The commercial tall spindle systems are on a three wire trellis. If you don't have that you would need a stout, tall stake at each tree. The trees need support because they are on a weak rootstock, like M9, and because they are tall and spindly. This doesn't sound like a home orchard system, not that it couldn't be, just that an open vase or central leader is easier.

The open vase that many here are fond off is not a particularly efficent system. But we don't pay labor or need a profit.

The Fruitnut

Some trees are more given to one style or another. Apples and pears are often thought of as being good choices for central leader or modified central leader pruning and stone fruits are thought to be better pruned to a vase by many, but the fact is you can do either or both or some mixture to either or both. And as one learns to prune a combination may appear almost unasked -and still yield tolerable results.

May make for some funny looking trees sometimes, if my apple is any indicator, but still, it's not always an all or none proposition and healthy, productive trees can be had in a broad range of styles.

I do find the open vase esthetically very attractive along with its other attributes, but that's me.

:-)M

milehigh, this is the only way I will train apple trees from now on. I am a commercial organic orchardist in WA and I need early production. I can't afford to wait four or five years for positive cash flow. At the same time I do believe this is the way the home orchardist should grow apple trees. It is so easy. Just plant them, stake them, and let them grow.
"taking one branch that was close to the cropped top and training it upwards" I don't do this as one of the branches near the top will want to grow up and become dominant anyway. I think they call that apical dominance. I find I need to tie the CL over and allow a weaker branch to become apically dominant.
Terrence Robinson is one person who I listen to very carefully. There is a lot of opinion and conjecture in the fruit game, but I greatly value his views. You should listen to him when he talks about the G series of rootstock. IMHO all other rootstock are obsolete.
I do not tie down or weigh down the feathers as I would have to do that to thousands of limbs, so I let the weight of the fruit do it. When a scaffold gets to about a third of the diameter of the central leader I cut it back to a stub. I head back anything that gets longer than about five feet. I allow all scaffolds to develop and only cut side branches, hangers and risers from scaffolds. I make the top scaffolds shorter. My apple trees look somewhat like a Christmas tree.
This is a real easy method of growing fruit.

Geraldo, would you mind providing a few more words of clarification, please?

I'd like to know just how you mean it when you say "feathers", "hangers" or "risers", and when you say "I allow all scaffolds to develop".

Also, when you cut a scaffold "back to a stub" is it safe to assume that you expect a bud on that same scaffold to develop, or should one understand you to mean that you mean to terminate that particular scaffold permanently?

Thank you. I'm glad you are willing to share your experience.

Best regards,

Mark

Interesting that you are an organic pro, Geraldo. If you don't mind me asking

a) do you use chickens to control apple maggot and plum curculio?

b) which varieties do you grow?

Mark: Feathers are the small branches with wide crotch angles on the nursery stock at planting. You need a nursery tree with 10-12 feathers at planting. At least if you want the early production needed for early payback. Hangers and risers are branches hanging down or growing up from a scafold. At least that's my understanding.

I still think a tall skinny tree is diffucult for the home orchardist. Esp if you want the 10ft height they are talking about. 6ft or 8ft would be a lot more doable. Around here you'd need a very sturdy support system in our frequent 40+ mph winds.

But there is no question this is a great apple growing system.

The Fruitnut

Geraldo, Thank you! I feel a lot better now. The only problem I'm having is visualizing the instructions. Is there any chance you have photos of this method, especially now that they are not leafed out?

Also, how does this method differ from espaliering, where fruit production is reduced?

Thanks for the answer and for letting me butt in-

:-)M

"Feathers are the small branches with wide crotch angles on the nursery stock at planting. You need a nursery tree with 10-12 feathers at planting. At least if you want the early production needed for early payback. Hangers and risers are branches hanging down or growing up from a scafold. At least that's my understanding."
Just as our fruitnut said. 'nut, a tree that is ten feet across, or even eight feet across is not that narrow. At least not to me.
And yes, when you remove a scaffold you cut it back to a one or two inch stub so that it will send out a new shoot that will become a scaffold. Scaffolds come off the CL at a hoped for right angle. Leaving that stub is the hardest thing for a pruner to do. They all want to cut it off entirely. Even after doing it for a day or two they will revert. You want all of these scaffolds as they are not long and the ones in the top are short, maybe not more than a foot long. So not much shade. I do almost no pruning until the tree starts to bear. But some tying down would be good.
glib, I grow Gingergold, Pinklady, Rome. This method is not used on the Rome. Actually all three of those are tip bearers and I prefer plain CL on them. I did grow Fuji using this method and have since 1982 or 85? Just pulling out the last of the Fuji. I have always called this method the French Axe. It works very well on Gala or Golden or Jonagold or anything that isn't an extreme tip bearer. IMHO
I don't have curculio or maggot. Or chickens for that matter. Reading these posts I know that my growing conditions are much easier than those of you who grow back east. I do have neighbors, however.

Speaking of tip-bearers! Apparently I have a few tip-bearing apples; Harry Masters Jersey and Pristine. I also have Northern Spy and Newton Pippin, which are partial tip-bearers. I found a link that described the "Solen System". How do you deal with your tip-bearers, and what do you think of this method?

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning Tip Bearing Apples