What should I do with this wonky apple tree?

I bought this very wonky apple tree for £5!
I have no idea about fruit trees.
What would you do with this?
Should I prune it somehow or just plant it and support it somehow?
Thank you

 

Do you have a planned home for the tree? Somewhere light and not overshadowed by other trees? Somewhere with a decent bit of soil that isn’t too dry or too shallow? Good. Dig a hole at least twice the depth and width of the pot. Loosen the soil well around the planting hole. Loosen the soil that was in the hole too. Place the tree, still in its pot, into the hole to get an idea of how it will look. Take a stake equal to the true, vertical, height of the tree in its pot and about 2”x 2” in thickness. Drive the stake into the soil beside the edge of the pot, making sure that it is not at all wobbly. Remove the tree from its pot. place it in the hole. Fill the hole with the loosened soil. Take a length of soft material, such as an old necktie or something similar. Cut it in two. Tie one half of it tightly onto the stake about half way up the tree’s vertical stem, above the label. Tie the loose bit of material loosely but firmly round the stem of the tree. Tie the other bit of material in a similar way nearer the top of the tree to make it sit up straight and to get the stake to train it vertically. Water the tree in with a good canful of water. Don’t prune it. It has had enough trauma by now.

 

I agree with Tidemanrk but you could also tie it against a trellis. I also watched a program on orchards and some trees actually had the branches trained downwards for easy apple picking.

 

Where from? What a steal

You could cordon it happily but you could also just give it a pole and straighten it. Itll eventually bend over a few years, not perfectly straight but enough to not topple. May have to thin the fruit out the first few years to stop it snapping.

You could also wait till winter and cut the bent bit off but thats a bit extreme. Youd need to leave several stems and itll take a while to catch up.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies . It’s very helpful!
The tree was at my local garden centre reduced from £25 because it’s wonky and also because they don’t know what variety it is other than it being a dessert variety. So it will be a surprise. One other thing though. Are you supposed to have 2 apple trees to ensure pollination?

 

Most need a pollinator. If your neighbours have one thats enough but if not...! some are self fertile but if you dont know the variety best be safe. Its possibly to graft another variety onto it as a partner

 

Beechgrove had a good video how to plant a tree in its last episode on Thursday. It's on BBC iPlayer and was done by the former head gardener of the late queen mother.

 

Most gardens will have another apple nearby so pollination isn’t usually a worry, unless you are on an estate of new builds with few trees. Crab apples can also act as pollinators for apple trees