I made a mistake pruning my espalier apple trees. Advice, please!
karin_mt
5 years ago
I have three newly-planted dwarf apple trees for my first foray into espalier. I'm doing the style with three horizontal wires.
I cut the trees down to around 14" tall to force new growth down low on the tree. Then we put up the trellis and support wire. And now, whoops, I see that the wire is higher than the cut. The wire is supposed to be a couple of inches below the first cut. In hindsight, I made that first cut too low. Bummer.
Obviously, I can move the wire, although I like the height that it's at because I'd have room to grow tulips or lettuce underneath the lowest tier of apple branches. But I'm looking at how the trees have responded to that initial pruning, and the buds below the cut didn't spring to life as I'd hoped. On two of the trees, there's only one new shoot growing where I made the cut. I need 3 (one to go left, one to go right, one to go up). There are shoots coming along down lower, but they are too low to be useful, I think.
So I wonder if I can let the new sprout on those trees grow up a a bit past the wire, then cut it, and then prompt new shoots to come off of that new growth?
On the third tree I have lots of sprouts and lots of options.
I'm open to suggestions! Thank you.
This is a Spartan on a mini-dwarf rootstock. You can see there is only one good shoot at the top.
This is Honeycrisp on a dwarf rootstock. Similar situation as the first one.
This is Liberty, on a dwarf rootstock. Many more options on this one, but I'm still not exactly sure what my next move should be.
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (9)
Embothrium
5 years agothebeun
5 years agoRelated Discussions
espalier apple / do I have to cut it short?
Comments (3)I am, by far, not the one to give advice as I am just learning about espalier myself. But here's a good article that explains why to cut it down: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/1993-10-01/Espalier-Trees.aspx I went through the same thing when I bought my SR Plum. It looked like this when I bought it: I didn't have the heart to cut it down to 18", so I just trained it from there. I cut off some branches and got this by the end of the summer: I ended up having to cut off the top two tiers due to a big mistake I made (constriction), so it looks much different now. I'm really hoping to get back to this by the end of this summer. Oh, the other thing I'd caution against when using current branches, is trying to bend them too far. It stretches the bark and can damage the branch (learned that last year too! :) )...See MoreSpacing for espaliered apple trees
Comments (12)So, is there a consensus on this? I assume it has as much to do with rootstock as anything. I have roughly 32 feet of space that I'd like to do an espalier apple "fence" (about 6 feet high), and I'm trying to figure out if I should go with 4, 5 or dare I say 6 trees. My question I guess is that if I go with different varieties (which for me would be the reason for going with more trees) is that I'm not likely to get the same rootstock for them (based on a quick survey of varieties I'm interested in at the online nurseries), so will it mess things up if I have a couple of semi-dwarf trees mixed in with dwarf varieties and only 5 or 6 feet of spacing? I suspect that will just create a lot of work for me. Am I correct in assuming the easiest thing would be to go with 8 foot spacing and just get varieties that I can get on a dwarfing rootstock?...See MorePruning apple tree-help please
Comments (8)Its normal to be somewhat confused. I still find a lot of it confusing after a few years of daily reading and practice. Part of the confusion is you got some good but conflicting advice. Either course could be the best idea. One option you were given is to leave all the limbs but to tie down the upper ones to a lower angle. You'd do that if the most important thing to you is how soon you'll get fruit. That would be at the expense of having a tree that is taller, less attractive and less manageable. The other option you were given is to top the tree lower and train it to more of a vase. That might delay fruiting a year or so but would make it easier for you to maintain the tree at the height you wanted and, in my opinion, make a more open, easier managed, attractive tree. You'll have to decide which is more important to you. If going only by the information in the intial post I'd say to chop it. But early fruiting may be important to you and you just didn't think to include that criteria. In my case, I've been growing for 3-4 years. Most of my early decisions were to aim for fruit quickly, aesthetics and other considerations be damned. Now that I'm starting to get fruit and have a number of trees, I have the luxury to step back and wish I had trees that were pruned and trained for the long term. (I still think early fruiting would probably win if I'd weighed my options from a more informed stance). Its much easier to be patient with one tree if one has other trees that are bearing....See MoreEspalier Forum, Please? Pics and Experience with your espaliers?
