Apple Tree Come back to Life

[HPFA]

We have an apple tree in our garden that has produced almost nothing for about the last five years and was starting to struggle before that. Every year I've thought vaguely that we must get round to having it removed. It was there when we moved in 19 years ago so don't know how old it is.

This summer I've noticed it's full of apples.

I feel like I'm in one of those fairytales where things suddenly spring back to life but, fantasy aside, what might have caused this to happen?

Plenty of pollinating insects around at just the right time, and no damaging frosts. Sometimes trees will have what is called a 'fecund' year, when they produce loads of seeds or fruit. The other alternative is (brace yourself) sometimes it can be the last ditch-attempt of a sick plant to reproduce itself before it kicks the bucket.

If there are way too many apples, it might be worth thinning some of them out a bit, to relieve the weight and stress from the tree, and to help the remaining ones ripen.

Thanks @Yamadori

It doesn't look like it's too overloaded, there aren't as many apples as there used to be when we first moved in, just a lot more than there've been in recent years. But I'll definitely keep an eye on it, if the apples don't seem to be growing well then I'll take some off.

Would be lovely if we could have a few home grown apple crumbles this year!