Remember to Look UP and UNDER!

Anyone who appreciates the canvas of nature's beauty knows full well that all the senses are to be engaged in the process of experiencing what nature offers us. We must make the time to stop, look, listen, smell, touch and sometimes taste the elements of nature that surround us. One may drive or bike or walk past this somewhat ordinary looking crabapple and think, oh, what pretty white blossoms! Maybe they will  notice the aroma they offered if the day is warm enough, or hear the bees busy at work helping it to create the small crabapples that hang on into winter for the birds who then eat it; or.... maybe they will be the type of person who really gets to know this tree a bit more than the obvious. Look at the bark, touch it, feel the texture and island like chunks that look ready to peel or fall off but never really do, or perhaps they will notice the details of the blossom, which by the way is of the rosaceae family (meaning the blossom are 5-petaled)  Wikipedia Malus Info is worth a visit to learn more about this genus.

As a design consideration the malus is one of the easiest trees to include in a design. Simply put you need sun (although there are some cultivars that tolerate part shade) space that will accomodate it's natural growth pattern (there are many to choose from, vase like, tall sprawling, short rounded, etc) and correct soil conditions (again most soils can work for a correctly chosen cultivar). Beware however of what else you include in a design with malus. Always choose disease and pest resistant varieties to provide best chances of a long-lived healthy tree, and don't plant non-companion plants in the area, such as cedar and juniper. Although on this particular site both do exist, this crabapple is a resistant type and in the 20 years it has been in this location it has yet to show signs of suffering from apple-cedar rust.

Some crabapples can offer a great canopy to sit under on a hot day.  This location of the bench  offers a beautiful view of the crabapple and is well away from the busy street you would experience actually sitting under this tree.

There are 3 crabapples on this property and each is a different type. All have small fruit that remain on the tree thru the winter, two have a bright yellow/orange colored fruit and one has a red colored fruit. The structure of the trees are different. This one has a vase like shape (although a large white pine fell through it last winter, changing its look a bit) and the other two trees have a more 'rounded' form.

Although the photos of these trees have a white blossom once fully open, they actually had different pink tones when in bud and start of  bloom. I so enjoy walking under these older trees looking up thru the canopy. To me that is the prize. Each season the branch structure inside and up offers interest I truly enjoy. Do have an arborist help you keep your crabapple canopy in good health, suckers should be removed, dead and diseased wood should also be removed, perhaps in a field setting some of these issues would be left handled by nature, but for a lawn tree it's best to give them the proper care, you will be rewarded with a view up close you won't want to miss.