral part of the crown, broken or diseased branches are removed; if the crown is very thick, the crown is thinned out.
During June and July, all vertically growing shoots of the middle part of the crown when they reach a height
12-18 cm are pinched - the vertical part is pinched, leaving a stump with 3-4 leaves. If you leave the shoots without pinching, they grow strongly and delay the end of the tree's growth, which leads to a decrease in its winter hardiness and productivity.
Summer pinching can be replaced by bending the shoots into a horizontal position or twisting their tops in the form of a loop. The shoots, pinched or twisted in summer, are pruned annually throughout the life of the tree. Pruning is carried out in the spring. Very thick (fatifying) vertical shoots are also cut out, leaving weaker ones that have an inclined or horizontal position. All uncut shoots with a length of more than 20-25 cm are cut into stumps with 3-4 buds. If a vertical shoot branched last summer, then it is cut off to the lower branching, which in turn is also cut off by 2-3 buds.
When planting an annual seedling in the fall, pruning its stem is carried out in the spring. If a two-year-old seedling, whose stem cannot be bent without breaking, is used to form the slate form, then it is planted obliquely.
When bending shoots, it is not recommended to secure several pieces at once with one hook, since this creates crowns in which the shoots prevent each other from growing and bearing fruit normally.
For more convenient cultivation of the soil under the crown, it is not recommended to lay branches on the ground. If snow cover not large, the branches can be laid directly on the surface of the soil and covered with earth for the winter. On heavy, heavily moist soils, the bark of branches covered with earth can become damp, and the covered branches can completely die if they are late in freeing them from the ground in the spring.
Yu. Smirnov, amateur gardener

Spouses Irina PAVLOVA and Igor EFIMOV from Irkutsk have been growing large-fruited apple trees for 15 years, but not simple ones...

Gardeners are not hampered by either the harsh climate or the location of the site in a cold zone (at the bottom of a hill). But there is important point: spouses apple trees are grown in shale-bush form.

Tricky trick

In our Siberian conditions it is better to forget about tall trees with a spreading crown. Apple trees should be shaped more like currant bushes.

We have developed a method of caring for apple trees, thanks to which we grow trees of almost any variety, except perhaps winter ones.

The couple emphasizes: the main problem of the region is not a small summer, but a very short autumn. As a result, the trees simply do not have time to prepare for winter (too abrupt a transition from warm to low temperatures) and die. Proper agricultural technology helps to avoid this outcome. And shaping it in a shale-bush form for subsequent shelter is one of the key points.

Our apple trees never shed their leaves - they don’t have time. They always go into winter with leaves. But we cover the plants, thereby prolonging autumn and smoothing out the transition to low temperatures. This is our cunning trick.

TREE WITH BOTTLES

Gardeners begin to cover apple trees when the soil has been slightly frozen by frost and even the snow has passed, which melts in the morning. As a rule, this is the end of October - beginning of November.

But first, we bend the branches to the ground as much as possible,” explains Irina. - We tie a load to them - first big bottles with water, a little later we add small bottles so that the apple tree lies completely. And so that in the future the crown does not break under the weight of snow drifts, we put supports under the large skeletal branches that bear the main weight. In places where there is a large accumulation of branches, we place arcs made of reinforcement.

After this, agrofibre is thrown over the entire tree - two stitched canvases measuring 6x10 m each. But the main shelter is still a good layer of snow.

The famous varieties of apple trees - Papirovka, Melba, Orlik, Spartan - are quite suitable for the stale method of cultivation. It would be even more correct to find the varieties Chudnoe, Brat-chud, Carpet, and Prizemlennoe. The height of these plants barely exceeds 1 m, so they are much easier to grow in the North.

Spring came!

Apple trees open in late April-early May. If you delay this, they will bloom right under the shelter, which will not destroy the trees, but may affect the quantity and quality of the harvest. Having removed the cover and freed the branches from the load, you need to give the apple trees time to rest. The trees stand and straighten for a couple of weeks. And then the branches are tied to a support.

