Chonosuki Crab Apple, Large Trees

Malus tschonoskii: Bareroot Chonosuki / Pillar Crab Apple Trees in Standard Sizes

Chonosuki is also known as the Pillar crab apple due to its vigorous, narrow, upright growth. Grown primarily for its foliage rather than the flowers and fruit, its season of glory is in Autumn, when the large leaves turn into a mottled tapestry of warm yellow, orange and scarlet with purple-green patches. It also has lovely silvery leaves in spring that turn lush green by summer.

The white flowers, with just a blush of pink, aren't as abundant as our other crab apples and the rather sparse, yellow-green fruit that follow aren't showy either, although they do remain on the branches into the new year (they are gritty and not worth cooking with).

It can reach a height of about 10-12 metres. Despite its height, it is very compact and the canopy of mature trees shouldn't spread more than 3-4 metres across.

Browse our variety of crab apple trees or our full range of ornamental garden trees.

Delivery season: Crab apple trees are delivered bareroot during late autumn and winter, approximately November-March inclusive.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they are best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for use in a place where it is convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our bareroot trees are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Features:

• Height: 10-12m
• Soil: Any fertile and well drained
• Use: Specimen, small garden, large container, avenue, urban
• Colour: Small, unimpressive white flowers in May
• Superb Autumn colour, silvery Spring foliage
• Persistent fruit
• Bareroot delivery only: November-March

Growing Chonosuki Crab Apples

Any well drained soil with decent fertility. Suitable for large containers designed for trees. Full sun or partial shade. Tolerant of pollution.

We don't recommend this tree for poor, dry soils, where the stress of an especially hot or humid summer tends to increase its disease susceptibility.

Notes on planting Malus Tschonoskii:
Crabapples are tough plants that thrive in any moderately fertile soil. They tolerate shade well, although we recommend planting them in full sun to get the best display of flowers and fruit. Although a moist, well drained site is ideal, crabapples like heavy clay and don't mind a bit of waterlogging in winter.
They won't grow in deep shade and may struggle in very poor dry soil.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the site where you plant a tree several months in advance. Kill the weeds first: for tough weeds like nettles, brambles and ground elder, you will usually need a weed-killer to get rid of them. When you dig the soil over, remove stones and other rubbish and mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades.

Watch our video on how to plant a tree for full instructions.
Remember to water establishing trees during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Tree Planting accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass.
You can buy a tree planting pack with a wooden stake & rubber tie to support the tree and a mulch mat with pegs to protect the soil around the base of your tree from weeds and drying out.
We suggest that you use mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of all newly planted large trees: if your soil quality is poor, we strongly recommend it.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser.

After you plant a tree, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. You will also need to weed around the plants. Watering should be thorough, so the ground is soaked. Let the soil almost dry out before watering again. Watering & weeding will be necessary for at least a year after planting.

If your trees do need pruning, it is ideal to do this in winter. Always hire a tree surgeon to remove large branches.

Special notes on caring for your trees:
Malus Tschonoskii is an ornamental tree that will perform best when it receives a yearly mulch of well-rotted manure or compost to help keep the soil around it fertile.
Remember to check the stake and tie supporting your trees a few times a year. Tighten the tie if it becomes loose and loosen it as the tree grows. Make sure that the tree's trunk isn't rubbing against the stake.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.

Did You Know?

Seeds from this tree were collected from Mount Fujiyama, Japan, by Sargent, and they were growing in the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University by 1892. It has won two awards for its autumn colour. The species is named after the Japanese plant collector Chonosuki / Chonosuke Sukawa (1841-1925), who assisted Carl Johann Maximowicz (the first European to describe this tree, he initially classified it as a pear) for several years during his expedition in the 1860's. 

As of 2014, the largest known example in the UK is at Cambridge Botanic Garden, which is a whopping 17 metres tall but only 161cm wide, which we assume required some pruning.  

Standard trees are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level: their trunk's waist measurement. Unlike sapling trees and hedge plants, standards aren't measured by their height, which will vary quite a bit both between and within species.
So, a 6/8cm standard tree has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8cm and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10cm around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
On average, standard trees are 2-3.5 metres tall when they arrive, but we cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.