Espalier Fig Attempt

This one goes to my buddy Saul from the High Density Espalier Gardener on youtube.

Check out his channel here.

es·pal·ier

iˈspalyər,-yā/

noun

noun: espalier; plural noun: espaliers

1.

a fruit tree or ornamental shrub whose branches are trained to grow flat against a wall, supported on a lattice or a framework of stakes.

I've seen some beautiful forms of espalier trees. This is my attempt at espaliering my Violet De Bordeaux. It's still a young tree so the limbs are very pliable.

I'm not quite sure honestly of the final shape but it'll be fun to start training the plant now at such a young age.

Espalier Fruit trees along my fence.

Espalier.

The beginning of my Espalier Fruit trees.
4 in 1 Asian Pears
4 in 1 Asian Pears
Spartan Apple
Akane Apple

At first the espalier idea seems a bit intimidating but once you get the ball rolling it's not so bad. I pruned all the unwanted branches off of my selected trees. Leaving only those that would tier well with wire that I was planning on attaching to my fence.

I used 8 inch eye screws and 12 gauge 100 ft wire. I plan on having 3 levels about 25 inches apart. In hindsight I probably should've kept the spacing to about 20 inches.

Apples, Pears and Figs take to this type of treatment well. But any stone fruit will probably be much more difficult to control.

Try this out if you have very little space in your yard.