Planting an Apple Tree

[andrewo]

No, trained trees last as long, sometimes longer than normal trees, because you are constantly watching them, spurring them and pruning them you are not letting in fungal diseases. I went to one garden recently, where the espaliers dated back to 1933 and were still going strong. They were large specimens (trunk wise) but still fruiting. Trees burn out when they are incorrectly pruned, planted wrong or befall a virus.

[WiZeR]

Been thinking about this. I think fan is the only viable option. Bit worried about replanting them. Do the supports have to be 6ft above ground? i.e will I have to order 8ft posts?

[andrewo]

If you going for fan, then no, you can use the existing posts and then use bamboo canes attached to the wire to help you achieve the height and the stability for fan trained.

Like so....

[nick the grief]

.... Do the supports have to be 6ft above ground? i.e will I have to order 8ft posts?

They can be as tall as you want Wizer, Put your wires about 18" to 2' apart. and stop when you've got it as high as you want.

I would grow the cherry as a fan like Andrew says but you can still restrict the height to what you want.