Near each tree, at a distance of 15-20 cm from the main trunk, they drove metallic profile 130 cm long, which has a square cross-section with sides of 2.5 cm. The bottom of the pipe was pre-sharpened so as not to cut off the roots. They left 50 cm above the surface of the earth, explains Igor. - The result is a stationary structure that we do not remove at the end of the season. In the spring, we insert another, smaller pipe into this piece of pipe.

At its upper end there are hooks, to which we tie the branches using polypropylene twine. At the same time, we distribute them so that they do not interfere with each other, each has enough sun and air, and in the future the fruits do not hit each other in windy weather.

This is not the first time we have been approached with a request to tell about the Stlantsy people. Gardeners from the Leningrad region and the northern regions of the Nizhny Novgorod region, where wintering conditions are more severe than, for example, in the Moscow region, are interested in the technique of growing apple trees in a creeping form.

Plants in the stale form have many advantages over standard trees and not only in terms of wintering. But you should know that there are also disadvantages. And the main one is the high labor intensity of stone formation. It is not enough to give the plant the proper shape; you need to maintain it regularly.

Keep in mind that the slate shape is unnatural for the tree and it will constantly strive to assume an upright position. At the same time, many tops grow. They need to be cut out, leaving only individual branches from which to form the skeleton of the tree. In turn, these branches need to be bent and secured in time so that they are under the snow in winter.

Choosing a place to plant a tree with a slate form

To plant trees in slate form, it is advisable to choose a place protected from the winds. In winter, snow should not be blown away from the site, but rather, it should accumulate on the contrary. Stlan residents need more fertile soil, the bulk of their roots are in the surface layer. For this reason planting pits You can dig shallow, but at least a meter wide. These holes are filled with fertile soil and humus, and the most delicious and shelf-stable fruits grow on turf soil.

It is important to prevent the root collar from sinking (which easily happens with stale trees), so plant them on a small hill, a hillock.

Formation of slates

There are several ways to form slates (Figures 1, 2, 3). The most common forms are arctic and melon.

The Arctic is also called the plate shape. It was proposed by V.M. Krutovsky. This form can be achieved in several ways:

1. Budding the wild bird with two eyes at a height of 25-30 cm. The shoots grown from the eyes are extended in different directions.

2. By cutting vertically growing annuals at a height of 25-30 cm. 4-5 lateral shoots appear, which are extended in different directions.

3. Budding of overgrown wild shoots into lateral branches. The melon or fan form was proposed by A.D. Kizyurin. The essence of this form is as follows. Ordinary seedlings are planted obliquely at an angle of 30-400, and then formed into a fan. As a result of the growth of branches, an adult stanza most often loses its fan shape and resembles a plate shape.

To maintain the creeping shape, all branches of the melon and plate stems are held in a horizontal position with the help of hooks.

Apple trees grown in such forms occupy in mature age large area. To reduce it, forms in the form of single-arm and double-arm bent steel are used (Fig. 2).

Please note once again that regular monitoring of the growth of the stale form is required: repeated pinning, bending and pruning of branches throughout the season, and most importantly, removal of constantly growing tops. Without pruning the tops, a weakly fruiting “bush” of apple tree grows instead of the stale tree.

Fast-growing branches that make up the skeleton of the tree need to be shortened and bent in a timely manner. The growing lateral branches on the leaders are also shortened, turning them into fruit branches.

Advantages of slants:

1. They don't fall under extreme conditions in winter and under temperature changes in spring. Due to the fact that they are covered with a blanket of snow and the temperature there remains constant, the tree does not wake up ahead of time, which saves it from death. According to experts, large-fruited apple trees in a creeping form can live 60-80 years.

2. An apple tree in a slate form spreads above the ground. The tree is in favorable temperature conditions in summer. It is very important. Many varieties lack the sum of active temperatures in summer. And the branches of apple trees, being at a height of 30-40 cm from the ground, warm up better, their wood ripens better.

3. Slants are almost not affected by pests, and in particular by the codling moth. It turns out that the codling moth butterfly tries to lay its eggs higher than a meter from the ground, and the Siberian apple trees lower.

4. Slate forms can be covered not only with snow, which makes it possible to grow large-fruited varieties in the northern regions. For covering, foam plastic and boards are used, placed as support under the covering material. The entire crown of the apple tree is covered with a single sheet, for example, spunbond highest density. The top is covered with leaves, covered with old clothes, blankets and other available materials.

