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  • #1

    Training espalier query

    I am trying to train an apple as a 3 tier espalier. I have the first tier secured but I only had two shoots available for the second tier so I tied one and pruned back the main stem to just below the second tier wire in the hope that I will get two further shoots (one to tie in and the other to grow upward to the top tier). Hopefully the attached picture will help). My question is have I done the right thing? If not how should I best rectify the situation?
    The rootstock is 106.

    Thanks
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  • #2
    When a tree won't branch how you'd like, you just have to try anything logical to make it happen.
    Pruning - as you've done - may work, especially if you follow up with some tip-pinching if you get another strong upright shoot but no side shoot or a weak side shoot.
    By pinching out the tip of a shoot the roots will send some of their water and nutrient supply to buds near to the pinched-out tip, causing those buds to sprout, or, from summer (June) onwards, fruit spurs may form below pinched-out tips in addition to, or instead of, side shoots.

    As a backup, you could try getting a Stanley knife and cutting a 1-3mm high by 5-10mm wide strip of bark off, just above a bud which you'd like to sprout into a side branch. Known as 'nicking and notching'.

    It temporarily (until it heals) blocks and causes redirection elsewhere of the flow of sap from buds above, removing the growth-suppressing effect of the hormones coming down from buds higher up the tree.
    .

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    • #3
      Thank you FB

      I had heard of "nicking and notching" but had forgotten the terms. I will now be able to look it up. Isn't one above the bud and the other below?
      What is the best time to carry out this operation?
      Should I allow the branches to continue growing in length until they reach the desired length?

      Do you grow a lot of fruit yourself?

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Phytopthora View Post
        Thank you FB

        I had heard of "nicking and notching" but had forgotten the terms. I will now be able to look it up. Isn't one above the bud and the other below?
        What is the best time to carry out this operation?
        Should I allow the branches to continue growing in length until they reach the desired length?

        Do you grow a lot of fruit yourself?
        Yes, one is above and one is below.

        Nicking and notching will work best if done in winter or spring*. On strong-growing trees it might work in summer too, but weaker-growing and dwarf trees usually aren't growing much by that time.

        My definition of winter is December-February and spring is March-May.
        .

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Phytopthora View Post
          Do you grow a lot of fruit yourself?
          Yes, I have a lot of fruit, ranging from rhubarb to currants to tree fruits. I especially 'collect' old, rare, triploid apple varieties and grow them on big rootstocks such as MM111 and M25 which helps overcome my terrible soil.
          Ironically, my soil is shallow, sandy-gravelly-chalky, low-fertility, free-draining and droughty, yet Phytopthora manages to prey on fruit trees, probably under drought stress.

          I'd manage to grow a lot more more if Phytopthora hadn't destroyed so many of my fruit trees.
          .

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