Espalier Apple Tree How to Plant and Trellis for Small Space Gardens
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- Опубліковано 21 лип 2024
- 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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Have you made any follow up videos or blogs, on how to prune this tree, or how you've trained it over the years? I would be very interested to see how it is doing now. Thank you.
Stephen, thank you the detailed steps. You did an amazing job and make it look very doable for others like me! I also appreciate your last tip about container growing of espalier tree with bamboo supports. Thank you for taking the time to share with us!
Honey Crisp - wow, had no idea you could grow them that far north. Great video again!
Yup Zone 3 hardy ones are just as large as the store!
Excellent how-to-video. The info about grafted fruits was a bonus. We might do this with peach trees as they grow better in our hardiness zone than apples.
Well done! That was a very concise and informative video!
Due to the extreme flood seasons I encounter in my area, I have been planting my trees in exclusively native soil on a mound, and putting all compost ontop of the hole like a layer of mulch. I find that when I use soft fluffy soil with lots of organic matter, water sits inside the hole that I dug to plant the tree because the soil has more space for water in that hole. This problem is a big issue with gardeners in my area, and I'm sure for many others out there.
Esparlier trellis look great....thanks for sharing. Cool!
It is very cool ! I am so glad I got it !
Very nice espalier apple tree and trellis, Stephen!
I thought you might enjoy this one! It's another perennial to the collection !
Thanks for this, Stephen ! I've book marked it for future reference 😊
This video is so informative and helpful. I really appreciate the details you included. I hope the best for you!
beautiful apple tree and trellis. :)
Thank you my friend.
Great work with grafting on the Apple tree and a very nice Trellis Stephen
Thank you Patrick ! I see espalier is much more popular in Europe ! I guess people make whole fences from them ! That would be neat to see.
Great video Stephan, I liked the espalier you built for the apple tree and noticed you mentioned putting in a grapevine. I'll check your videos to see how you did that as I recently purchased a grapevine myself. Thanks for showing such a detailed installation. Kim
Here is what I did and so far it's doing well. It's an easy build too. ua-cam.com/video/2I6_9ndTM-Y/v-deo.html
Cool idea, Stephen!
Thank you my friend !
Thank you for the great video. I have been planning to start espalier trees when I landscape the yard.
Bonnie Slee That is a great idea! let me know how it turns out!
Love this video, thanks for sharing what you know with us.
I live in townhouse setting and there is no room for planting, but I love gardening and this video makes it a possibility for me.
I hope you get an espalier tree !!!
What a great video ♡ love the shape ♡ you make it look so easy lol ! Happy growing
I try :) it really just takes some time to do and your off :)
Awesome video, can't wait to try it!!!
Great method for saving space I am doing this with our trees too.
Great explanation of how to do it.
I am glad you enjoyed it my friend ! It is such a great method to make living fences and great features in a yard !
Good video.
Thank you!
Short and very informative, thanks.
I have one of those "4 in 1 trees" too, which I planted last summer. It's not espalier and only one of the grafts has fruited, I think because of a late frost. It has 12 apples and with a little luck the deer won't discover them before they're ripe enough to be picked. They did a little "pruning" for me last autumn so I'm happy to have any apples. As long as they don't kill the trees, I don't mind if they do get the apples. This omnivore likes venison, so I'll get my apples one way or another. ;)
Good luck with your tree and thanks for sharing this informative video.
I am going to make my apple tree he big one a 3 Apple 2 pear type :) next year though !
I do love some wild meat too :)
I have a well protected courtyard that faces south and has walls on west and east side, and like you found the apple and a pear tree at Home Depot, cant wait to see how they develop and grow. the Pear tree is going great and will DEF have to be pruned this spring. as for the apple will see how it does over the winter and what it does come spring. So glad someone who knows what he is doing has espalier trees and I can see just how yours are doing.
This spring Ill be doing a pruning video getting mine ready for a 2018 fruiting. I doubt mine will produce next year as my dog did some damage to it last fall.
