Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World (29 page)

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How to Espalier

WAITING:
4-7 years

Our gardening goal is to grow as many edibles as possible on our property. Fruit and nut trees are a big part of that plan. They’re the backbone of an edible landscape. What other plant gives you so much food in return for so little effort on your part? If you’re short on space for fruit trees yet high on ambition, an espalier may be the answer for you.

Espaliering is the art of training trees to grow flat against a trellis as a living fence or up against a wall. It’s a charming old art, and a practical one as well. An espaliered tree doesn’t take up much space, yet because it is rigorously pruned and all of the flowers and branches receive full light (and, in the case of those trained to a wall, extra warmth), it often bears more fruit than its three-dimensional counterparts, and that fruit is much easier to harvest.

Any fruit tree represents an investment in time. It takes years for a sapling to mature enough to bear a significant amount of fruit. In the case of an espaliered tree, you should expect to wait 4 to 7 years for your first harvest. But the reward—a beautiful living sculpture that gives you pounds and pounds of delicious organic fruit every year—is well worth the effort.

CHOOSING A LOCATION

When planning to put in an espalier, figure that each tree needs a space measuring about 6 x 6 feet. An espaliered tree can be grown against any fence or wall or can be staked on freestanding trellises. South-facing walls absorb and reflect the most heat for the tree. This is useful in northern climates and in those with short growing seasons. The extra heat coddles the tree and extends the harvest. In southern climates, a wall facing due south may be a little
too
hot. Put your hand on a wall on a sunny summer day to judge whether or not it will cook the tree. Does the wall burn your hand? Does anything else grow near the wall, or is it a parched dead zone? Eastern or western exposure may be better if that’s the case. Either is generally acceptable in all climates. North-facing walls do not get enough light, at least not enough to grow fruit trees. Make sure the spot you choose, whether a wall or a freestanding trellis, gets at least 6 hours of sunlight a day during the growing season.

CHOOSING THE TREES

The most popular subjects for espalier are fruit trees, though nonfruiting trees are sometimes grown this way. Every tree has a unique growth pattern and pruning requirements that must be factored into the choice. Apples and pears have an orderly pattern of growth that makes them particularly suited to espaliers, and they bear a tremendous amount of fruit in this form. For this reason, they’re the most commonly espaliered trees. Since we can’t cover every type of tree in these pages, we’re going to focus this project on apple trees.

Fruit trees come in different sizes: standard size (referred to as seedling root-stock) and those grafted on dwarfing rootstock (labeled “dwarf” or “semidwarf”). Because we live in an urban area where space is often limited, we generally prefer to plant dwarf or semidwarf trees because of their compact growth habit. However, it is worth noting that there are varieties of standard size apples that bear their fruit on short spurs as opposed to on the tips of their branches. These are called spur bearing apples. They’ll be identified as spur bearing on their tags. If you can find a spur bearing apple suitable for your climate, it would be the ideal apple for espalier. However, spur bearing apples are somewhat harder to find than tip bearing. If you can’t find one, don’t worry. Choose any dwarf or semidwarf tree suited to your climate. These will be easy to find, and because they’re smaller, they’re easier to manage. Either way, you’re good.

Espaliering is best begun on a very young tree, preferably on what is called a whip. This is a short, branchless sapling, which does, in fact, resemble a whip. It’s much easier to espalier a whip than a sapling with branches. If you purchase trees by mail order, they will most likely be shipped in this state. We’re going to focus on the training of whips, because reshaping the existing branches of an older sapling is a more complex undertaking.

READY-MADE ESPALIER

It’s possible to buy a sapling that is already being trained into espalier form. They come in pots, with their branches preshaped on a piece of trellis. This will save you initial work and waiting, but the trained sapling will cost a lot more than a whip.

DO YOU NEED A POLLINATOR?

Many fruit trees need another fruit tree nearby for pollination. Trees that do not need a pollinator are labeled as self-fruitful. Many heirloom and rare varieties of fruits require cross-pollination, and some self-fruitful trees will bear heavier crops if they are cross-pollinated. Most apple trees require cross-pollination. The pollinator tree is always a different variety of the same tree. For example, we would choose two different kinds of apples for the garden, say a Gala and a Fuji, just to name two well-known varieties. If you only have room for one apple tree, make sure it is a self-fruitful variety.

