# fruit trees as we age:espalier



## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i was talking with a person last night on here about fruit trees and doing them espalier style.it dawned on me that this would be a nice solution as we age for folks to keep being able to provide for their daily fruits.it keeps the tree down low so we dont need to climb ladders and we could still prune easy enough as we age and get all hunkered over and broke down. 

but of course some us dont like or need or have any business on a ladder now..like me...lol

so with this in mind i am going to start doing some fruit trees like this.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Just bought another dawrf apple to go with two other Honey Crisp yesterday.
Guy I bought the bare roots trees from is really into the radical pruning idea.
When I called him in the morning he was out in his orchard working on his "high intensity" plantings.
From him I am getting the ideas that you certainly do not have to let an apple tree just "grow" as it will, but with a lot pruning you can put the ladders away.


Memories....... of some of the mighty shaky orchard ladders I have been on picking cherries and apples.............


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

That's what I'm planning to do with all my fruit trees...when I finally get them, lol! Great pictures Elk, thanks!


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

you don't even have to support them and trellis , if you cut everything growing above your head level you may have to duck but you can grow them so that they go up and branch out and the wood gets thick but with smaller branches off of it that bear fruit 

honey crisp especially benefit from annual pruning there are many good books on pruning and how to get the best strongest structure with different styles of pruining if you save your pruinings they can be used for smoking or cooking 

you can also cut back more mature trees quite drastically at the right time of the year and get kind of a do over all the parts of apple tree bark have the ability to branch out new wood 

check out some books on pruning fruit trees from your library , there are a lot of right ways to prune and keep off the tall ladders when picking


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## freegal (Mar 4, 2005)

Thanks for the photos, those are just beautiful! I had forgotten about this idea.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Thanks Pete, I'll definitely check that out. Honeycrisp is one of the apple varieties I'd like to have, if they'll grow here. I didn't even think of saving the cuttings for smoking, yum!


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## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

I love the tunnel of apples!


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## Jaclynne (May 14, 2002)

This is my plan for the orchard. Ladders are not my friends.
Thanks for sharing the pics!


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I wish I could figure out a place to put at least one espaliered tree at our new house. So much shade from maples and cedars and pines. I have planted hazelnut bushes, not sure how they&#8217;d take to that type of pruning. I do like Concord grapes, and of course grapes are typically grown espaliered.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

heres 2 reason i will use wire to trellis then on...one is heavy snow load i get....it can split trees in half often or split sides off trees or quarter sections off the other is if a bear climbs on it..its a goner..i have a peach that a bear rolled over and cam apart like laminated wood. i put it back together and it healed but it has an rolling arch to it. it doesnt produce well so its coming out this winter and going to be planted in the woods and left for what comes good or bad.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

In your case Elk, that sounds like a good idea. I don't get that much snow, but it's still probably a good idea for me too, with the ice storms we get here. We get ice so heavy it shatters 50-60' trees like matchsticks, so every bit of protection I can give the fruit trees would probably help.

I don't have to worry about bears around here, lol, or at least that's what they tell me. A couple of years ago I had what sure sounded like a bear to me, kind of grunting and snuffling at my back door, then whatever it was sounded like it was going to tear the door off the hinges! 

I didn't really know what to do since my leg was gimpy and I sure couldn't outrun whatever it was, so I just waited with the shotgun in case he decided to come on in, lol. It quit after a few minutes and left, and I've never heard anything like that again.

The next day I checked outside, and the door had big scrapes and gouges in it (steel door), some down low, but some higher than my head, and some of the wood railing had been chewed on. What else would do that but a bear?? It was night and pitch black out when it happened, but I was in there with the lights and TV on and had just finished baking some blueberry muffins. Guess it was hungry.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

it was a bear...way more bear and in places most dont have a clue about.

i tell ya something else you got most dont know or want to admit...jaguarundi.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Had a fleeting thought yesterday of doing my dwarf trees in pots as in those pictures . .
But . . the winter temps would wipe them out....
I would have to heal them in every fall and dig them out in the spring . .worth it . .???

Just some thing to think about for you folks in cold country.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

I had to look up jaguarandi, lol. According to Wikipedia, we shouldn't have those here, but not too long after I moved out here I saw something that looked just like that. It was dark gray and the right size and shape. It was just before dusk and I was coming home in the truck. It ran across the road in my headlights and then into the ditch. It ran down the ditch for about 100 yards before it took off into the woods. 

I asked everyone I could find about it, but everyone told me I probably just saw a large house cat and "got scared", lol. I don't know if it was a jaguarandi, but it was definitely NOT a house cat!  It had a longer body, smaller ears and a longer, thicker tail than a house cat.

Jim-mi, that's my issue too. My soil is really bad and washes away a lot because it's rocky and I'm on a slope, so I was thinking of pots too, but not sure how to take care of them in the winter. I don't have a basement or even a garage or any kind of outbuilding to put them in. I have one small storage shed that isn't big enough either. I've definitely got to do some research on this because I want to get a bunch started next spring.

Does anyone know...is there any way you could grow them in pots like that and wrap or cover them in some way to keep them safe through the winter? Would a hoop house of PVC and plastic be enough to keep them safe?


