What they are
- Crabapples produce small fruit (roughly 1″–2″) and are among the most valuable wildlife trees: many are heavy, annual, disease-resistant producers, and several persist — holding fruit on the tree into late season for December/January hunting.
- AppleCrabs bridge crabapples and full-size apples, offering larger fruit than a typical crab with much of the toughness and productivity of a crab.
Both are in the apple family and cross-pollinate with apples and each other.
Why crabs are a deer-plot workhorse
- Heavy, annual production, often on one-year-old wood, and frequently precocious (fruiting the same year as planting on some varieties like Road Kill Crab™).
- Disease resistance — many show excellent resistance/immunity to apple scab, cedar apple rust, powdery mildew, and fire blight in no-spray settings.
- Drop-time range — from early droppers through persistent late-season crabs, so you can stack the whole season with crabs alone.
- Pollination power — all our crabs are white-flowering and pollinate apples and applecrab trees. Some (e.g., Grams Gift™, Dolgo, Kerr, Prime Time, Road Kill Crab™) are self-fertile, and long-blooming types like Grams Gift™ make outstanding universal pollinators.
Pollination
Plant at least two different apple, applecrab, or crabapple varieties near each other. Mix the names (same-name trees are clones and won’t pollinate each other). All our crabs are white-flowering and will pollinate apple-family trees. Good dedicated pollinators: Grams Gift™, Golden Hornet, Chestnut Crab. (See the Pollination article.)
Site, soil & spacing
- Sun: 6+ hours.
- Soil: moist, well-drained, pH 5.8–7.0.
- Spacing: ~20′ apart; use at least 5′ cages for protection.
Fertilizing at planting
Same as apples: no nitrogen on the roots at planting. Without a soil test, mix 1 oz per 3 sq ft of 0-20-20 into the soil (first number must be 0 or slow-release). Phosphorus and potassium are immobile — mix them in at/before planting; nitrogen can be added lightly the next year.
Notable varieties (examples)
- Road Kill Crab™ — spicy-tart 1″–1½″ crabs, extreme vigor, precocious (often fruits the planting year), self-fertile, sheds early October into December, excellent disease resistance. Mature ~20′+ (20–30′ on standard root). Zones 4b–8.
- Grams Gift™ Crabapple — self-fertile, very long bloom; an ideal universal pollinator for the whole apple family.
- Kerr Crabapple — self-fertile applecrab, one of the best crabs for deer.
- Dolgo Crabapple — self-fertile, early bloom, reliable pollinator.
- Callaway Crabapple — drops in the rut and late window.
- Whole Season™, Prime Time, CrimsonRub™, October Crab™, Winter Crabarina™ — spread across early → persistent late drops.
- AppleCrabs: Big Dog, Buckman, Chestnut Crab, Cobbler Crab™, Ed’s Crazy Crab™, Peak Attraction™, Sweet Dog, Sweet November Crab™, Trailman, Yates, Turning Point™.
(Always confirm current zone, drop window, and stock on the product page.)
Persistence = late-season power
Several crabs “persist,” holding fruit through freezes and dropping late. These are your December/January draws when other food is gone. Note that some persistent crabs occasionally need a good wind to pour the last fruit to the ground.
Key takeaways
- Crabs are the backbone of a season-long deer orchard — heavy, disease-resistant, and often persistent.
- All our crabs pollinate apples; several are self-fertile and double as universal pollinators.
- Same planting rules as apples (sun, pH 5.8–7.0, ~20′ spacing, no nitrogen at the roots).