What is causing this damage on my apple tree?

Question

UPDATE On inspecting all the other branches, I found one of the branches in the following state. It shows the bark beginning to fall off the tip, explaining how the other branches have developed.I cut it off, sealed it in a box and put it in the fridge whilst I wait for an identification of the problem. It is still unclear what has started it - i suspect some sort of parasite?

This has happened to one of my apple trees over the past few years, I'm now concerned because it is happening to other branches and there is very little one year growth on the tree. This is the shape of the tree, and ringed in red are the branches that are affected. Does anybody have any ideas what might be causing this?

Here's another picture from a different angle, clearly showing the cambium layers and the profile of the edge on them. Nobody else has pruned the tree to our knowledge, could an animal have caused this type of damage? Here's a shot of the same damage having occured to another branch

Answer 1

You have this kind of wounds of your apple tree because it was not pruned correctly. It cannot heal at the tip of the cut, so you must cut close to where the other buds or living branches are.

Opposite to other trees, you must cut very close to the buds.

Here is how to prune: very close to the parts that will go on handling life in them.

What not to do:

Answer 2

It appears that this apple tree is not at all happy. It is just not taking off and behaving as a young apple tree should, with vigorous vegetative growth and good solid shoots coming from the top of the whip. You should be seeing new shoots about 12-18 inches long with nice solid buds, and not necessarily any fruit buds at this point. What you have instead is weak growth, no long shoots, and a vague attempt at fruiting buds, maybe as a sign of distress. It appears that year 1 and perhaps year 2 were okay, but then something happened and it has done nothing remarkable since then.

So the question is why? It may be getting insufficient light (should be in good full sun), has its roots too wet (need good drainage year round, yes, all year), has no available nutrients or has been moved about experimentally too many times and simply cannot recover.

I think the next move might be to review the site, and if possible choose a new well drained and sunny location. Examine the roots thoroughly, wash off if necessary, prune back any dead and broken roots, and hope that in the new location it has the vigour to get back into the game.