[ptarmigan]

Hiya

It's a 4 year old apple tree and it's not looking happy at all.  Any ideas?

Ta.

[Nikkithefoot]

Looks a bit like apple canker. It is caused by a fungus and gets in where branches have been damaged, sometimes so small you can't see where.  The tree distal to the canker dies off. Best thing you can try is to prune the diseased part out and burn it, then hope. Sometimes means the end of a young tree, sometimes they get over it. I had a similar problem to my 3yo Discovery apple tree I cut it out and thankfully it survived.

Copper containing fungicides such as bordeaux mixture used to be used but they are no longer available.

[ptarmigan]

Thank you. V helpful answer. I'll try cutting it out....