Training espaliers

[muckledug]

Hi folks.
I bought 2 apple trees, (mm106 James Grieve and Lord Lambourne), from Morrisons at the beginning of summer. They have established well since planted.
I cut out competing leaders in August but, as I want to train the trees into espalier form, I haven't headed back any other new growth.
What pruning should I undertake in the dormant season?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

[FB.]

The idea is that from the winter pruning cut at the level where you wanted the first pair of arms, about three to five good shoots will form.
The topmost should be allowed to grow straight up to form upper tiers in the future.
Two other strong shoots should be trained, while soft and green, to grow up 45-degree angled canes on either side. During winter, those two "arms" should be tied horizontal.

The "leader" is then pruned during winter at the level of where the next tier of arms will grow and, again, one is allowed to grow up and two others are trained on canes to eitehr side.

Once the espalier is complete, the "leader" should be pruned back to just one or two buds in summer.

[Twinsane]

Hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread.

My two maiden trees have recently arrived; James Grieve and Wagener on mm106. I'm planning to grow them as espaliers on a south facing fence but I'm a bit lost with the pruning and have a few questions. I'm a complete novice with fruit trees so I apologise if the terminology is wrong.

I've read about pruning them down to around 30cm as you say FB and then training the 3 branches that grow to be your new leader and laterals but what if the tree has already started to develop branches? Most of the info I've read seems quite easy and starts with a stick... ok, unfeathered maiden lol. Do I try to work with the existing growth or if I cut it, will the tree develop new buds again? If I do use the existing "branches" (they're only a few inches long so hardly a branch) which are in pairs, do I cut to a pair and will it sprout a third from somewhere to create a vertical leader or do I need to find 3 buds or do I hope a bud forms on one of the laterals that I can train as a leader? I hope that made sense, I've confused myself!

Also one the JG tree, the lower 3 branches have been snapped or stopped. Do I then cut below or above these? Phew... I might just leave them to do their own thing!

I've attached photos to show what I mean. The first 3 are the JG and the last 2 are the wagener.

[FB.]

If you have some side branches, it may be possible to bend and tie them into position to form some of the lower tiers of an espalier. James Grieve wood is certainly quite flexible and you should be able to bend it quite easily.

If the side branches aren't quite ideally placed, they can be cut back quite hard and the bud nearest the pruning cut can have its soft growth easily trained to where you want it to go.
If buds near to the leading bud sprout but you don't want them, pinch them out before they get growing to prevent competition for nutrients with the leading bud.

If you have a pair of branches at the correct position, I suggest prune the top off the main central stem about an inch or two below where the next tier up will start - say about a foot, which, hopefully, will mean that the leader is reduced in length by about half as a prune-back by half generally gives the best branching results just below that pruning cut.

Wherever it is pruned, there must be a bud to continue the growth; if a young espalier is completely "topped" down to two side branches, it will not be able to replace its leader and will then become a "step-over", with growth mostly going out sideways along the two existing arms.
Eventually, on a "topped" tree/bush/espalier a sideways-growing branch will produce an upright shoot ("watersprout") but the time to do so and exactly where the watersprout will grow is not easy to predict.

[Twinsane]

Thank you for your reply PB. If I understand correctly, because my tree has started getting branches I start at the next level yes? Basically, prune off the main stem (close to a bud) a couple of inches below where I want the second tier. That bit sounds straight forward though now I've spent hours trawling the internet looking at fruit tree pictures, I'm not sure they'd be called branches or buds. If they're only buds I'm thinking I may need to cut the whole thing down to 30-45 cm which should leave around 5 buds up the stem. I can then choose which ones are best as they grow and ignore those snapped off lower down on the JG. It will also give me a little choice in case any of the buds gets damaged which would probably be my luck!

Sorry I'm probably making a mountain out of a mole hill and once I get the hang of it it will be fine. It's just that I'm surpisingly nervous of going out and hacking off half my poor apple tree. It's going to be there a long time and I'm not getting any younger so I'd like to get it right. lol I'm going to have to learn fast though as this year I've not only bought two "proper" trees to train but also 5 fruit trees from those tv offers!

[Kleftiwallah]

I found this, you may find it interesting / useful. Cheers, Tony.

Notch Dormant Buds So They Bear Fruit

[FB.]

Your tree, being bare-root, will have lost or damaged many of its roots when it was dug up.
This will dramatically slow its ability to grow for a year or two (more vigorous rootstocks will repair the damage quite quickly but dwarfing rootstocks are slow to re-grow).

You don't mention the rootstock, but if it's M27 or M9, it is unlikely to be vigorous enough to become an espalier. M26 is borderline. MM106 is the usual recommendation for espaliers but it distinctly prefers a cool damp soil (but never waterlogged). In hot dry soil or heavy soil MM111 would be preferred. In very infertile soil a very strong rootstock such as M25 may be required; in my experience M25 is excellent for overcoming problems associated with alkaline/chalk soil where most other options will fail due to stress and malnutrition.

Your new tree is unlikely to grow as well as many of "the books" suggest unless it is very well-fed and adequately watered. I suggest using some fish, blood and bone fertiliser every couple of months and I like manure too. Give it a generous watering once per week when the ground starts to dry in summer.
Keep the water a few inches away from the base of the trunk; water around the edge of the root spread to encourage the roots to grow outwards.

If it was mine, I would just cut back the central upright "leader" to where the next tier of arms is required and leave all other branches as they are.

[hailtryfan]

I found this, you may find it interesting / useful. Cheers, Tony.

Notch Dormant Buds So They Bear Fruit

Excellent concise, helpful and fascinating description of the technique. Excellent link Tony :-)

[Twinsane]

Thank you Tony, an interesting read

[Twinsane]

Thanks again PB. I'm going to cut them both down to the first tier and concentrate on those for this year