Ornamental crabapple tree
 

Hey
My daughter bought me an ornamental crab apple tree and I was wonder if I can use the crabapples the same as if it was not an ornamental. It may be a dumb question but I've just been letting the birds have the fruit instead of making jam.

Yes, they will just be very small if there are any apples at all. People wanting ornamental dont want the mess so these trees are bred to either be fruitless or to have very tiny fruit.

In one of my seed catalogs this past week they had crab apples and said they could be used for jelly. But they didn't say how much effort would be involved in harvesting a million tiny apples and processing them for jam.

Thanks for the info. I do get alot of fruit but they are small. If I get a bumper crop this year I will try jam.

Mother wanted a crabapple tree because she loved the jelly. Dad got one, turned out to be ornamental. She doesn't bother trying any more because she says it never made a decent tasting anything :( I sure hope yours is a better one!

Thanks for the warning. Maybe I will put my energy elsewhere.

I would try it once :) Just small amounts and prepared for a bad result.

I'm not sure what happened but we have dozens of crabapples sprout in my DDs yard. Some birds must have had a blast. The only one that bore had tiny ones, so I figure they're the ornamental, too. I'll probably give them a go when they produce more than 5 LOL

Crab apples are a good source for pectin. I use them when I don't have enough pectin.

I have the prairie fire crab apple tree, it made ok jelly. I like to eat them and I feed them to the horse also. But it is the prettiest tree I have ever had, all spring and the first half of summer.

Mine is beautiful as well. Hey, I forgot about the high pectin content! I could use them to thicken my other jelly and jams. Thanks

I wouldn't bother with them, not very tasty. We use a lot of wild crab apples but not the ornamental type. Are the apples less than an inch? Some wild crab apples get 3 inches....James

Well the nice thing about crabapples is that you don't have to core them, you just take off the top and bottom ends and cook them down to be strained for juice. I have a friend who lives about four hours away from me, she has this monster of a crabapple tree in her yard, they collect them by the wheel barrel load, then dump them on the back of their property for the deer. I would love to have one load like that to make jelly! They are nice big crabapples like my grandmother had. I will have to make a trip when the crabapples are ripe some year.

One of my favorite ornamental trees. Love the size, the natural shape and the pink blossoms. Lined the whole drive with them at the last house - so pretty in the spring.

The fruit is only about the size of a nickle but if I only have to cut off the top and bottom and then stew them, it wouldn't be too much work to give it a try.

OK I've been told my whole life that crab apples were poisonous. Is this not so?

I hope not since I've eaten crab apple jelly since I was. Child.
Ha ha

We have 7 crab apple trees.They are amazingly beautiful when they all are in bloom, masses of white blossoms. I think 2 or 3 of them are ornamental. They have small fruits, about the size of a big pea. One or two have fruit the size of an acorn. And one or two have fruit about the size of a nickle, or a quarter in a good year.
The deer, a couple at a time, raise up on their back legs, to eat the fruit off of the trees. They are amazing to watch. Between the deer and birds, the crabapples are all gone, generally by the 1st of the year.

Mother's are a little larger than a pencil eraser. I'll have to see how large mine get when the tree really starts bearing

I have one here that I leave for the birds to eat in winter because I was told the fruit was very sour and bitter. I have another 2 crabapple trees and a large apple tree to pick from so I have never needed to see if it was true or not.

We have a row of about 15 trees that lead up our driveway. They are about 80 years old. Ornamental crabs with pea sized fruit that is tarter than a skunks scent glands. They are beautiul in late may when blooming, and again with the vibrant fruits that are a nice contrast to the snow in winter. We have had artists come and take pictures to paint, and have a couple of prints of these paintings somewhere.

Yes the birds love them especially grouse and waxwings. In harsh winters, foxes and coyotes come to eat. Deer are always there in the winter, until about mid January, when the berries are all cleaned up.

The best thing though, is in the past several years, I have been fixing fences behind the barn, walking the woods hunting deer, or just going about my farming, and I have found dozens o these beautiful trees scattered all over our property. The birds are sreading them around, and it makes for dozens of natural feeding areas. It is really cool. At least for now, until they perhaps overtake the natural habitat in time!!!

I am thankful my ancestors had the foresight to plant this row of trees that leads up to the yard. But from what I can tell, the variety we have at least is too harsh to use for anything but wildlife habitat/feed, and the showiness factor.

I have to second Old John's point about the deer. They love love love crab apple trees. We had a heck of a time keeping them out of our yard when I was younger.

Your property must be absolutely beautiful with that many crabapple in bloom FarmerDale.

It is nice. I will dig up some pictures and try to post when I get a chance. I like finding the "surprise" trees when they are blooming out in the woods. And they are very fragrant too!

Any way you could find out what variety you have? Anyone remember what was on the tag?

yes you can use the crabapples..crabapples range from very tiny ones about 1/2" or less in dia to nearly full size apples..mine on my tree are about 3 " in diameter and very dark red..nice ones..our neighbors are about 1/2 " in diameter.

Crab apples are super high in pectin..so added to any fruit they will increase the pectin in jellies and jams..but they can also be used with juicing apples and other recipes..they are also wonderful feed for birds and small animals inyour property...some places they'll hang on the tree nearly all winter and will be the first fruits for your returning spring birds as well

Some crabs are also known to be quite good eating. Wickson,and Kerr for example

Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the tree.