Comments (17)Hoping to keep this thread alive... I've done my first re-tying and pruning of the spring shoots on my Belgian fence espalier. Question: What length do you keep your fruiting spurs? I trimmed to about 3 inches last year and this year I'm pinching new growth to about 3-4 leaves. In the one guide I found that mentioned a length, it recommended 5 inch spurs, which seems like it would be too thick for my spacing (2 feet between trees, should be about 16-2/3" sides on my diamonds). I did lose one tree over the winter--my Stayman's Winesap. Luckily, a local farm store had some semi-dwarf Stayman in stock. The replacement was about 6 feet tall and on who-knows-what rootstock. I pulled the original tree and potted the M7 rootstock, which was surprisingly small, and toyed with the idea of attempting a graft from the 4 feet I lopped off of the new tree. I didn't get around to it, but it was in full bloom and I doubt i'd have gotten it to take on the 4 inches of M7 I had left. The new tree had nice roots and I fretted over lopping off all that greenery after it had just spent so much energy blooming, but it is finally pushing some nice strong leaves a couple weeks later. (sorry it's sideways) I also need to remedy a pear that has been trained slightly too vertical. It was pushing buds on the top half of the branches, but the lower halves were bare. Just with a little re-tying to the wire frame, it has started pushing a few leaf buds. I'll be trying some spreaders on it soon to push it a little further. It's just left of the central tree in front of the thick part of the asparagus behind the row. A few holes here and there, but I may get a few fruits this year and I think it will be taking shape nicely by this fall. Anyone else with espalier updates? I'd also really appreciate tips on how you handle pruning your spurs (length, thinning fruit, renovating spurs, etc.)....See Morekarin_mt
5 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years agokarin_mt
5 years agokarin_mt
5 years ago
Related Stories
DECORATING GUIDESThe Dumbest Decorating Decisions I’ve Ever Made
Caution: Do not try these at home
Full Story
EDIBLE GARDENSHow to Add an Apple Tree to Your Edible Garden
Readily available, beautiful and fragrant, apple trees offer four-season interest along with crisp, juicy fruit
Full Story
GARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGCrab Apple Trees Set Off a Stylish English Courtyard
A structure of pleached crab apple trees, bordered by a wildflower meadow, links a minimalist addition to an old house in Buckinghamshire
Full Story
GARDENING 101When Should You Prune Your Trees and Shrubs?
Pruning keeps plants healthy. Find out the best time to cut back flowering trees, needle-bearing shrubs and more
Full Story
FUN HOUZZEverything I Need to Know About Decorating I Learned from Downton Abbey
Mind your manors with these 10 decorating tips from the PBS series, returning on January 5
Full Story
GARDENING 101Key Pruning Terms to Help You Shape Up Your Garden
Learn why heading back, crown raising and other practices are essential for your plants’ health and beauty
Full Story
MOST POPULARSo You Say: 30 Design Mistakes You Should Never Make
Drop the paint can, step away from the brick and read this remodeling advice from people who’ve been there
Full Story
WINTER GARDENINGPruning Secrets for Exquisite Roses
Encourage gorgeous blooms year after year with this time-tested advice on how to prune your rosebush in winter for health and shape
Full Story
FARM YOUR YARDIf You Have Room for Only One Fruit Tree ...
Juice up a small garden with one of these easier-care or worth-the-effort fruit trees for a mild climate
Full Story
DECORATING GUIDESFrom Queasy Colors to Killer Tables: Your Worst Decorating Mistakes
Houzzers spill the beans about buying blunders, painting problems and DIY disasters
Full Story
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK