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espalier trees

Several years ago while on a trip (Biltmore, Tryon Palace, or somewhere else?) I saw these tiny fruit trees that were shaped and grafted and tied to a wall. And they were producing quite significantly. I was startled, curious, uncertain, but there was no one around to answer my questions.

And this last week, I found the answers, quite unexepectedly. In the last This Old House magazine I received (because I'm way behind on my reading pile and I've not renewed my subscription), there was actually an article on espalier (pronounced es-PAY-ler) trees. They came about during medieval times because people wanted fruit but didn't want to leave the safety of the walled cities. So as necessity mandated, they improvised.

You take a small tree that hasn't branched out very much (or not at all), and clip the top about 18 inches above where you want the first branches to be. You hang anchors (to attach wires to) into the wall or trellis (walls supposedly work better because the heat helps the plant/fruit develop faster) and as the limbs grow out you tie/train them to follow the path the you'd like for them to grow. Of course, this involves a lot of pruning as well. The next spring, you repeat the same process, only the top is clipped to where the second row will begin. It takes about 5 years (which is when they suggest you allow a tree to start bearing fruit anyway) before it takes the shape the gardner originally designed for it.

I've posted a few links on my pinterest page, so I'm not going to take pictures from other websites to post here. TOH did have a photo where someone had trained trees alongside a fence on a property line, but everything else I've seen has been against a wall. I don't think I want a fruit tree against my house, and unless we act upon some crazy ideas of getting miniature cattle we won't ever have a fence on a property to plant anything alongside. But it's still a concept that I'm thoroughly intrigued by.

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