Help!! Family member topped our apple tree

[frostytoes]

A family member essentially topped our apple tree.  I thought he was just going to prune off a dead branch, and almost had a heart attack when I saw the tree.  I live in Minnesota and it's getting cold out.  How damaging is this going to be to the tree?  How long before the tree will bear fruit again if it survives?  Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[simpsongal]

I'll defer to TD on this one. How mature is the tree?

The leader on our apple tree broke. A new leader started to form this summer. But it's only a 2 year old tree, so we don't let it fruit yet anyway. It definitely sucks - I'm sorry. Was the pruner trying to get the tree to bush out more?

[treedimensional]

Nov 6, 2013 22:03:24 GMT -5 frostytoes said:

A family member essentially topped our apple tree.  I thought he was just going to prune off a dead branch, and almost had a heart attack when I saw the tree.  I live in Minnesota and it's getting cold out.  How damaging is this going to be to the tree?  How long before the tree will bear fruit again if it survives?  Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Topping does not impact fruiting. It does, however, negatively impact structural strength and stability. To what degree depends on the tree's responsive growth, and your after care. The tree should receive restorative pruning to get it back into shape.