PREPARING THE SITE

First, spend some time loosening and amending the soil in the area you intend to plant your trees. A modified double-dig method would work well for an area that has compacted soil. (See Project 47 for details.) Double-digging is usually performed on garden beds, but for an espaliered tree, apply this method to a 3-square-foot area, amend the soil with compost, and remove any rocks or loose masonry chunks from the planting area.

Next, string up wire to form the framework for training the tree. There are many forms of espaliers: Trees can be trained into grids, fans, or candelabra forms or allowed to grow in a natural branching pattern. For this project, we’re going to focus on a classic cordon pattern (a modified T) in which the tree is shaped into a central trunk with three straight sets of branches growing parallel to the ground. This is a classic form for apple espaliers.

EXPERT HELP

Seek out a reliable fruit tree vendor in your region. Even if you have to travel a long way to find the vendor, or pay more for the trees, it will be time and money well spent. Many growers ship trees if you don’t have local options. A reliable nursery, whether local or mail order, is a treasure trove of information. The staff will be able to tell you which trees do best in your climate and recommend correct companion trees. They also will be more likely to provide you with whips or preespaliered trees than chain nurseries.

Attach three 6-foot lengths of wire to the wall at regular intervals. The first will be stretched horizontally 18 inches off the ground, the second 18 inches above the first, and the third 18 inches above the second. This spacing can be changed to accommodate the form of the sapling or the height of the wall, but the space between wires should be equal.

The wire must be firmly attached to the wall. For a wooden wall or fence, drill in eye screws or eyebolts. For a masonry wall, you’ll need to drill holes and set plastic plugs into the masonry joints using a carbide drill. Then drive the screws in the plastic plugs. You could also mount a wooden trellis about 6 inches from a wall and train the tree to that. This is a good technique if you wish to grow the trees against the walls of your house. For a freestanding espalier, sink rot-resistant 4 x 4-inch posts into the ground 6 feet apart and string wire between them at the same 18-inch intervals. To ensure the posts don’t fall inward, sink the posts into concrete. Look up basic fence-building techniques to learn how to do this.

The wire used should be galvanized and heavy gauge (12 to 15 gauge). It is sometimes called berry wire. It must be stretched tight and be sturdy enough to support the branches. Turnbuckles are useful for tightening and retightening the wire as needed.

PLANTING THE TREE

Center the location of the tree on the wire. That is to say, for a 6-foot stretch of wire, plant the tree at the 3-foot mark. Plant it 8 to 12 inches away from the supporting structure. Dig a hole a little bigger than the pot that holds the sapling and carefully lower the rootball into the soil. The top of the rootball should be even with the ground. Pat down the soil around it gently, then water. Place a wood chip mulch around the base of the tree. Always keep mulch a couple of inches from the actual tree trunk. Mulch holds moisture, which is great for the soil but can damage the tree trunk if it stays wet for too long.

FIRST PRUNING

Whenever you interfere with a branching plant’s projected growth by pruning it, it responds by creating a flush of growth at the pruning site. People who keep houseplants know that if a plant is getting rangy, pinching it back will force it to put off side shoots, making it fuller. To espalier, you’re going to use this same principle.

Examine the whip and find a bud that is about level with the first wire. A little higher or lower is fine. Trim the whip just above this bud with sharp pruning shears. Make sure there are at least three buds left below the cut. (If there are not, you’ll have to let it grow a little more.) The whip will put out a cluster of new growth at the cut site, which can be trained onto the horizontal wires in the next step.

Let the whip grow for the rest of the year and put out new growth from your cutting point. Allow it to grow as much as it wants, however it wants.

Prune with sharp shears, making your cuts at a 45° angle.

Trim the whip to the height of the first horizontal support, leaving at least 3 buds beneath the cut.

Allow free growth.

Trim the whip to the height of the fi rst horizontal support, leaving at least 3 buds beneath the cut.

Allow free growth.

Prune with sharp shears, making your cuts at a 45° angle.