Wild Crab Apple Hedge Plants

Malus sylvestris: Bareroot Hedging

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The native, wild Crab apple tree, Malus sylvestris, is an excellent hedging plant, commonly planted in mixed country hedges, and pretty enough to make a decent ornamental tree for an average sized garden.

The glossy leaves have serrated edges and turn yellow in Autumn. The glorious white and pink blossom is sweetly scented.

To a varying degree depending on age and location, it has spines.

The plants on this page are young saplings, ideal for planting as hedging or in woodland projects. Browse our ornamental Crab apple trees here (these are sold in larger sizes), or view our selection of native hedging and our full range of hedging plants.

Wild Crab apple hedge plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March).

Choosing a size:
For a hedge, we generally recommend that you use plants that are graded at 40/60cm or 60/80cm. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle, and they will establish well in poor conditions. Use the larger, 90/120cm tall plants if you want a high hedge quickly, or if you are planting them near apple trees as pollination partners.
All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Features

• Sizes available: 40/60cm, 60/80cm, 90/120cm
• Almost any soil except very poor or waterlogged.
• Tolerates dappled shade.
• Edible fruit.
• Fragrant white blossom with hints of pink.
• Height: To 9m
• Pollinates orchard apple trees
• Bareroot Delivery Only: Nov-March

Growing Crab Apples

Native crab apples are very tough and will grow pretty much anywhere except in full shade or on very poor, sandy, dry soils.

These hardy plants have a shrubby habit when grown as a tree, with densely packed, twiggy branches. They tend not to grow into an even form without a guiding hand to shape them, but be selective with your pruning cuts; too much trimming will just cause the tree to produce loads of new stems (this quality makes them such a great hedge plant), so focus on removing inward growing stems, and if you want to remove a large branch, consider doing it in chunks over two or three years if you can.

Spacing a Crab apple hedge:

Standard country hedging: plant at 3 per metre, 33cm apart in a single row, or 6 per metre in a staggered double row, which has a W shape viewed top-down.

Wild Crab Apple in your Garden

As a hedge, it is invariably mixed with Hawthorn to give it more strength, and because it will look even lovelier with the different blossom, leaf colour, and fruit. It is a classic component of mixed country hedging.

It makes a decent, if unevenly shaped, ornamental tree for an average sized garden.

Its long flowering season makes it an easy pollination partner for orchard apples: for this purpose, we recommend John Downie or Golden Hornet, which also have better quality fruit.