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Everyone knows about the benefits of apples, therefore, apple trees are planted in almost every garden. For the apple harvest to please, the trees need to be provided with comfortable living conditions. In summer, a lot depends on the gardener, but in winter everything is different, since we have no control over the weather. In the middle lane, extremely frosty winters are rare. Even with significant frosting, apple orchards have time to recover, but only on condition that zoned apple varieties are planted, adapted to our harsh climate.
Their winter hardiness exceeds such a stable in winter old proven apple variety like Antonovka.
But in the vastness of our large country there are regions in which even the most frost-resistant varieties cannot winter without special preparation. There are special types of apple trees for them.
Types of apple trees for harsh climates
- Ranetki - the result of crossing the Siberian berry apple and Chinese or European apple varieties. Their fruits are no more than 15 g, as a rule, not too high in taste, but are quite suitable for processing. From the Siberian apple tree ranetki took simply outstanding winter hardiness. Some varieties can withstand frosts up to -49 degrees without freezing. To further protect these apple trees from frost, they are often grown on a low bush-shaped stem.
- Semi-crops - also most often grown in the form of a bush, but their fruits are larger, the winter hardiness of these apple trees is somewhat lower than that of the first type;
- Stlantsy... This is not a variety, but an artificially created form of growing an apple tree with normal winter hardiness, in which trees are forced to grow horizontally using certain techniques; apple varieties have been bred that are capable of forming a stale shape on their own.
The best apple varieties for a harsh climate
Ranetki
Long
This is an apple cultivar with very ornate egg-shaped apples of bright red color, sometimes with a yellow barrel. The variety was bred in America, but based on the Siberian wild apple tree. The apples have a slightly sour taste with a wine tint. Among all the ranetki, the fruits of Long are one of the best in taste. The tree is stocky, but with a wide crown, the maximum yield is up to 25 kg.
Siberian
The tree is compact, shows high winter hardiness. Apples are quite large for ranetki - up to 18 g, yellow with a red blush, sweet and sour taste. They ripen in August. The main purpose is processing. Contain a lot of juice.
Semi-crops
Silver Hoof
Ripens in summer. It has large apples uncharacteristic for semi-crops - up to 100 g of good taste. Their color is creamy orange, covered with a red blush, the first apples can be obtained in the third year. Differs in high winter hardiness.
Dachnoe
Another semi-crop with the same large fruits, but the autumn ripening period. The color is pale yellow, sometimes with a slight blush. The tree is scab resistant.
Natural stanches
These varieties of apple trees were obtained relatively recently at the South Ural Research Institute thanks to the famous breeder M.A.Mazunin, who worked together with other employees.The height of trees on a seed stock does not exceed 2.7 m. When using special clonal stocks, and even less - 2 m. The fruits are large, in some varieties up to 500 g. The yield, despite the compact size of the trees, is high. Ripening dates are different. The following varieties of apple trees stand out most for their taste: Bratchud, Seedling of Dawn, Land, Carpet, Wonderful... Frost resistance of all these varieties is at the level of -39-40 degrees. But frost resistance alone is not enough.
Factors of winter hardiness of apple trees
For apple trees, as for other plants, it is not only the maximum low temperatures that they can withstand without damage are important. It is necessary to take into account many other factors that make up winter hardiness, that is, the ability to resist all unfavorable weather events accompanying winter. We are talking about sharp temperature fluctuations, prolonged thaws, drying out by winter winds, sunburn.
In order to ensure a successful overwintering of apple trees, it is necessary to smooth out the influence of all these factors as much as possible, especially in the harsh Ural climate.
Ural climate
The Urals stretch from north to south for 1800 km.
It is clear that the climate cannot be the same throughout this territory. The polar and subpolar regions are characterized by frosty, long winters with lots of snow and short, cool summers. In the middle Urals, the climate is very different in the western and eastern parts. On the side of the East European Plain, the climate is milder, in winter there is a lot of snow and frosts, although they are strong, but still less than from the side of Western Siberia. The climate there is continental, with rather hot summers and very cold winters. In the south of the Urals, strong winds prevail in winter and summer, and there is very little snow. However, the minimum winter temperatures in the north and south do not differ much. The temperature minimum at the latitude of Naryan Mar is minus 51 degrees, and in Yekaterinburg - minus 48.
In such harsh conditions, not all plants manage to survive in winter, this also applies to apple trees. In order not to lose valuable varieties, trees should be properly prepared for winter. How to properly cover apple tree for the winter in the Urals?
Preparing apple trees for winter
If all agrotechnical measures during the summer and autumn are carried out correctly, apple trees will be able to fully realize the potential of frost resistance given to them by nature, and will be prepared for all unfavorable winter factors.
Preparation for winter in the Urals should be carried out in two directions:
- Ensure that the tree ends its growing season by the beginning of the frosty season and goes into a dormant state. All shoots must ripen.
- Carry out all possible measures for the preparation, insulation and shelter of apple trees.
Let's take a closer look at each item.
The continuation of the growing season stimulates:
- pruning in early autumn, which forces new shoots to grow. Pruning can be carried out only when the leaves have completely flown from the apple trees, that is, in late autumn.
- abundant watering at the end of summer also leads to this result. We are not talking about water-charging irrigation, which is necessarily carried out after the end of the leaf fall.
- overfeeding with fertilizers, especially nitrogen fertilizers at a time when the growing season is not yet over, stimulates the regrowth of new young shoots that will no longer have time to ripen.
The variety that has completely completed its growing season is able to withstand frosts down to -25 degrees even in November. How to prepare an apple tree correctly?
Preparation activities
You need to start it even before the onset of frost.
- 2 weeks after harvesting the fruits, dig up the trunk circles with the simultaneous introduction of well-rotted manure or compost and phosphorus and potash fertilizers. Fertilizer rates should be appropriate for the age and size of the tree.
- at the beginning of autumn, drain excess water from the near-trunk circles, after leaf fall, carry out water-charging irrigation at a rate of about 40 buckets per adult tree. For autumn-winter varieties, this operation is carried out at the final formation of fruits. The entire trunk circle should be moistened to a depth of about 1.5 m.
- treat trees with a solution of copper sulfate from pests;
- remove fallen leaves, mummified and fallen fruits;
- to clear the trunks of adult trees from dead bark and lichens; cleaning is necessary in dry weather at an air temperature of about 2 degrees Celsius;
- to whitewash them after cleaning, and in young trees without it, with a lime mortar, which will protect against frost cracks and sunburn. This should be done when it is dry and calm outside. Add fungicide and insecticide to the solution to protect apple trees from diseases and pests;
- mulch the trunks with a layer of mulch of about 40 cm, since the root system of apple trees suffers greatly when the soil freezes;
- so that heavy snowfalls do not break off the branches, they need to be pulled up to the central conductor and tied with twine. True, this can only be done with young trees.
If young apple trees grow in the garden, they need to be especially carefully prepared for winter.
Preparing young seedlings for winter
In addition to all of the above measures, young seedlings must be protected from damage to the bark in winter by rodents and hares. The stem and the lower part of the skeletal branches especially suffer from them.
For shelter, you can use spruce branches, dry stems of plants, branches of other trees, special plastic nets, fiberglass. They are wrapped around the stem and the lower part of the skeletal branches and tied well. In winter, snow should be compacted in the area of the root collar so that mice cannot get close to it. With the onset of spring warmth, all shelters must be removed.
Prepare your apple trees for winter properly and they will be completely preserved during the winter. If common apple varieties cannot survive in your climate, plant special types and forms adapted to the harsh conditions.
