CRAB APPLES GET GROWING
It may surprise you to know that Malus sylvestris, the true European crab apple, is actually getting rather rare in the wild. Although crab apple trees are a common sight in hedgerows and forest edges, most of the crabs you'll see are from discarded cores of cultivated supermarket varieties, or where the seeds have been spread by birds.
Apples, famously, do not come true from seed – plant the six or seven pips from your lunchtime ‘Braeburn’ and you will end up with six or seven unique seedlings or crabs, which can vary dramatically in terms of vigour, health and the fruit they produce.
All of which means that most crabs will have a very diverse family history, and not be the true species.
Breeding programmes over the past 80 years have led to an ever-expanding list of crab apple cultivars and varieties, all selected for either
