Liset Crab Apple, Trees

Malus × moerlandsii Liset: Bareroot Liset Crab Apple Trees in Standard Sizes

Liset's display begins with bright, strawberry red buds, which are slowly covered up by the young foliage in spring, which is a rich purple colour that becomes greener as it matures but never fully disappears, providing a good backdrop to the flowers. These are the stars of the show, with luminous red-pink petals that swarm all over the tree, second only to a cherry blossom in sheer weight of beautiful flowers. It is often mistaken for a flowering cherry at a distance, and her crab apples are also a bit cherry like: shiny, very dark red fruit about 1.5cm across. They finish off this tree's long season of interest, hanging on longer than the leaves and decorating the branches as winter closes in. Some can cling on into the new year, unless the birds take them.

Lisette can grow to 8 metres if unmanaged, but 6 metres is more likely, and she has a dense, compact growth habit that responds well to pruning into an open, rounded form. Half standards will reach approximately 4 metres.

Browse our variety of crabapple trees or see 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: 6m
• Soil: Any well drained
• Use: Specimen, small garden, urban
• Colour: Striking red-pink flowers in April-May
• Dark red-purple, small, decorative fruit
• Bareroot delivery only: November-March

Growing Liset Crab Apples

She is a hungry feeder and needs a rich, moist soil with a good amount of sun to thrive. Tolerant of pollution.

Mature trees tend to develop temporary cracks on their bark, especially in years with good summers. These are normal, and heal the same year that they form, but they do make the tree quite susceptible to scab in the warmer, more humid parts of the East and South of England and Wales.