Espalier Trees

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Again, although your apple tree may bear fruit the first summer, you should not let it mature until the tree's third growing season. Snip off young fruit when it grows to about cherry size. Most of the tree's first and second years of growth and vigor need to be focused into root, branch, and leaf production to get it completely established. "It's hard not to let fruit mature, but it pays tremendous dividends down the road in the third season," says Hooper.

Even into the third season and thereafter, you'll have to be strict about how much fruit you allow to grow. After the petals fall, the fruit will form in clusters and, if you leave all this fruit on, you'll inevitably reap lots of small fruit instead of fewer nice-size ones. "People are shy about thinning the fruit on their trees," he says, "but you don't want mature fruit rubbing against each other."

MAINTENANCE: Hooper grows all of his fruit trees organically. "A lot of what I do is just look at the plants carefully," he says. "The espalier lends itself perfectly to this because it's more opened up; you're more likely to find things on it." Hooper uses a petroleum-based dormant spray during the winter. In the spring, Safer's insecticidal soap kills aphids and various other pests.

Be conservative with fertilizer; it is possible to overfeed. Use fish emulsion, blood meal, or blood and bone mix, and a good top dressing around the base of the tree to get it off to a good start. Use a top dressing of fertilizer at the end of your winter season. "You want that nutrient to penetrate the soil by the time the tree comes out of its dormant season in need of a good rush of nutrients," says Hooper. Later, only feed the tree if it shows obvious signs of deficiency, such as yellowing leaves. In the first season, water regularly as you would any fruit tree, twice a week or more in hot weather. Semidwarf and dwarf roots will continue to need regular deep watering.

If you don't want to wait for your espalier tree to become mature enough for you to harvest fruit or you want the artistic design of the branches now, there is a solution. You can purchase or mail-order espalier trees that have been trained and already have their basic shape. Depending on what the espalier nursery has in stock, almost any apple variety can be shipped during the dormant, bare-root season. You can order a tree that has been trained from one season to six or seven, if you like. Of course, for the die-hard do-it-yourself-ers, the very young whips are available as well.

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