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## sherry in Maine (Nov 22, 2007)

saw lots of that in Germany. Last summer, at a ritzy house in Bar Harbor area, there was a 'cook's garden' and there was at least one espaliered apple tree; grew along the fence that surrounded the garden....pretty!


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

Have you seen the fruit trees in Paul Gautschi&#8217;s Back to Eden Garden? They almost look like a water fountain the way the branches bend over. I&#8217;m going to try to let one tree grow to see if it will turn out like his. I plan to try several methods until I find the one that&#8217;s right for me. Here's one of his videos. This one is about pruning fruit trees, it's over 26 minutes, but you'll see a tree right at the beginning so you don't have to watch the whole thing. At 8:06 you can see a good view of one of his trees in the background. [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11FILoOnwyI[/ame]


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

A hoophouse with a rocket mass heater in it would be plenty warm all winter. I think you could build a fire once every 2 or 3 days and it would probably protect even tropicals.


calliemoonbeam said:


> Jim-mi, that's my issue too. My soil is really bad and washes away a lot because it's rocky and I'm on a slope, so I was thinking of pots too, but not sure how to take care of them in the winter. I don't have a basement or even a garage or any kind of outbuilding to put them in. I have one small storage shed that isn't big enough either. I've definitely got to do some research on this because I want to get a bunch started next spring.
> 
> Does anyone know...is there any way you could grow them in pots like that and wrap or cover them in some way to keep them safe through the winter? Would a hoop house of PVC and plastic be enough to keep them safe?


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I've done it a couple of times in the past for space reasons. I wanted a wide range of ripening to keep myself in fruit and did not have the space for so many trees. 
There ended up being more problems with it for me. Some trees were less happy being radically trimmed, needing new spurs for fruiting rather than old ones. Then some varieties had larger distances for fruiting spurs, tending to have little fruit per foot of tree. Not to mention never getting above deer eating height.
And it took too much fiddle time to trim with such prescision. Mistakes were really damaging and ugly. I did better with dwarfing root stock and a pole trimmer and picker.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

My concern with this method is the root system. Do trees pruned in this fashion send out as extensive and deep of roots?


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

When I took horticultural classes at college, we potted a bunch of Easter lilies. Put the pots in a protected area outside, set bales of straw around the lilies and on top of them. At the right time, took the pots inside. I am in Michigan where we have cold winters. I&#8217;m sure this set up would work in Oklahoma. Worth a try with one or two plants.

As for a root system, the root system will support the above ground system. Until the root system is able to support the above ground growth, the above ground will not grow. So, a tree that is pruned needs less root structure. In pots, you&#8217;d have to fertilize.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

That would be a problem here then. Without deep and extensive root systems, the trees would need constant watering and wouldn't withstand the droughts.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

ernie thats easy to cure..go with standard trees.all you do is plant a grafted tree below the graft and it sends out standard root system.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

trees at mt.vernon


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

I have never seen or heard of this before.
Absolutely amazing!
I have been playing with the idea of surrounding my front yard with split rail fence, now this has me thinking that a living fence would be better.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

One house we lived in had matching split rail fences in the front. Probably about 20 feet each side. Roses grew over one and sweet peas over the other. Really lovely. I&#8217;m sure you could have espalier and rail fence both.


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## Freya (Dec 3, 2005)

calliemoonbeam said:


> The next day I checked outside, and the door had big scrapes and gouges in it (steel door), some down low, but some higher than my head, and some of the wood railing had been chewed on. *What else would do that but a bear??* It was night and pitch black out when it happened, but I was in there with the lights and TV on and had just finished baking some blueberry muffins. Guess it was hungry.



El Chupacabra and Big Foot? :shrug:


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## Freya (Dec 3, 2005)

*I LOVE* *espalier trees! I hope to do many of them in my next place! :clap: *


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Sorry I didn't get back sooner, been slammed with work!



Spinner said:


> A hoophouse with a rocket mass heater in it would be plenty warm all winter. I think you could build a fire once every 2 or 3 days and it would probably protect even tropicals.


Thanks Spinner! Ooh, if I could grow tropicals I'd be in heaven, lol, but I'd settle for just regular fruit trees. 

I liked the video, but he was too fast for me, lol. I've never pruned before, so need more direction. It was very interesting though, the way he explained it, I like that idea and it made a lot of sense.



Ernie said:


> My concern with this method is the root system. Do trees pruned in this fashion send out as extensive and deep of roots?


That was a concern of mine too Ernie, but I'm hoping that using Larry Hall's "air pruning" and watering method will resolve some of the root issues, as well as watering issues. But again, as you can see from the video, it's one of the main reasons I was worried about wintertime care, as the entire tree, roots and all, are constantly exposed. Hopefully a hoop house with intermittent heat like Spinner suggested will work.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptgJn15TmRM[/ame]

I'm so excited, lol! I've been wanting to get fruit trees going ever since I got out here, but first didn't have the money, then was too sick/weak to plant and tend, and all along I've been wondering how to resolve the poor soil/slope problem. Maybe next spring I'll finally get this off the ground, woot!


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