A beautiful and sometimes whimsical way to transform your garden into a work of art can be achieved through espalier training techniques. This ancient art of pruning and training a plant against a trellis, fence or bare wall is not so much about cutting as it is about bending and shaping.

Used mostly on fruit trees to produce more fruit in a small space, it can also include many ornamentals. However, fruit trees have the obvious advantage - keeping fruit within easy reach and pruning, spraying or picking can be done without having to climb a ladder.

Espaliered fruit trees trained to a trellis make an attractive divider separating the patio, vegetable and flower gardens from the street and orchard at the home of Kathy Baumhardt and Dave Vomocil on Bryant Drive just outside of Albany.

Both Linn and Benton County fairgrounds have Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens open year-round where you can see this technique. Next Saturday will be a pruning workshop detailing this and other pruning techniques in Linn County.

Directions

Build a sturdy support. Baumhardt used four-by-four treated posts and 12-14 gauge wire for her espaliered apples.

Begin with a tree whip (first year or two of growth) when tip is still pliable. (Although you can espalier nearly anything, spur-bearing apple types on seedling rootstocks are ideal for espalier training because they set flower buds on short shoots and produce relatively few vigorous upright shoots.)

Plant where the crown sits at soil level or a bit higher to accommodate some winter rain/ground settling.

First year - select buds to form the branches (first horizontal approx. 16 to 18 inches off the ground) and cut off the tree just above them. This is going to force the plant to start producing stems at or near the first tier level.

Once these stems have grown 5 to 6 inches, select 2 leaders that will be attached to the first tier support wire and cut off the rest of the branching that is emerging below this level.

As these buds grow - and before they become stiff - fasten the shoots that grow from them to training wires.

The following year - develop one or two higher pairs of branches (another 16to 18 inches above the last horizontal branches). Repeat until the desired height. A single espaliered tree will typically have 3 to 5 horizontal tiers.

As you are creating the shape you want, each of the tier branches is going to produce more shoots. Keep these cut back to 3 nodes (4 to 6 inches) long. You want to create a uniform mass of sticks projecting from the tier branches that turn into your fruit spurs.

Supports can be removed when trunks are rigid enough to hold a load of apples. This can take many years - so be patient.

Espaliers "fruit up" earlier than full-size fruit trees because the branches are bent to the horizontal or at least angled out as opposed to growing straight up. Bending breaks the dominance of the apical bud of the stem so fruit buds can grow. Apple and pear dwarfs or semi-dwarfs bear fruit within two seasons compared to full-size trees that can average 7 to 8 years.

Q&A

Question: When do I prune?

Answer: Winter pruning generates growth and summer pruning generates spurs. So when to prune depends on the tree choice and vigor of rootstock, Baumhardt says.

She recommends pruning only in the summer on dwarf trees. Otherwise, your first pruning is after the first flush of growth in the spring and the shoots are at least 12 inches long. There will be no fruit spurs on these shoots as they are not old enough.

So cut them back to 3 leaves past the whorl of leaves at the base of the shoot. Then prune again in the summer after the shoots that come from these 3 buds are again 12 inches long. This keeps the trees compact all summer long, reduces suckering at the top and encourages fruit spurs to form for the next year.

Q. What does a fruiting spur looks like?

A. A fruiting spur is where the fruit will be. You will see the flower buds when the first shoots are 12 inches long. Typically they are on a older wood not longer than 9 inches with an enlarged bud at the tip. (Tip: Another way to determine where the fruit will be is where it flowers. Waiting until after the tree blooms to prune ensures you won't cut off any fruit.)