At this season, when displays of brightly colored fruits attract more attention than flowers among trees and shrubs, the ornamental crabapples command particular admiration.
One of the most distinctive of these is the Sargent crabapple, the only truly shrubby member of this group ordinarily grown in this country.
It develops a densely-branched framework rarely over 6 feet in height and with generally horizontal branches spreading from the center of the bush to about this same distance, or in time to 10 feet.
Usually, the width of a well-established specimen is about twice its height and eventually becomes even wider. The other crabapples in general cultivation make pleasingly proportioned small trees often occupying considerable space – perhaps half as much as a standard apple tree.
Crabapples In Mid-Spring
The fine display of rich, dark red crabapples is especially outstanding this season and commends Sargent crab to gardeners who enjoy rather unusual plants. These small apples are about 3/8 inch in diameter and mostly covered with a waxy bloom.
Their period of beauty is a long one, often extending well past the time when the leaves turn brilliant copper and gold tones and fall to the ground. Frosts soften the fruits which are then appreciated by many birds that remain for the winter.
Sargent crabs flower with the other species of Malus in mid-spring and their sturdy bracelets are completely covered, in good seasons, with the deep pinkish buds which open into pure white flowers about an inch across.
These blossoms have the customary five petals of members of the rose family. In this species, they are oval in shape and overlap. The period of bloom lasts about one week.
Although the pink-flowered crabapples may be favored at this time, the brilliant fruit display to follow and the unusual and pleasing habit more than compensate for the score for this species.
In Gratifyingly Logical Pattern
The Sargent crab has the scientific name Malus sargenti given by Professor Alfred Rehder of the Arnold Arboretum to honor his associate Charles Sprague Sargent, director of this famous garden at Boston.
Sargent had discovered this shrubby crabapple growing along the banks of a marsh near Muroran in Hokkaido during his travels in Japan in 1892.
The distinct nature of the shrub was not recognized for some time, however, and for 10 years or more it was considered a form of the variable Toringo crab (Malus sieboldi), a very decorative spreading small tree often surpassing 10 feet in height, native in northern Japan.
In Home Garden Plantings
There are many uses for such a well-behaved subject as Sargent crabapple, and fortunately, these shrubs are generally available from nurseries, so gardeners should have no trouble locating them.
As in the case of the other apples, early spring is the season most favorable for planting. Any well-drained moderately fertile soil is suitable.
To encourage strong growth, two or three handfuls of a complete farm-type fertilizer can be scattered over the bottom of the hole and leaf mold or compost used liberally around the roots in planting will get a young specimen off to a good start.
Once established, all the crabapples seem able to fend for themselves if the location is well-drained and the soil fairly good.
It is wise to keep well in mind the tendency of this shrub to spread, and also that its interesting horizontal pattern of branches can be appreciated best when there is no crowding by adjacent plantings.
No permanent plantings of other shrubs should be closer than 8 feet; a 10-foot allowance would be even better.
In new plantings where these intervals seem too large, they can be filled with such groundcover combinations as daffodils or scillas, perhaps, and such evergreen covers as periwinkle, pachysandra, or one of the low wintercreeper (Euonymus radicans of catalogs, especially the handsome variety colorata).
Low Stature Sargent Crab
Its low stature makes Sargent crab an excellent subject for plantings at the foundation of buildings. One added point favoring such use is that the strong branches are rarely damaged by ice or snow accumulating around them.
The shrub associates well with the yews whose rich evergreen foliage makes a handsome foil both for the masses of white bloom in spring and the clusters of red crabapples in late summer and autumn.
Effective Way To Plant Sargent Crab
Perhaps the most effective way to plant Sargent crabs, however, is on a slope or bank. Gardeners who wish to avoid the many troubles of maintaining a lawn in these trying locations may well consider planting such low-spreading shrubs.
On a terrace slope or bank, these crabapples are attractive both from above and below and they seem admirably at home in such a setting.
One such planting in northern Virginia comes to mind, where the steep terrace below a front lawn on the side towards the street and the even steeper bank to the lower garden were planted with Sargent crabs and a few other favorite subjects several years ago.
The picture has grown to be admired more and more each year. The trials and labors of mowing the lawn, and discouraging children from sliding and running their wagons down those enticing slopes have both been obviated in a very satisfactory fashion!
As For Maintenance
This species and the other crabapples rarely need much attention and certainly very much less than theirs. sophisticated cousins, the apples of orchards. However, it is desirable to give them a dormant spray with one of the miscible oils in late winter or very early spring.
Occasional branchlets turning brown and drying suddenly in early summer usually indicate inroads of fire blight. Although this disease is not ordinarily troublesome in the Asiatic crabapples, it is good to keep in mind that such branches should be pruned out without delay and burned.
Cut well to healthy wood, removing several inches of sound branchlet and fresh green leaves with the damaged portion.
The American species and such relations as cotoneasters, hawthorns, and mountain ashes are more frequently damaged by fire blight than the Asiatic types of malus.
Insects eating the foliage can be discouraged easily by contact poisons applied either as liquid sprays or dust.
44659 by B Blackburn