Friday night 7:30pm on

Gardening

Espalier

Dec 12 02:16pm

Espalier

This ancient, space-saving technique suits today's smaller gardens.

In Roman times, city gardens were as small as today's townhouses and gardeners still managed to harvest good crops of fruit. They trained trees into two dimensions along sunny walls and over the centuries European gardeners perfected the art.

Today, espaliered trees, ornamental and fruit producing, are grown not only against walls, but free-standing on wires to create screens as well.

Tip: Seek your nurseryman's advice before choosing fruit trees. Most plums, cherries and pears and some apples need another variety nearby to bear fruit at all.

Gardeners with large gardens should consider growing an espalier for their beauty and function as well as novelty, but the gardener with limited space will appreciate them the most.

Each espalier pattern requires different training, but in general the light pruning is done in the autumn, the heavy pruning in the winter and the training in the summer.

Tip: In the first year, remove all forming fruit to divert the plant's energies into growth.

Choose a suitable pattern and start training!

Triple horizontal cordon

Allow the central leader to grow three pairs of horizontal shoots. Each tier should be equally spaced. To train, prune the newly planted sapling in early spring to the height you want the first tier – anywhere from 30-45cm above the ground.

Select a bud that has two more buds on opposite sides beneath it. The top bud will grow into the vertical leader while the lower buds will form the first horizontal tier. Remove all the other buds.

As the three shoots grow, train the laterals onto a stout wire affixed to the wall or, in the case of a free-standing espalier, stretched between two posts. Direct the central leader upwards by tying onto a bamboo stake between the horizontal wires.

By early spring of the second year, the central leader should have reached the second wire of the supporting structure.

Choose a bud at this height that has two more buds beneath on opposite sides and repeat the procedure. To stop further upward growth, cut back the central leader to just above two buds. These will form the final horizontal tier and all buds below should be removed.

To maintain the shape after a tier is completed, do some annual pruning. Cut away all branches that deviate from the pattern, preserving only those growing in a flat plane. In summer, prune this year's growth as soon as it becomes woody. Cut back side shoots on lateral branches to about 15cm. In autumn prune away any secondary growth.

Palmette verrier

A variation on the basic horizontal cordon. Lateral shoots are first trained horizontally then directed upwards to form a candelabra-like shape. To train, follow the same procedure as for the triple horizontal cordon but, in midsummer, gently bend the two horizontal branches upwards to form a U. Tie them to bamboo stakes. Each successive U-shaped tier should be smaller. Stop upward growth of the central leader once the pattern is completed by cutting just above two buds that form the top tier.

Triple Vertical U-shape

This shape begins like the palmette verrier. After you bend the bottom laterals to form a U, the two new vertical branches along with the central leader should become the leaders for additional U-shaped tiers. When these leaders reach a common height where you want another tier, select two buds on each that face opposite directions and repeat the original procedure.

Six grid

This starts as a single horizontal cordon. From there, train equally spaced shoots (six in this case) vertically from the horizontal tier. In a six grid, the central leader is stopped at the first tier and three vertical leaders developed on either side of the main stem.

Belgian Fence

This pattern will form a very dense screen. To make, you'll need several plants spaced 45-60cm apart. After planting, prune and train as for a horizontal cordon. When the lateral shoots form, train them at opposite 45 degree angles so that laterals from neighbouring plants cross to form a diamond pattern.

The Fan

The fan is a less formal espalier. It demands more attention and must be supported by a wall. Essentially, it involves the use of the same pruning and training techniques and is especially suited to stone fruits such as peaches, apricots and plums that crop on last year's growth