Best Crabapple Trees for Your Yard: Varieties and Growing Tips

Every day I pass a roadside row of old crabapples on my way to work. They're beautiful trees in all seasons.

Bronze-green foliage turns deep maroon in autumn; tiny red apples decorate gnarled bare limbs through most of winter; and in spring, the trees load with blossoms in varying shades of pink.

These dependable trees bloom right on schedule each year, just in time for Mother's Day.

With so much variation among flowering crabapples, there's a perfect one for almost every situation. Choose from different heights and shapes—oval, round, spreading, and weeping forms. Blossoms can be single, semi-double, or double (singles tend to be most fragrant) in colors from pure white to pink, red, and purple.

Often buds are darker than the open flowers, giving the tree multiple colors as they open. Leaf colors vary from dark green (turning gold in fall) to bronze, red, and deep purple-red maturing to burgundy in autumn.

Note: Some experts say dark-leaved varieties are more disease-prone. Crabapples face the same issues as regular apple trees: scab, fire blight, powdery mildew, leaf spot, rust, aphids, spider mites, webworms, Japanese beetles, plus nibbling mice, rabbits, and deer.

Technically, any apple tree bearing fruit under 2 inches is a crabapple. Most tiny apples are too tart to eat fresh but make flavorful jelly with enough sweetener. Fruits come in green, red, orange, yellow, burgundy, maroon, or purple. If you'd rather not clean up fallen fruit, choose sterile cultivars like 'Spring Snow' with gorgeous blossoms but no fruit.

Crabapple Tree Varieties

Seven trees recommended by the International Crabapple Society:

• 'Louisa' – Graceful weeping tree with pink flowers and golden fruit. Disease-resistant, 12–15 feet tall and wide. Unpruned branches can reach the ground.
• 'Molten Lava' – 12 feet tall, 15 feet wide. White flowers from dark pink buds, red fruit, interesting yellow bark.
• 'Adirondack' – Slender columnar shape, 12 feet tall, 6 feet wide. Bright pink buds open to white flowers; red fruits persist into winter.
• 'Prairiefire' – Traditional round shape, 20 feet tall and wide. One of few disease-resistant red-leaved crabapples. White flowers, deep purple 1/2-inch fruits.
• 'Ormiston Roy' – Old-time cultivar, top disease resistance. 20 feet tall and wide, spectacular white blossoms and orange fruits.
• 'Golden Raindrops' – Unusual lobed leaves, 20 feet tall, 15 feet wide. Small white flowers, tiny golden fruits.
• 'Tina' – Dwarf crabapple, only ~6 feet tall. Earliest to bloom, bears 1/4-inch red fruit.

Crabapple Growing Tips

• Plant in a sunny spot with well-drained, average garden soil.
• Soil doesn't need heavy enrichment.
• Consider mature height and width to avoid future relocation.
• If space allows, plant early, mid-season, and late-blooming varieties to extend the bloom season.

Crabapples are easy to grow and offer everything in an ornamental: nice shape, fragrant flowers, attractive foliage, fruit, and hardiness. If you have other apple trees, a crabapple can serve as a pollinator.

Branch out and plant a flowering crab!

~ By Robin Sweetser

About This Blog

Get inspired by Robin Sweetser's backyard gardening tips. Robin has been a contributor to The Old Farmer's Almanac and the All-Seasons Garden Guide for many years. She and her partner Tom have a small greenhouse business and also sell plants, cut flowers, and vegetables at their local Farmer's Market.