How do I train an espalier fruit tree?

An espalier is a flat tree: a vertical stem with pairs of horizontal arms, each arm covered in fruiting spurs. It is the best possible use of a sunny wall, it is beautiful in winter when the structure shows, and it is built by making one decisive cut a year and then managing what the tree does in response. Once the framework is complete, it is maintained exactly like a cordon.

What you'll need

• A maiden tree on M26, M9 or Quince C
• Horizontal wires at 45cm spacing on vine eyes
• Bamboo canes
• Soft ties
• Sharp secateurs

Step by step

1. Fix the wires first, holding them clear of the wall.Horizontal wires roughly 45cm apart, starting about 45cm above the ground, and held 5–8cm off the brickwork by vine eyes so air can circulate behind the tree.
2. Plant a maiden about 15–20cm out from the wall.A one-year unbranched tree on a semi-dwarfing rootstock. Planting slightly away from the wall keeps the roots out of the dry rain shadow at its foot, which is the driest ground in any garden.
3. First winter: cut the stem just above the lowest wire.Find a point a few centimetres above the wire where there are three good buds close together — one to grow on upwards and one on each side. Cut just above the top one of those three.
4. First summer: train three shoots, and rub off the rest.The top shoot goes vertically up a cane and becomes the new central stem. The next two are tied to canes set at 45 degrees. Rub out other shoots on the main stem while they are small.
5. Hold the arms at 45 degrees, not horizontal, through the first summer.A shoot held at 45 degrees grows more strongly than one held flat. Both arms need to make good length in their first season, and holding them up is how you get it.
6. First autumn: lower the arms to the wire and tie them along it.Once growth has stopped, gently lower each cane with the shoot still tied to it and tie it along the wire. Do it slowly and in mild weather so nothing snaps at the union with the main stem.
7. Even up an unequal pair.If one arm is much stronger, raise the weak one back towards vertical for a season to speed it up and lower the strong one below horizontal to slow it. Angle is the throttle.
8. Second winter: cut the central stem again at the next wire.Same rule — just above three good buds at the level of the second wire. Also shorten each first-tier arm by about a third if growth was weak, to a downward-facing bud, or leave it if growth was strong.
9. Repeat for three or four tiers, then stop the leader.When the top wire is reached, cut the central stem out just above the final pair of arms, and keep it stopped each year.
10. Summer prune from the point the framework starts cropping.Every August, cut shoots arising from the arms back to three leaves above the basal cluster, and shoots from existing spurs to one leaf. This is what keeps the espalier flat and builds the spur system.
11. Tie in and check the ties every year.Arms are tied along the wire at intervals with soft ties, checked each winter and loosened before they cut in.

Tips

• It is entirely possible to buy an espalier with two or three tiers already formed. It is much more expensive and saves three years and a great deal of doubt.
• Apples and pears only. Pears are, if anything, better espalier subjects because they spur up so readily.
• Use a spur-bearing variety. Tip-bearers cannot be trained this way.
• If a tier is a disaster, cut it off and start that tier again the following year. Nothing is lost but a season.
• A slightly damp cool wall suits cooking apples and pears; a hot south wall suits dessert pears and, in the south, apricots as fans rather than espaliers.

Common mistakes

• Cutting the maiden below the wire, or above it with no usable buds — You need three good buds close together just above the wire. Cut in the wrong place and you get one shoot and no arms, and lose a year.
• Tying arms horizontally in their first summer — Flat growth is slow growth. Hold them at 45 degrees to build length, then lower them in autumn once the wood has hardened.
• Lowering the arms in midsummer while the growth is soft — They snap at the junction with the main stem. Wait until growth has stopped in autumn and move them gradually.
• Planting hard against the wall — The foot of a wall is a permanent rain shadow, and a tree planted there is drought-stressed for life. Plant 15–20cm out and lean the stem in.

Questions people ask