Sargent Crabapple (Malus sargentii)

Give your garden the WOW factor this year with Sargent crabapple! The medium-sized shrub packs a lot of fragrant punch in spring. Then as summer ends, you are greeted with fall colors that last into early winter, providing the local wildlife with a tasty snack. Furthermore, these apple trees are leaderless shrubs with a wide spreading habit instead of tall looking beautiful on a shrub border. You can use it as a privacy screen to form a natural-looking hedge.

I. Appearance and Characteristics

Malus sargentii, the Sargent crabapple or Sargent’s apple, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Malus of the family Rosaceae. The species was formerly considered a variety of the species Malus sieboldii. It is a shrub or small tree growing to 6–10 ft (1.8–3.0 m) tall and 6–12 ft (1.8–3.7 m) broad.

Malus sargentii is native to Japan but is commonly used as an attractive compact ornamental shrub elsewhere. Every other year it bears masses of pink buds opening to fragrant white blossom. In the autumn, many small red globose fruits appear, persisting on the tree until winter.

II. How to Grow and Care

Sunlight

To take advantage of the fabulous color of the flowers and the blooms, the most important thing you can do for your shrub is provide it with plenty of sunlight. Place your crabapple in a setting that enjoys full sun, and you will benefit from more abundant fruit and blooms than if you were to place it in part shade. You will also notice more vigorous foliage, translating to a stunning autumn display when the shrub’s leaves turn bright gold and act as a great backdrop for the bright red fruit. Little tricks like this are a great way to incorporate color design into a landscape.

Temperature and Humidity

When deciding if your climate is right for a Sargent crabapple, it is a good idea to consider moderation. The perfect temperature is neither too hot nor too cold and going too far, either way, will make the shrub’s vigor suffer noticeably. It can suffer frost damage in colder weather, and the foliage can scorch in hot, dry weather. The USDA recommends zones 4-7, but in the extreme ranges of these zones, you may want to consider providing cover in the afternoon or blocking the shrub from high cold wind conditions.

Watering

Keeping the Sargent crabapple well watered until it matures will be one of the most time-consuming tasks. It will require weekly watering to allow the shrub to establish a strong, healthy root system that will later become a hardy, somewhat drought-tolerant shrub. During the first two growing seasons, keeping the shrub’s soil consistently moist is recommended. This can easily be checked by pressing your finger into the soil to a depth of about two-three inches and feeling if the soil is moist throughout. If it feels dry, water until it’s drenched, but do not allow the water to sit.

Soil

Sargent crabapples adapt well to different soil conditions, making them a great choice for places where you know you might not have the best soil. Ideally, it favors a well-draining loam that leans towards acidic. If these soil conditions are not met, there will not be a huge falloff in health or fruit and bloom production. Hence, soil condition and type are not a huge concern and should not deter you from planting a Sargent crabapple or make you go to extraordinary lengths to fix any soil issues present.

Fertilizing

Without fertilizer a Sargent crabapple will do well on its own. Don’t add fertilizer just because you think you should. You should always test your soil for deficiencies before adding fertilizer.

Pruning

Pruning the Sargent crabapple is done mostly for aesthetic reasons and removing dead and damaged branches. The form of the shrub is somewhat naturally unkempt and nest, so this is the aesthetic that the shrub will eventually always revert to unless pruned constantly, which is not something you should consider. When the time comes and the shrub needs to be pruned, the task should be put off until winter to ensure that the plant is not infected with fire blight. Pruning the shrub while it has fresh green growth opens it up to the opportunity to allow in the blight-causing pathogen. Pruning in the winter will cause the loss of some blooms, but this is a much-preferred outcome compared with a sick shrub.

Propagation

The easiest way to propagate Sargent crabapple is by simply taking a cutting from an existing plant. Finding a healthy, vigorous plant that gives off abundant blooms and fruit and using that as the parent plant will guarantee the next generation is just as successful as the two plants will be genetically identical. The steps to take a cutting are easy, do not require many tools, and will just demand some patience.

• To take your cutting:
• Find a branch about 1/8 of an inch in diameter with new growth and cut about 5 to 7 inches of new growth off of it.
• Remove the leaves from the bottom two-thirds of the cutting and scrape away the bark exposing the fleshy part of the branch.
• Cut the end of the cutting at a 45° angle.
• Use your pencil, dibbler, or any pointy instrument to poke holes into your potting mix for your cuttings.
• Dip your cuttings in your rooting hormone and let soak according to the product’s instructions.
• Keep the potting mix moist and in a cool, indirectly lit area. It will take a bit for roots to get established.
• Check the bottom of the pots around the three-month point to see if they have started.
• When roots have been established, transplant the plants into larger individual pots and let roots establish in those pots for one to three months.

Pests and Diseases

As a species, Sargent crabapple has excellent disease resistance to most pathogens. It is still only slightly susceptible to diseases that plague other species in the genus Malus such as fire blight, apple scab, and leaf rust. If you want the same overall appeal with even less risk of disease, then choosing the cultivar ‘Tina’ would be perfect. Malus sargentii’ Tina’ is extremely disease resistant, and the common malus diseases are barely a risk.

One of the great traits of Sargents crabapple, besides disease resistance, is also how little a threat pests present to the species. A plant may be occasionally attacked by aphids, tent caterpillars, spider mites, or borers. Still, none present a serious threat to the shrub and can usually be handled through off-the-shelf products if they cause you to worry.

III. Uses and Benefits

Sargent crabapple is perfect as a specimen plant or in groups, for borders, privacy screens, and hedges in city or cottage gardens.