Prepared material

M.B. Sharova, biologist

You can find this article in the newspaper "Magic Bed" 2010 No. 20.

The climate of the Urals and Siberia is characterized by a certain severity and unpredictability. Therefore, apple trees in a given region must have appropriate hardiness and winter hardiness. Currently, quite a lot of breeding varieties of columnar apple trees have been created that are capable of growing and producing good harvest even in the harshest climatic latitudes. They can be divided into 3 groups.

Ranetki- the most winter-hardy bush-shaped apple trees that have small fruits weighing no more than 15 g.
Semi-cultured women- have slightly less winter hardiness, but they tolerate a normal winter normally. Grown in bush form, fruit weight from 15 to 130 g.
Stlantsy- large-fruited varieties with low winter hardiness. The formation of a creeping stylized crown is in most cases performed artificially. In addition, several new varieties of natural slates have also been developed.

The most popular varieties of apple trees for the Urals and Siberia are the following:

Antonovka;
White filling;
Melba;
Padding;
Welsey;
Silver Hoof;
Gift of Autumn;
Summer Striped;
Ural Liquid.

However, the Ural region may not be entirely favorable even for specially bred varieties. For example, late frosts can negatively affect apple trees during flowering, destroying the entire crop. Therefore, to create a garden, it is necessary to choose different varieties of apple trees, taking into account their growing season, frost and winter hardiness. Read also on our website!

Winter frost-resistant variety. Main characteristics:

tree large sizes, with a spreading crown;
the fruits of the Antonovka apple tree are large, weighing 125–150 g, with a yellowish-green peel;
the pulp is white, juicy, tartrate;
fruit ripening – September;
yield – 200–300 kg per tree;
storage – 3 months;
frost resistance is good;
The fruits are used fresh, for drying, making compotes, juices, marmalade and marshmallows.

The fruits of the Antonovka apple tree are harvested in September, and consumer maturity occurs a month after harvesting.

Apple tree White Pouring

Summer winter-hardy variety. Main characteristics:

The height of the tree is average, the crown is rounded, the bud is easy to form;
the fruits of the Belyi Naliv apple tree are medium, weighing 100 - 150 g, round, with a greenish-yellow peel;
the pulp is white, coarse-grained, sweet and sour;
removable maturity occurs in August;
the yield is 100 kg per tree;
storage - 2 weeks;
frost resistance is high, disease resistance is average;
The fruits are used fresh and for preservation.

The fruits of the White Naliv apple tree are unsuitable for long-term storage because they spoil quickly. Therefore, it is best to use them for recycling.

Apple tree Melba

Late summer Canadian variety. Main characteristics:

a tree of medium height, with a rounded crown; in the Urals and Siberia it is grown in the stylite form;
The fruits of the Melba apple tree are large, weighing 140-200 g. The peel is light green with a rich red blush;
the pulp is snow-white, sweet and sour, with a caramel aroma;
The fruits ripen in August;
yield – 120 kg per tree;
storage in a cool room - until January;
resistance to diseases and frost is average;
The fruits are used fresh and for processing into compotes and juices.

The Melba apple tree produces many erect, long shoots, which make it difficult to form into a stale tree. Therefore, additional pruning of branches and timely pinching is required.

Apple tree Padding

Early summer slate variety. Main characteristics:

tree of moderate growth, with a dense rounded crown;
Papirovka apple fruits are small, weighing up to 100 g, round, slightly ribbed, greenish-yellow peel;
pulp white, loose, sweet and sour;
The fruits ripen in August;
yield – 150-250 kg per tree;
storage – 15–30 days;
winter hardiness and disease resistance are good;

The Papirovka apple tree is self-sterile; the best pollinator for it is the Welsey variety.

Apple tree Welsey

Winter variety imported from America. Main characteristics:

medium-sized tree with a pyramidal crown;
the fruits are medium-sized, weighing 90–150 g, the peel is greenish-yellow with a red blush;
the pulp is white, with a pink tint near the skin, crispy, sweet and sour;
The fruits of the Welsey apple tree are harvested in September-October;
the yield is 150-200 kg per tree;
storage – until January;
winter and frost resistance is average;
universal grade.

