Thanks for all the input. I really appreciate it. If I'm hearing correctly, (or rather, reading correctly), the trees will continue to grow etc, but retain their espaliered shape. And I need to prune them to make sure the tree recovers from the move. Is that right? I guess I was wondering if the tree would produce any more branches off of the trunk, or if the best I can hope for is the 3 sets of 2 branches that it was trained with. Thanks harvestman for the information about apples being malleable. That bit of information gave me an idea about how to "fix" the shape. I suppose I could just leave it in the espaliered shape, but where I had to put it makes it look kind of odd. Like it was misplaced, or something. Just personal taste, I guess. Applenut, do I notch the trunk where I would like more branches to grow? That sounds like something I would like to try. And myk1, I got most of the big roots, fully intact, and a large ball of feeder roots. I was pretty pleased with the dig, actually, although I know that any move is a big move for an established tree. I had pruned it before the move, but I will go out and see if there's any more pruning I can do to help the tree along. Thanks again!

Wow. I thank you all for the great advice! Yeah, I guess I'm a bit disappointed that it's on EMLA111. I was hoping the tree would be a bit smaller than that. I too don't understand why they'd go with 111... especially since they are very highly regarded at my nursery, and they obviously know what their doing when it comes to the grafting & training. O'well... we'll adjust. I believe in order to grow another tier, typically you'd allow a new leader to grow slightly above where you want the next level. At that point you'd head it leaving at least 2 buds where you want your new branches to come out (one on either side ideally). Right, that was going to be my plan. I wonder how much higher I should let it go? Maybe 4 inches beyond the desired new lateral height? Skip some of the historical chapters in Tukey's book for now. Read the chapter on Summer Pruning. that will give you the most immediately applicable info to your situation. Next, go backwards a little and read the chapter titled Principles Of Pruning And Training. I've got the book open right now. Thanks! It is a little unusual to place a trained, espalier tree in a freestanding situation as you have done. Normally, such a tree would be sited next to a wall or fence, where some support is already available, or could be built without appearing out of place. Yeah, I knew this location wasn't typical, but I was figuring it would still work out nicely because I've already got a bunch of trellises in the back yard, and really, it helps one from feeling like they're going to fall off my raised back yard. Since I've already got all the trellises back there, it will probably fit right in with all the others! :-) The long lateral branches of an espalier will require support to keep their shape I guess my question here is... will they need support for the entire life of the tree? Or just while the tree is growing? Or, does it just need support to bear the weight of the apples? Being that the tree is currently 6 feet tall, and about 1.5¨ at the trunk, anybody want to venture a guess as to how old it is? The good news is that you don't have to do anything at the moment, except study;) . Yep, I've got a lot to learn. Right now, I know enough to be dangerous! :-) Thanks again! -Glenn

1) Keep branches a few inches long, perhaps they'll develop into fruiting spurs. Trim anything that gets more than 6 inches long. I prune non-scaffold branches to 5 buds in the summer, then 3 buds during the dormant season. 2) Your staking plan sounds just fine. 3) Rabbits will eat the bark off the lowest branches of your espalier during the winter. The rabbits in my yard aren't desperate enough during spring, summer, or fall to touch the fruit trees. I wouldn't use the white plastic thing during the growing season, just during winter. I need to cover the whole tree in hardware cloth during the winter, because the snow lets the rabbits access most of the tree otherwise. They can eat anything from zero to 2 ft high. 4) Your soil pH shouldn't change much, and it's a bit silly to worry about it after planting the tree. But you should invest in a pair of nice hand pruners. Don't prune with kitchen scissors.

Nice set up, Mes111. Yes, Appleseed70, over the fence is fair game. Although I'd like the kids to wait because they'll grab them unripe and sprayed. I'd give them better apples anyway. The two trees show up there are basically the same. The bushy one is more overgrown because that's how it produces, but I am working on thinning out the top to get more sun to the lower. I'm not sure what the last tree was in the picture in '09. Judging from the description it was sawed off and grafted onto because I didn't like the variety. It's basically the same but bigger. Free standing and ready to go wild now. Hopefully should bear this year. Which reminds me, I want to get out there and put some more room between tiers. I've got two more both spur type this time. If the Macspur survives the fireblight that killed 2 and hurt it and another last year and starts producing the bushy one will be removed (maybe grafted to a free standing spot since it seems to withstand fireblight). The Earliblaze on the right is much better behaved than the Macspur on the left which is acting more like a semi-spur than it did on the free standing one which died. This was the Earliblaze last year before picking and pruning.