Support for cordons espaliers etc

[devonuk]

A general question - the traditional advice is that you absolutely have to have 3 or more levels of heavy gauge, tightly strained wire to tie in to. My question is, is this necessary? My local fruit nursery has a field full of stock apple trees grown as 45 degree cordons with no support at all. They look seriously old and I imagine there may have been some form of support in their younger days. I have 2 cordon pears planted last year which I have planted at 45 deg tied to a cane parallel with the cordon, and stuck another cane vertically in the ground to tie the top of the 45 deg cane to. Is anything more necessary? A firmly planted 45 deg cordon is actually no more in danger of falling over than a vertically planted bush.

[Snadger]

I have canes in my fan trained apples against a fence, but now they are established there is really no need for the canes and I intend taking them out.