Applecrabs are the hybrid between an apple and crabapple. This combination often makes a cross that is hardier and typically well suited for colder climates, and the fruit size is normally around 2 inches. When the best of both worlds come together you get a fruit that is larger than a crabapple yet produces as heavily as a crabapple. The taste can be every bit as good or even better than most modern apples sold in todays commercial world. These combinations with some good disease resistance makes for what most people would consider to be the best applecrabs to plant for wildlife and especially the Whitetail deer. Most would look at an applecrab and think, well thats an apple, and while they very well might be right to an extent, the trees ability to produce such an abundant crop of fruit is what sets it apart and well above planting a regular apple tree for deer.
These trees are unique cultivars. Trees that are specially selected for their characteristics and then propagated from new vegetative growth taken from the oringinal tree (essentially giving you a clone of the original tree). In this case we are selecting characteristics that produce traits that we find most beneficial for feeding and attracting the Whitetail deer.
We all want characteristics such as consistent and abundant fruit production, drop lengths and specific drop times. Durations that correspond with our habitat management needs, a fruit that is sweet and palatable and a tree that has enough built in disease and insect resistance that they regularly produce large crops of fruit without the chemical spraying which is required for most standard apple trees.
This is what Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery is striving to provide you, the best tree possible.
