Crabapples are an excellent choice for creating winter interest in a landscape and their small fruits are a desirable food source for birds. Crabapples have a reputation of being messy, but if you purchase trees with “persistent” fruit, then the fruits stays on the tree longer, making less of a mess on the ground and leaving more fruit on the tree for birds. Persistent fruits also provide longer winter interest with red, pink, orange or yellow fruits hanging on trees.
Crabapple blossoms come in white, light pink, deep pink and rose-colored, which attracts butterflies and bees in the spring. Some varieties have fragrant flowers and some have purple foliage. Crabapples come in various sizes to accommodate small, medium or large yards. In this first posting I am listing three dwarf varieties for small spaces and ones with excellent to good disease resistance; there are many more. (*chart)
Hardiness Zones 4-8. Sun Exposure: Full Sun 6+ hours, Part Sun 4-6 hours, Full Shade up to 4 hours. Note: Where fire blight is a concern, avoid spring pruning (when bacterium can enter fresh open cuts).
Dwarf Crabapples
Lollipop Crabapple: 10 ft H x 10 ft W; Neat formal compact dwarf tree 
with rounded head, fine texture with small leaves and dense growth habit and symmetrical form. Foliage: Green. Flowers: White with yellow stamens. Fruit: Bright red, 3/8-inch. Disease resistant ratings- Excellent: Mildew & Cedar Apple Rust. Good: Fire Blight & Scab.
Sargent Crabapple: 8 ft H x12ft W; Natural forming dwarf tree with 
horizontal spreading branches. Foliage: Dark Green. Flowers: Profuse ½-inch white fragrant flowers. Fruit: 1/4-inch Bright Red, Profuse, Persistent. Disease resistant ratings- Excellent: Mildew, Cedar Apple Rust, Fire Blight & Scab.
Pink Princess Crabapple: 8 ft h x 12 ft W; Natural dwarf tree with low spreading branches. Foliage: Purple turning to Bronze-Green. Flowers: Rose
Pink. Fruit: Deep Red, ¼ -inch. Disease resistant ratings-Excellent: Cedar Apple Rust, Mildew, Fire Blight & Scab.
Article by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Member
*Chart by: J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co https://www.jfschmidt.com/pdfs/JFS_CRAB_CHART.pdf
