I picked up this crabapple tree a coupld of years ago at the garden center... I'm trying to figure out what to do with this V shape in the middle.. I have some ideas, but what are yours?

I am not set on any one side being the front... right now I want to thicken up the trunk some... unfortunately I have no space to put it in the ground.

In flower now? Southern hemisphere?

That is one of those dilemmas we always fight with.

Eighter you accept the Y branch and get a nice tree with a nice canopy with one flaw in short time. Or you cut one of the branches and start to build a new canopy. That will give you a better tree but will take longer time.

I dont think Y branches is that bad on Apple trees. After all we are aiming at a miniature of an old tree. Crabapples often have Y branches. I would go for option one and think of it as a feature, not a flaw.

this is an old picture.. I'm in Germany.. I've thought similar... as neither of the two Y branches is in a position to become a new leader without some good bending... I'm going to see if I need to move it to a different container next year, and if not.. do a good hedge prune in the winter...

Hedge prunning, isnt that Walter Palls tecnice for summer prunning? I have never heard that it is done in winter. I am sure you know what you are doing, just not sure if the term used is correct.

I think I can see that any of the two Y branches can be made to new leader. But of cource not if you want to go for formal upright.

I think the Y shape trunk has something to add in some cases, and it is always happening in nature.
It's a nice feature on your tree.

I think you should give the tree to me.

OK, seriously, I see no problem with the Y shape. There are lots of trees in nature with that shape, and lots of apple, cherry, etc. In fact, I have two cherries and a pear tree in my yard, growing naturally with a Y shape.

What I would do is cut a couple of branches off down close to the fork of the Y shape, and prune the rest back to make a reasonable canopy shape, depending on what the branch structure looks back - this means in the winter without all those distracting flowers and leaves.

BTW, for those metric users 1 yard = 1 garden.

Do you have a winter picture of the tree? Judging whether or not it is an issue is a bit of a challenge.

Deciduous trees are judged bare. If all you want is a flowering "treeshape" the underlaying branches do not matter

so here some new pictures of the tree, that is almost bare... any thoughts?

The Y seems to be quite low?

Judging from the photo, I think I would keep the Y for a very small tree or cut one and go for a taller tree. It just seems missplaced on a tall tree to me. But it is a question about personal preferences and it is your tree.

Tropfrog wrote:

The Y seems to be quite low?

Judging from the photo, I think I would keep the Y for a very small tree or cut one and go for a taller tree. It just seems missplaced on a tall tree to me. But it is a question about personal preferences and it is your tree.

any ideas on which angle could be the front? I have some and will post them later this week.. just wondering what you all think too.