Sargent Crabapple Offers Blooms and Fruit

The flowering crabapple has enjoyed a long popularity in Zones 4 to 8. It blooms reliably each spring and offers red fruit later in the fall. One variety is the Sargent Crabapple (Mauls sargentii).

The Sargent Crabapple grows to 6-10 feet high which makes it a good choice for the smaller yard or in a grouping of shrubs. This deciduous bush has an overall mounded shape although the branching pattern is haphazard and mostly horizontal. A mature plant is usually wider than it is tall if there was sufficient space for growth. This crabapple can be successfully pruned into a single trunk tree form.

The flower buds are red and open to become 1 inch wide white flowers that can brighten any spring landscape. The fragrant flowers grow in clusters on bare branches for an especially rich display. The number of blooms varies with a more bountiful showing every other year.

The small red fruit are enjoyed by birds so there are no "drops" to clean up. The leaves are a dark green and provide a strong backdrop for companion plantings.

The Sargent Crabapple is a slow growing shrub and prefers full sun. It can grow quite well in partial shade. One excellent quality of this crabapple variety is its ability to tolerate a wide variety of soil conditions including rich, poor and rocky. It grows in both acidic and alkaline pHs.

Like other related fruiting shrubs (serviceberries, chokeberries, hawthorns, plums, cherries), this crabapple is susceptible to diseases. The Sargent Crabapple, however, shows good resistance to the Japanese Beetle and most of the serious crabapple diseases. It is not overly impacted by apple scab, cedar apple rust, or powdery mildew.

Sargent Crabapples in the commercial trade are sold grafted to hardier rootstock. Any suckers that appear will be the root stock and not the crabapple. It is important to prune away all sucker growth on a routine basis. The only other maintenance needed is the removal of diseased or dead branches.

Apple blight produces a canker that can spread and affect the fruit. Pruning the diseases branches is the recommended action. There are chemical applications, including copper oxychloride, that are recommended if the blight is widespread.

Cedar apple rust is a fungal disease that is treated with fungicides. Read labels carefully to make sure a particular fungicide is rated for fruit trees.

Powdery mildew is another fungal disease that appears like a white dust coating on the leaves. It is treated with fungicides. Read labels carefully to make sure a particular fungicide is rated for fruit trees. The diseased leaves should be removed and put in the trash rather than the compost pile.

Sources
Sargent Crabapple, Malus sargentii, Arbor Day Foundation, http://www.arborday.org/TREES/TREEGUIDE/TreeDetail.cfm?ID=450
Sargent Crabapple, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/trees/crabapple_srgnt/tabid/5358/Default.aspx
Sargent Crabapple, University of Rhode Island Landscape Horticulture Program, http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/sargcrabapple.html
Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, http://www.ruralni.gov.uk/index/crops/fruit/top_fruit/technical_information_top_fruit/canker-2.htm
The Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic at Cornell University, http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/cedar-applerust/cedar-applerust.htm