Great video Stephen, I built mine a little different as I didn't have a fence to use to support it. I can't wait until we get some fruits from these things, I got very excited this spring when I saw some pear blossoms on mine, but only one branch was ready to flower. Hopefully next year we'll both get something.
Did you post a video ? I would love to check it out.
It might be a few years but I am patient and look forward to the crops soon !
I never thought to make one while I was building it, but I think I can do a step by step with pictures for it. I'll keep you posted when I do.
That sounds great!
Conrad Cardinal
Thank you Stephen, very helpful, precise instructions. I should think yours has come along quite a lot since?
Very nice work my friend and Honeycrisp apples are my favorite :-)
My wife tells me those the eats and the Spartans I think she makes into pie :)
Thank you !
How is this tree looking now in 2020?
Thanks for the video! I'm from the Edmonton area. You mentioned that you bought your espalier trees at a local big box store. Where did you find them and have you seen them at any of the other local stores? Also, is your tree a dwarf variety? Thanks for any advice. Love all the helpful videos.
Amazing technique, i'm wondering if works with tropical trees, i can't grow apples in my climate.
I planted two lovely dwarf pear trees last year, and my new dog chewed off the leader. I'm wondering if it's worth trying to espalier them?
Great video Stephen. I am very interested in espalier fruit trees as I have a small yard and cant afford the shade casted by large "free" growing trees. Do you think the type of rootstock is important for this type of application? I would assume a dwarf or semi-dwarf tree would work better for staying compact and more manageable. Thanks for the video and congrats on the new tree.
I thought this might be a good one for small spaces. It likely would be a dwarf rootstock the tree is grafted on. Just to keep the explosive growth down.
Cheers for the great video. Can espalier trees be transplanted?
Hi Stephen, in the video you mention using costed wire. Do you mean just a solid coated electrical wire?
*Granny smith apples 🍏? Im growing about 13 of them from seeds?*
Nice video! Can you please let me know where did you find your apple tree? I also live in Alberta 😊
very interesting vid
Glad you enjoyed the video !
Thank you for your informative videos. I havve three year trees, with polinater, no flowers as of yet, Why?. and can you assist me in how to properly prune them, they seem to thick to me. Thank you, Sincerely Rick.
+Rick Schulte it could be that your trees are too young or need a pruning to get them to flower. it takes a few years for apple trees to settle in and produce. Depending on the variety some of the older heirlooms take 5-7 years but once they get going they produce heavily.
As of yet I have not shown how to prune espalier apple trees however I did just produce a video on apple tree pruning in general. the same principles can be applied to an espalier tree with the exception of the training. here is a link to the clip:
ua-cam.com/video/YEl_fBVA1PE/v-deo.html
Was that tree hardy for your zone area? Home depot sells leftover product from BC in the prairies. Unless you are in Lethbridge Spartan and Honeycrisp have little chance of survival.
~ How far away from the fence do you have to plant the apple espalier tree??
Very good video. When we were stationed in Aviano, Italy, a neighbor had all of his fruit trees this way.
One question for you about your equipment. What is the brand of microphone that you use and would in work with a Android Smartphone?
That is fantastic ! I would love to have a fence made of fruit trees :)
I use a canon WM-V1 and it should in theory work with anything but I would check with a store.
I use a canon camera too so I figured it would work.
I don’t really have a place to trellis this type of tree, does it need a trellis? Also, can you graft onto it to make it a full tree? These may seem like odd questions, but I saw one of these at a local store. Love the variety of apples, but don’t really want a flat looking tree.
do you have to put then on wires
Can you tell me where you got your eye bolts? I’m having a hard time finding them. I know that I need stainless steel so that they last.
A good and helpful video as always Stephen. I have a question. I made fresh Brussel sprouts and added honey while cooking instead of after. Without thinking I threw the extra on the compost pile and mixed it in. My husband says the whole pile is now ruined. Is it? Do I have to turn in my green thumb?
