Throwback Thursday: Espalier Apple Tree 2.0
Espalier Apple Tree in My Denver, CO Urban Garden
I purchased my first Espalier Apple tree from a local garden store a few years back, Paulino’s which has since closed its doors. For those who are unfamiliar with this type of tree, Espalier is a method of training and pruning a tree or shrub, forcing it to grow flat against a wall or a free-standing trellis. In doing so, this (in theory as I’ve yet to see it happen) encourages substantial fruit production. Interestingly, I learned through research that the Espalier tree growing method originated in the Middle Ages!
My tree had several varieties of apples grafted onto it. Given my inexperience with this type of growing method, I succeeded at pruning it at the wrong time and thus never getting any apples. That is not true, one fall I did get an apple, yes that’s right… one apple!
Unfortunately, my naivety at pruning combined with a harsh early frost last year left me with one dead apple tree. However, let it be said that life does indeed find a way and this story does have a happy ending! One Saturday this past spring I was coming out to cut down said dead apple tree only to discover I had a runner that had sprouted out from the base of the dead tree! Having now watched enough Gardener’s World episodes, Monty Don has numerous Espalier trees in his garden, I had a good idea of what I needed to do for this new little life!
When pruning an Espalier tree you have two objectives in mind, the first is to train the tree to the flattened, horizontal shape that is classic Espalier. That is the stage I’m currently at with this baby of an apple tree. The second goal is to encourage the growth of short fruity stems – I’ve yet to achieve this goal.
Below is a brief outline of what I did and will be doing in case you are interested in growing an Espalier apple tree in your garden!
String three to four rows of galvanized wire horizontally on the wall or trellis, about 2 feet apart. I ran ours along or wooden fence in the Putnam Farm area of the garden.
Plant the tree in the middle. Find the lowest bud or branch on the tree and prune off the wood above it. That bud should be about 2 feet from the base of the tree and coincide with the lowest wire.
Lateral branches will begin to grow out and away from the cut. In the case of my runner shoot, I already had the wire strong from the old tree and several branches had already started to grow up and down the tree, so I found the branches that lined up with the wires and pruned away all the rest. Then I tied the branches to the wire with a soft and flexible Velcro plant wrap so that the branches will train to grow along the wire, but the ties won’t cut into the wood of the branch as it grows. It usually takes two growing seasons to get branches to grow at right angles to the main vertical trunk so be patient.
In the meantime, the tree will continue to grow upward from the original bud you located when you made the first cut. Let it grow to the second horizontal wire and again make a cut above a bud. When lateral branches grow from that point, repeat the process of attaching them to the horizontal wires.
A typical espalier is 6 to 8 feet tall, with three to four sets of horizontal branches. Your goal is to keep the tree in bounds. Fruit yields will be proportionately much greater from an espalier than from a full-size tree.
Be forewarned patience is required, this is something I’m still learning. According to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, it generally takes five to seven years to create a completed espalier structure and harvest fruit. This means that I may never actually see this new tree reach its full harvest potential but if I can learn the ins and outs of successfully getting one started then when I relocated to the Western Slopes of Colorado, I will be armed with a body of knowledge I can apply there! Until it’s time to harvest fruit, prune out any developing fruit. Your goal in the first few years is to encourage the tree to put all its energy into growing branches that establish the basic framework. Once that happens, all future pruning is to encourage fruit production. Apples on all trees, whether espalier or not, are borne on short stems called spurs. As buds and new shoots form along a lateral branch, prune them back to a point close to the branch where five leaves cluster around the stem. This encourages the buds on the bottom half of the lateral branch to produce fruit. This pruning will also remove the end buds that are more likely to produce leaves and stems.
