Espalier is an ancient method of shaping a woody plant to fit certain spaces. Traditionally these are fruit producing trees and they are shaped using trellis and support to fit into a two dimensional space. It is a great method to fit fruiting trees in small spaces such as against a building or fence.
Apples require two varieties to cross pollinate each other. Often it is sufficient to have an apple tree in the neighborhood. In my case there is more than one variety of apples on the same tree. This is done through a process called grafting, where a bud or scion from your desired fruit is attached or grafted to another tree.
Grafting is most commonly done with different varieties of the same crop however it can be done with plants of the same family. For instance I have successfully grafted a pear scion to an apple tree. Unfortunately your chances for success are low if you are crossing fruit tree families like stone fruits with apples or pears.
Espalier fruit trees are becoming more and more common to the point where I found mine at a local big box store and it has two of my wife’s favourite eating apple varieties. You can do it on your own as well using pruning and training methods. If you start from a juvenile plant it will take a few years to train and during that time fruit production will be low.
When planting an espalier tree you will need to think about sun exposure and the supports the tree will need over time. Most fruit trees are require full sun. Make sure to select an area you can support the tree and that gets more than 6-8 hours of direct sunlight in the summer.
Usually in store they are unsupported however when the plant has a crop on it and gets larger you will want and need that support to prevent damage and continue to train the shape.
I will be planting the tree just over 30cm or 12 inches from the fence as I will be extending the trellis that far out from the fence to provide the plant room to grow and easy airflow.
When planting perennials it is important to give them a good home. In my hard clay I will dig the hole 1.5x – 2x larger than the container diameter and 1.5x deeper. This will give us space to add lose compost that will allow the plant to push roots while providing it nutrients until it is established.
I usually fill the remainder of the hole with compost however you can mix in your native soil if you do not have enough compost.
It is important that the trellis supports match the existing branch levels. In order to do this I will build the trellis after I have dug the hole but before I finish planting the tree. Dry fitting the tree in the hole will help me set the heights for the supports and leaving the hole open allows us to make final adjustments.
I start by attaching two 2”x6” 10 feet apart vertically on the fence. Making sure they are level before attaching them. I use one screw in top and one on bottom to allow for adjustments.
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