Whether the old apple tree bears little or no fruit for the harvest or is infected with powdery mildew or other diseases: There can be various reasons for removing an apple tree.
How do I properly remove an apple tree?
To remove an apple tree, first dig up the soil around the trunk to a depth of about 20 cm. Then cut the branches and trunk with a tree saw (€45.00 on Amazon). If the rootstock is to be removed, use the remaining piece of trunk as a lever to release the root disk from the ground.
Preparing to remove the apple tree properly
If you don't have any mechanical help available to remove the apple tree, removing a larger specimen can be time-consuming and strenuous. The following tools should be ready for manual removal:
- Tree saw (€45.00 at Amazon)
- Spade/Shovel
- strong helpers/neighbors
You should think in advance whether an apple tree or another tree should be planted in the same location. This means that you also have to remove the rhizome from the ground.
Removing an apple tree without a rootstock
If there is no foreseeable use planned for the location of the apple tree other than a lawn, its roots can sometimes remain in the ground. In this case, the soil around the trunk should be generously dug to a depth of about 20 centimeters. The trunk can then be cut through with a power saw or hand saw. For larger trees, however, the branches should be cut off as much as possible beforehand in order to minimize safety risks when cutting around the trunk. Once the tree is removed, the stump can be covered with soil and will rot within about ten years.
Removing the roots of an apple tree
Especially when planting a new seedling, all old roots of the apple tree must be dug up so that the growth of the new tree is not disturbed. This requires a lot of work, which can be reduced with a little trick. With this variant, cut the trunk of the apple tree at a height of at least one meter. This way you can use the remaining piece of trunk as a lever to remove the flat root disc from the ground.
Tips & Tricks
Sometimes an apple tree should be removed simply because it produces too little of a harvest. If this is not due to waterlogging around the tree trunk, the tree can perhaps gain new vitality and high yield by grafting a new apple variety.