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Fruit & Orchards

Espalier apple tree vs dwarf apple tree - non espalier

8 years ago

I live in South Eastern Ontario, Canada. I have an area that receives good sunlight and has good soil/drainage that I would like to plant 2 espalier apple trees in a horizontal form. I am more in favour of the espalier apple tree than just a regualr dwarf apple tree because it would fot better to the 4 ft x 25 ft space I have to work with. My landscaper's opinion is that it will take too much expertise for me to manage the espalier apple trees. I would like to know if a novice can manage an espalier apple tree if I have the commitment to learning how to manage them but don't want to have to put in a lot of tedious time each season. TIA!

Featured Answer

eastmeetwest

8 years ago

Melissa,

Since you said you have the commitment, then you can do it.

I'd like to suggest you google "espelier apple tree reworked". It will take you to a specific thread The OP asked a lot of questions and receive tons of good advice about espelier apple trees.

There are pictures so you can see what the instructions meant. With espelier, the important thing is to prune the trees to keep it espelier and get fruit production.

I cannot mention that website here as moderator here would block it. I'd say, it's a very good thread with advice from backyard gardeners to backyard gardeners.

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Comments (6)

samsaraedu
8 years ago
Considering that many Nurseries and "surprise, surprise" even Home Depot now sell mulit-graft fruit trees whether regular shape or espaliered, its not that hard to achieve your goal. 3-4 tiered apple trees with a different variety at each level to ensure pollination for fruit, are already staked and formed so you only have to learn to maintain.

I've had my eye on them too and with prices ranging from $49-89USD, they are not out of reach.

Sometimes a landscaper will not want to admit they don't know about a plant or feature and discourage you rather than say they don't know. I have lost several beautiful and irreplaceable heirloom plants over the years due to this particular brand of stubbornness. The fact that you came here looking for advice and answers already means you are willing to learn and do whatever it takes for your garden to grow and prosper.

Good Luck. I cant wait to see you tree line photos.
tim45z10
8 years ago
There's nothing really difficult about pruning for espalier.

I am wondering if his comments are more for himself. He is worried that he will have to take on more work. Something he knows nothing about.

choose trees that that have nice espalier start.
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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.
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I think maybe they make the levels to close for shipping and a smaller tree. I removed my bottom ones because they were too close to the ground and the second level limbs. One day I noticed something was eating the bottom apples because they were squirrel height off the ground. I have read that on regular trees multi grafts can be a little learning curve because different varieties grow at different speeds and one side of the tree can get more out of control. the espalier is perfect for different varieties.
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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.
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Thank you for the response Mike. What rootstock is your Arkansas Black on? Mine is on a semi-dwarf rootstock and think this combo may be too vigourus. I could always prune heavily and keep it small. I do understand that regional and personal tastes are a big factor in our choices but wanted to read some views. Been reading much and will just dive in with a few choices and see how they do in my small yard. I had about 15 varieties in a local property we just moved from to downsize within the same area. Plan to grow vertically with apples and other favorite garden choices. I brought all my Old Garden Roses, peonies, clematis and others from previous property and will wait patiently for them to get back to what they were in our previous garden. 15) 8 yo heirloom apple trees were left behind. I had two young Arkansas Black that I was able to dig and take with me as well, thus my question on espaliering them and adding a couple of others which I"m thinking about: Goldrush, Blacktwig and Hooples Antique. Patty
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Melissa DC
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you all for the feedback. I'm committed to doing this project now. I appreciate the feedback.
User
8 years ago
Melissa, all apple trees from nurseries today are grafted to a root stock. It is the root stock that determines the size of the tree. An espalier tree is just the way the tree is trained to grow and not a type of tree. In your 4' x 25' area, with the right root stock, you could get as many as 6 apple trees planted 4' apart. We have semi-dwarf trees planted 4' apart in our tree rows (we have 17,000 trees in our orchard). In our retail nursery, we stock all dwarf and semi-dwarf trees and tell our customers what root stock they are getting. Most nurseries do not do that so you have no idea what size tree you might end up with. The most common dwarf root stock is Bud 9 or B9 and semi-dwarf is M26 or M9. If you contact Whiffletree Farm & Nursery, they can help you with the right trees for your situation. I know they grow a super-dwarf tree on M27 root stock that gets no taller than 6'-7'. Whiffletree is north of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.
Her is one of our tree rows planted to espalier on M26 root stock spaced 3' apart. We also have a 3,000 tree apple tree maze planted to espalier!

Hope this helps!
France
3 years ago
WOW!

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