Keep your thumb my friend. Sugars break down just like the rest. You should probably turn the pile to spread it out. It will help keep things like ants :)
***** Yes! Thank you so much. Good news.
Glad I could help !
Can you espalier a gala apple tree, grown from seed, close to a house foundation? Will the roots become invasive to the foundation?
The roots should not be invasive but not you can’t do them from seed. Apples are highly active genetics which is why all commercial varieties are clones.
Berry good I'm from India sir i One a question asian and eouropeany apple what is Different
Great video as always. I like the idea of coated wire. I'm going to use that. I'd be interested about your thoughts on amending the soil in the planting hole. I've heard other organic gardeners say that this can lead to the roots remaining in the planting hole, since the prefer the better soil, and eventually girdling themselves. I have no experience with this so I'm trying to see what others think. Thanks again.
Randy Chadwick It may restrict the grow the begin with however the compost in there won't last more than a year or two and the tree will go looking for more. I have done the same thing a number of times and have had no issues.
It would be interesting to test thought!
I am glad you liked the video my friend!
***** I like what you do because it seems to me that you don't simply assume that what is convention is necessarily true. You explore the issue systematically and then explain in detail so that people can think this through for themselves. I'm always glad to see a Alberta Urban Garden's video. I hope they keep coming.
I am so very glad I can help! It is so interesting to dive into the processes practices and methods to see what's really below the surface !
Randy Chadwick If the roots are already curling around in the pot when you get the tree it is important to (carefully) try and get the roots to grow outward. You don't want to leave them curled like that, they can continue around and girdle the tree as you say. As much as you can get the roots to grow out, perpendicular to the trunk or down, the better. But I wouldn't be worried about adding good soil to the hole. I'd argue that it's a must, to help the tree that will be in shock from the transplant, get a good start in its new location. Also, if you're planting in a heavy clay soil you will want to make that hole as big as possible and mix in as good a soil as you can get because the clay can just act like a big pot and prohibit proper root growth. The mulch, as Stephen recommends, is a must as well. Not only will this feed the tree as it's broken down, it will also help to retain moisture. Keeping a new tree well watered is also a must for a newly transplanted tree.
Are you in Calgary? If so, do you know of a nursery where I can find honey crisp grown with this method?
+MultiClown1000 I am not in Calgary rather the Edmonton area. That said Home depot had mine ;)
Is there ever a time you can remove the supports?
Eventually but it will be years.
so your tree will always be the height it is now?
I plan on training another level at least however I can see a 5th :)
dymondwillow2 That's the cool thing with apple trees (not sure about other fruit trees, but I think most), you can keep them the size you want with proper pruning. Of course, the smaller the tree the less fruit you will get. I plan on keeping my apple trees no taller than I can reach.
So in 10 years will the trunk of the tree still be the same size???
Wont the tree grow taller and cause you to have to reposition your supports? Is that incorrect, or is that just part of training your tree in the style of Espalier?
That's what the training is for. The support will always be the same just the main branches will get thicker.
TheAmusingMe I also wonder how this works. do the tree limbs increase in height as well as girth? or do they stay around the same level and only thicken...
Of course any "Major" change is going to take years.
Nathan Stoddard They will stay that height. The existing branches will get longer to a point and new branches will sprout. The trunk and branches will continue to grow in girth as well. The new branches can be allowed to grow and be trained as you see fit or they can be pruned off. When pruning the tree, it is recommended not to take off more than a third of the entire tree, so it's important to do a little every year and not let it get out of hand and try to come in and hack it back too much.
Very food🇷🇴
Can you do an update please
We lost her in a storm when the fence came down. Unfortunately.
Check woodprix mates. I love it to my wooden projects.
I have been trying to say that you as a slim man, may have ruptures. Please have a surgeon tellyou what you need repaired before you are too old.. they will not help after certain age.. then we suffer our old age.. because it just gets worse.. and get disabled.God bless. thanks for the video.. mary
I'll take a look into it my friend and thank you.