By Barbarak
North Yorkshire,
United Kingdom 
Lost leader. I have a 2 year old crab apple tree. We got this last Christmas as a year old . The branches were all coming off the bottom third, with a long leader. Following advice I cut off the lower branches and it has put out top growth this summer with plenty of crab apples. However the leader has been knocked off. The tree is about 5 ft tall. Will this loss of the leader mean that this is the final height of the tree?
10 Sep, 2015
Answers
they sure do, mine is very contorted and you may even get growth from lower down the stem too.
11 Sep, 2015
We had to remove the leading branch on one or two trees over the years,it should decide itself which one willtake over (apical dominance)
You could prune it if it becomes really lop sided, look up pruning crab apples
11 Sep, 2015
Thanks. I will check out pruning info. I like a bit of symmetry.
11 Sep, 2015
Several leaders may try to develop, and should be thinned out to the best one. Multiple leaders usually result in narrow crotches, which usually split easily in wind storms.
11 Sep, 2015
No, if the tree is healthy, it will continue to grow and develop a new leader. Crab apple trees can have an irregular growth habit.
11 Sep, 2015