It all depends on what you want out of it. If you want to spray, trim and use grafted varieties you'll obtain a larger more human edible crop. The deer don't mind if there are worms or misshaped fruit. I have approx. 10 acres of natural seeded trees that the deer use. Some of the sweeter ones get eaten first but even the sour ones get used as winter feed. Crab apples are more disease resistant than regular apple varieties. The one thing that either may need is protection from mice and deer. This can be a plastic tube around the trunk, a wire mesh enclosure or a painting on the trunk of deer repellent.

Dan O.