I know that fruit trees have a much longer lifespan than is often claimed online, so I did some research and found a specific lifespan for each tree. Apple trees can live 100 years or more and bear fruit, making them an excellent fruit tree that will delight your landscape year after year.
Most apple trees can live between 50 and 100 years. However, some dwarf varieties may last for only half as long. It is reasonable to expect that an apple tree will last for the same duration as the life of the one who planted it. A few have surpassed a century in age.
Most apple trees have long lifespans: standard apple trees live for more than 50 years, while dwarf varieties live up to 15 years.
For example, standard apple and pear trees can easily live for more than 50 years, while dwarf and semi-dwarf ones – only 15-25 years. When grown commercially using sophisticated methods of pollination, fertilization, irrigation and plant protection, mature apple trees (over 10 years old) can produce 400 to over 800 (and in some cases over 1200) fruits in a single season. A standard apple tree produces about 8 bushels of fruit during the growing season, while seed trees only produce 4 bushels and bonsai only 2.
Expectations for Apple Tree Growers
Apple trees can be standard or full-sized trees and can grow up to 30 feet tall; standard trees can take up to 6 years to bear fruit. With proper planting and care, you will see the first apples of a dwarf honeycrisp apple tree in two to five years, and a full-sized apple tree in seven to eight years. Once rooted, apples need no special care; sprinkle regular fertilizer around the base in spring and prune once a year for two to four years to bear fruit.
You can plant a tree that blooms at the same time as your tree for more fruit, or a tree that blooms at a different time to pick fresh apples at different times of the year. During the summer months, you can encourage the tree to produce more fruit buds by tying new growth branches horizontally.
There must be flowers for pollination, and some of the buds on the tree must be fruit buds, not leaf buds. Low water content means the tree cannot produce as much, resulting in too many flower buds the following year. Trees may also struggle to bear fruit due to chronic stress due to lack of water or nutrients.
In Case of Misfortune with Apple Trees…
In situations where the entire top needs to be cut off, the tree will be under a lot of stress and may not bear apples for several years. If all the apples were to ripen so quickly, the tree would quickly dry up and start producing much smaller yields in the ensuing years.
For the first two years, the flowers and young fruit are hand-picked to stop them from developing; this will give the young apple tree more energy for rooting. Some apples do not bear significant fruit until 5 to 10 years old, although apple trees grown on dwarf rootstocks may bear fruit as early as 2 to 3 years. Many types of apple trees will bear fruit every year if grown in the right conditions and not damaged.
Peach trees are also fast-growing, often bearing fruit within a year, so they are a good choice for impatient gardeners. Many gardeners report that their gardens are full of peach trees, especially dwarf peaches that are 30 to 40 years old and still bear great fruit.
The Benefits Granted by Apple Trees
Apples are a wonderful addition to any landscape and, in addition, they provide an abundance of fresh fruit. Apples, from McIntosh to Granny Smith, are one of the world’s most popular fruits, with growers producing more than 240 million bushels of apples in the United States each year. Popular fruit trees include the Bing cherry, which can produce up to 50-100 pounds of cherries per year, followed by the Jonathan’s red apple.
A mature standard variety apple tree can produce about 500 pounds of fruit per year, while a tree growing on a dwarf seed rootstock can produce about 200 pounds. In new high-density plantations with dwarf rootstock trees, growers can expect a yield of 200 to 300 apples per tree.
Depending on tree density (the number of trees planted per unit area), mature trees typically produce 40–200 kg (90–440 lb) of apples each year, although yields can be close to zero in bad years. When an apple tree grows a tree from seed, it can take 5 to 10 years for the apple tree to bear fruit.
Productive Life <<< Total Lifespan
Sometimes the time given for the productive life of a fruit tree is shorter than the actual life of the tree. Many sources give 30-50 years, possibly as high as 70 or 80 years, however, in reality, figs can live longer. Since olive trees are among the longest-lived trees in the world, and even apple trees are now known to live much longer than previously thought, generalizations can be misleading. An apple tree can live for hundreds of years, but if a popular website says it only lives for 50 years, and this information is collected and repeated, the data usually provided is simply not true.
All of these varieties have the same basic performance characteristics and the same care needs as this tree. To ensure pollination and fruit production, Early Harvest will need a compatible variety (second cross-pollination tree) planted nearby. This tree is not commonly grown as an ornamental due to its seasonal flowers, but the white to pink spring flowers are essential if you want your tree to bear fruit. See if your favorite tree needs two different varieties to cross-pollinate and produce fruit, adds Pete Smith.
Top apples bear fruit on last year’s growth, so be careful not to remove too many recent growths that will bear fruit next season; lightly trim the tops of the main branches; prune side shoots to a strong but no larger than 12-inch bud; do not prune sublateral shoots less than 12 inches.
