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Is it to late to turn my 4 yr old Russet tree into an espalier?
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The greatness comes not when things go always good for you,but the greatness comes when you are really tested,when you take,some knocks,some disappointments;because only if youv'e been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. -
It's probably not too late, although the "surgery" required may be quite frightening.
Depending on how it's shape looks at the moment will depend on how easy it is to re-train. If it's on a weak rootstock such as M27 or M9, it may not cope very well with much pruning unless you have good soil. M26, MM106 and larger rootstocks should be fine to re-train.
In the most extreme case of poor shape, I'd do no pruning while the tree is active, but during the winter, I'd cut all the badly-placed side branches back to just 2-3 buds and then train the soft, flexible shoots that grow back, into the direction you want. If the new shoots won't comply, then cut any awkward ones back to 2-3 buds next summer, to form short fruiting spurs instead.. -
Here's a pic of my several-year-old Worcester Pearmain MM106 that has been trained as a fan shape - you can see where the branches were bent into position and tied to a frame, during their first year or two:
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Many thanks for that.Its a great help.The greatness comes not when things go always good for you,but the greatness comes when you are really tested,when you take,some knocks,some disappointments;because only if youv'e been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.Comment
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