Acer and Crab apple tree

Hi folks

We have a crap apple tree and an Acer at the end of our garden and we have questions about both, we are beginner gardeners. I guess the questions stem around how the trees are growing and if we can change / encourage them to grow different.

The Crab apple tree as youll see from the pic is at an angle / growing at an angle (we dont live near the coast) away from the Acer, and the Acer has no branches until it reaches heights which are over the Acer then it literally branches out. We havent lived in the house long but we did remove a large hedge to the left of the Acer.

We'd like to cut the crab apple tree back a bit (you cant see it in this picture but the branches creep out towards the camera across the garden) - we'd like to cut it back all round, but is there a way we can do this to encourage branches to grow on the left hand side (on the Acer side), at the same time we'd love to see the Acer with branches lower down but is this just how it is when youve got two trees next to each other?

Out of the two we'd prefer to keep the Acer if we had to choose, would it be a good move to get rid of the crab apple tree (this would also mean less lawn mantainance but at the same time gives us a bit of pivacy)?

All opinions appreciated! Thank you folks =)

 

There's nothing you can do about the Acer trunk but that Malus needs some serious thinning out and re-shaping. It's probably too late to pull the trunk vertical (@Jocko didn't you do something like this ??) but you can create the illusion of balance. You'd treat it like any other fruit tree....firstly take out any dead, diseased or obviously crossing branches, then take out all the really spindly twigs. Then shorten the remaining branches to an outward-facing twig, by as much as half their length. If you do this in the summer, it will prevent a lot of weak, twiggy new growth, which winter pruning can stimulate. I can't promise that it won't put more growth on /flower and fruit better on the unshaded side, but it will look much better Perhaps an evergreen climber on the fence and / or a couple of low-growing evergreens either side of the Acer would distract from the trunks.

 

I'd take the Acer out. It's never likely to look good, whereas the crabapple is quite decent and would just need a bit of general maintenance/pruning to keep it right.
Alternatively, if you prefer to keep the Acer, you could grow other planting around it, to hide the trunk, as suggested.
It's suffered from being crowded out by the planting you've removed, and it's also quite common for trees/shrubs to be planted too closely to start with, and ultimately, it affects them all unless careful pruning is used from early on.
As always, it comes down to what you like, and how you want to proceed

 

Thank you for your suggestions and thanks for identifying the Malus Noisette47. Fairygirl when you say possibly something to grow around the Acer - would that be something to sort of snake around the trunk, or at least be very close to it? I must admit the Malus does look nice in the spring summer but definately needs trimming up! I just quite like the little canopy which the Acer offers (even though its tiny really).

 

You could certainly grow something up the trunk, but you'd have to choosee very carefully because it could affect the moisture levels for the Acer.
I meant other planting in the general area though. A variety of perennials, and if possible some that will come into growth early on in the year. If there's room between the trunk and the edge of the border, you could have something evergreen which would hide it.
Again, the choice would depend on the amount of room available, and the general condition of the soil and your local climate, because the canopies of both trees will affect the amount of rainfall getting through in summer.

 

I don't disagree with anything said before but it's worth considering why the trees are leaning, as to what might work. In the picture the acer has the biggest lean and it could be that it grew up and the bush blocked some of the light but it does look like you have some bigger neighbouring trees which might have caused your trees to stretch into the light. If it is these trees then it is harder to balance as they will always affect the growth.

 

They are definitely leaning because of the big tree to the left, a neighbours tree?
In which case the Acer is probably the one that needs to go if you feel the need, other wise I'd leave well alone.

 

There was a relatively large hedge growing on the left hand side right next to the Acer (basically where the fence is next to the Acer there was no fence but was a huge hedge) which was removed not so long ago

 

If the removal of the shrubs next to the acer is recent I'd leave it a season or two to see how it responds to having extra light, rain and a bigger share of the nutrients in the soil.

I'd follow @pete's advice about cleaning up the crab apple.

Is the soil in that bed bare or is their gravel on it? Hard to tell in the photo. You could certainly improve the soil in that bed by adding organic matter - well-rotted compost and/or manure - and then plant some interesting perennials or shrubs to add colour and texture.

 

I hadnt thought of the large tree (to the left neighbours tree) possibly causing the lean - it is a south facing garden though and those trees do get a lot of light even with that big tree there.

 

On top of the soil is slate chippings. We put this down a while ago as there are lots of cats in the neighbourhood and we wanted to try to avoid lots of cat poop - however whilst this has been sucessfull in that sence its a nightmare for cleaning up leaves and im always looking for an alternative to slate chippings!

 

They may get a reasonable amount of light now they’re a fair size, but what about when they were smaller and the growing tip was lower down … that’s when the direction of growth of the trunk was established.

 

Good point!

 

@MJ76 I suspected as much. You can scrape them off to add goodness to the soil and then either replace them or just add plants that would cover the soil. Hardy geraniums such as the macrorhizums don't get tall and straggly and their leaves go red in winter so you'd have visual interest. They just need dead foliage removing occasionally and they flower early in spring - white and pink versions available.

Brunnera macrophylla would make a good foliage contrast as would bergenias which have leathery leaves that can be green or purple. Hardy cyclamen hederifolia would be good there too.

For taller plants, look at fatsia japonica, forms of mahonia and sambucus plus viburnum davidii.

You could put the slate mulch back around them while they get established or use it somewhere which gets fewer autumn leaves.

 

Wow lots of great info here thank you very much!