One apple tree barley fruiting

When we moved here 18 years ago, there were several apple trees, planted 4 years before that. They were all in good condition, but there were no apples for the next 15 years, although there was always blossom. Sometimes they would produce tiny apples, which would all drop in the spring. After the 15 years all but one of the trees started fruiting, all cookers, and they have continued to crop well. This year, the final tree has produced 3 apples. One has ripened, we tried it with great ceremony this morning, and it was a delicious eater. All of the trees look no more or less healthy than they did when we first came here. They are about 15 feet high. We are 160 metres above sea level in West Wales, so a fairly mild climate. Last frost is officially mid-May, but in recent years it’s been more like early to mid April. So were these apples at the edge of their range before? Has climate change made them happier, except for the eater which is pickier? Also, should I have posted this in the Trees forum?

edit : barely fruiting - old age fingers

 

It sounds more like a pollination problem to me, I just wonder if they are all the same variety, apart from the eater, and you dont have any that are able to pollinate yours in the area.
Often the varieties dont overlap regarding flowering time so it depends on what varieties are flowering at the same time.

 

Apples need another apple tree of a different variety to ensure pollination. Maybe this is one of the reasons why yours haven't produced fruit. Also if there is a frost then the pollinators wont be around and the fruit wont set.

 

I would agree it's likely pollination that's the problem. Not all apples flower at the same time and have different pollination groups, so you might not have what it's needs nearby. I grow a couple of dwarf crabapples to help with pollination because some varieties have very long flowering spells and they can help pollinate a wide variety of apples.

 

Another reason could be wind. This year we have had storms coming in from the West, when the fruit trees have been in flower, the wind deters pollinating insects and blows the blossom off the trees. I have lost the blossom on my pear tree for the last 2 years.

 

Late frost killed all my blossom last year so no apples or plums. Good crops this year.

 

I can see that my question was a bit misleading, the eating apple tree had a fair amount of tiny apples in 2023 & 2024, all of which dropped in the late spring. This year, there were about a quarter the amount of tiny apples, and 3 of those have clung on to maturity. So its not mainly a pollination issue, I think. The tree just seems to jettison everything, (almost everything this year), in June.

 

Have a look at this link, maybe some answers here.
June drop / RHS Gardening

 

Then I can only assume the tree is struggling for water and nutrients.

 

Most of the fruit trees around here are dropping more fruit than normal because of the severe dryness. The established trees are still reasonably full but the younger ones have very little fruit to speak of.

 

Well, this is west wales, so until this year, it definitely hasn't struggled for water. I don’t think it’s nutrients either, but I will assume it’s that. Thank you.