The slate crown of the Welsey apple tree is formed at a distance of 25–50 cm from the soil: by bending and pruning, the branches of the tree are kept in this position throughout its life.

Apple Tree Silver Hoof

Summer early fruiting variety. Large semi-culture. Main characteristics:

the tree is low, with a rounded branched crown;
the fruits are small, one-dimensional, weighing 85 g, round. The peel is smooth, creamy, with an orange-red tint;
the pulp has a fine-grained structure, juicy, sweet and sour;
The fruits of the Silver Hoof apple tree ripen in August;
yield – 160 kg per tree;
storage – 4-6 weeks;
resistance to diseases and frost is high;
The fruits are used fresh and for processing.

It is necessary to regularly feed the Silver Hoof apple tree and monitor the humidity level. Because with a decrease in soil fertility, fruits may decrease in size, and with prolonged high humidity the tree becomes vulnerable to scab.

Apple Tree Gift of Autumn

Autumn high-yielding variety. Main characteristics:

tall tree with a rounded crown;
the fruits of the Gift of Autumn apple tree are large, weighing 140 g, flat-round, with a yellow peel;
the pulp is yellowish, sweet and sour, soft, does not darken for a long time;
fruit ripening – August-September;
yield – 150 kg per tree;
storage – 60 days;
resistance to diseases and frost is good;
universal use.

For pollinating the Gift of Autumn apple tree, the Anis Sverdlovsk variety is best suited.

Apple Tree Summer Striped

Summer early ripening variety. Main characteristics:

the tree is medium-sized, has a compact crown;
the fruits are small, weighing 70–80 g, oblong-ovoid, pink-red peel;
the pulp is white, granular, juicy, sweet and sour;
fruit ripening and eating – July-August;
the yield of the Summer Striped apple tree is 120 kg per tree;
storage – 2–4 weeks;
resistance to diseases is average, resistance to frost is good;
universal use.

The Summer Striped apple tree needs pollinators, the best of them are Cream Chinese, Miass, and Prizovoe.

Apple tree Uralskoe Bulk

Autumn selection variety. Semi-cultured. Main characteristics:

the tree is medium-sized, with a dense, rounded, drooping crown;
The fruits are small, weighing 28-30 g, round. The peel is smooth, glossy, yellow-green;
the pulp is white, juicy, sweet and sour;
consumer maturity of the fruits of the Uralskoe Nalivnoe apple tree occurs in September-October;
yield – 200 kg per tree;
storage - 2 months;
high resistance to frost;
universal use.

Depending on the method of consumption, there are 3 periods of ripeness for the fruits of the Uralskoe Nalivnoe apple tree:

the fruits are removed for processing into compotes and juices when the pulp is still hard but very juicy;
for fresh consumption, apples at this time are very tasty and the pulp is more tender;
apples are used to make preserves, jams and marmalade.

Features of cultivation

Planting and caring for apple trees in the Urals and Siberia has some nuances. This especially applies to winter period, during which trees require increased attention. The fact is that with strong and deep freezing of the soil root system even very hardy varieties can be damaged. Therefore, for the winter, it is recommended to cover the circle around the trunk with a layer of humus, 7–10 centimeters thick. And cover it with leaves and snow on top.

To protect young apple trees from strong winds, it is recommended to tie them to a support installed near the seedling. You can also attach each branch to it separately.

Landing. You can plant apple trees in the Urals in late autumn, so that the seedling does not have time to grow and is not damaged by frost. Or in early spring, after the last snow has melted. In this case, by the time real warmth arrives, the root system will adapt to the new soil, and the tree will begin to develop. For planting, it is recommended to choose fertile, nitrogen-rich soil with deep groundwater.

Caring for apple trees traditionally consists of watering, fertilizing and pruning:

Watering. Apple trees need careful care immediately after planting. In subsequent years, they are watered only in years that are too dry.
Feeding. After the tree has taken root and started to grow, the apple tree needs to be fed. For this, it is recommended to use nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers. In order for the fertilizer to reach the root system faster, the tree must be watered after feeding.
Trimming. The formation of the crown is carried out a year after planting, and in subsequent years preventive pruning is carried out. In spring, it is recommended to trim branches as much as possible to stimulate their growth. This, in turn, contributes to high yields and larger fruit sizes.

Planting fruit trees - video

In the conditions of the Urals, Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan, apple trees large-fruited varieties can be successfully grown when they form a stylized crown that overwinters under the snow.
Annual seedlings whose trunk has not yet lost its elasticity and bends easily are planted in the garden. Some manuals recommend planting them obliquely, but many years of experience of Siberian gardeners have shown that it is better to plant annual seedlings vertically, as usual, to the level of the root collar. Sloping planting is justified only if the seedlings (two-year-old) are overgrown and their trunk cannot be bent without breaking.

2-3 weeks after planting, the trunk of an annual apple tree is carefully bent into a horizontal position through a “thorn”, otherwise the scion may break off from the rootstock of the apple tree. The bent trunk is secured in this position with a hook made of brushwood or wire. The bending point of the trunk should be at a height of no more than 15-20 cm from the soil surface, so that in the future the horizontal base of the tree crown can be easily covered with snow. It is not recommended to bend the trunk in the summer. The top of the trunk is cut 15-20 cm above the bud located in its lower part. At autumn planting trunk pruning should be postponed until spring.

New shoots that appear on the trunk in the first half of summer should grow freely, that is, vertically upward. In the second half (July - early August), new shoots are also secured with hooks in a horizontal position. At the same time, they try to arrange them so that in the future they do not interfere with each other’s growth and do not intertwine with each other. It is recommended to bend the shoot that has grown near the bend in the direction opposite to the direction of growth of the main trunk. You cannot be late with the deadline for bending down the shoots, assign this work to autumn period, since in this case the lignified shoots are not fixed in a horizontal position and rise again after removing the hooks. Shoots bent in a timely manner finish growing faster, ripen well and are firmly fixed in a horizontal position.
For the winter, the crown of the seedling is covered with pine needles, tops or other materials. To avoid the colonization of mice under the crown, it is not recommended to use materials for shelter that attract these garden pests - straw, weeds. In addition, before hiding under the crowns of the elfin trees, you need to place poisoned baits.
In subsequent years, the formation of stale crowns continues until the trees begin to bear fruit. The principle of formation is the same - every year in the first half of summer, new shoots are allowed to grow freely, and in the second half they are bent with hooks into a horizontal position. At the same time, make sure that the base of the crown is formed in one tier, that is, they do not allow the branches to intertwine, overlap each other, or become excessively thick. All unnecessary branches are cut out. When bending shoots, it is not recommended to secure several at once with one hook, since this will create broom-like crowns in which the shoots will interfere with each other’s normal growth and fruiting. For more convenient cultivation of the soil under the crown, it is not recommended to lay branches on the ground. Only in areas with little snow cover can an exception be made and laid directly on the soil surface and even covered with earth for the winter. On heavy, heavily moistened soils, the bark may become subdued and the covered branches may even die completely, especially if you are late in freeing them from the ground in the spring-summer period.

After the trees begin to bear fruit, the bending of skeletal branches is stopped. As a rule, fruit-bearing branches themselves fall to the ground under the weight of the fruit. By pruning the peripheral part of the crown at this time, broken or diseased branches are removed; if they become very thick, they are thinned out.
During June and July, all vertically growing shoots of the middle part of the crown, when they reach a height of 12-18 cm, are pinched, that is, their upper part is pinched, leaving a stump with 3-4 leaves. If you leave them without pinching, they grow strongly and delay the end of tree growth, which reduces its winter hardiness and productivity.

Summer pinching can be replaced by bending the shoots into a horizontal position or twisting their tops in the form of a loop. Shoots that are pinched or twisted in summer must be pruned annually in the spring throughout the life of the tree. Mostly very thick (fatifying) vertical shoots are cut out, leaving weaker ones that have an inclined or horizontal position. All uncut shoots with a length of more than 20-25 cm are cut into stumps with 3-4 buds. If a vertical shoot branched last summer, then it is cut back to the lower branch, which in turn is also cut into 2-3 buds.
T. Ya. Mochalova