Apple espalier from a feathered maiden

[Martin H]

My two new mail-order apples arrived today, yay. My plan is to train them both as 2-tier espaliers. I've never done this before, but my gardening book gives clear and simple instructions. So I was feeling confident until I opened the package ...

I was expecting to receive maiden trees, but the plants I have received have got an additional year's growth on them. They look strong and healthy in other respects.

So, does anyone know how best to proceed? Should I cut off all the branches and start from the beginning as if they are maidens? Or, should I pick two strong side branches, tie them in as the first tier and cut the rest off? Or even, should I pick the 4 most likely branches and start with 2 tiers already? Doesn't sound right but maybe it will work...

Advice much appreciated!

[FB.]

I would try to retain as much of the existing structure as possible - it could save a year or two of time.
With good pruning it is possible to considerably change the shape of a bush/tree by making the right pruning cuts in the right places.
I have turned bushes into cordons or into espaliers/fans with just several well-chosen snips.

Can you do a picture from a few different angles? That'll make it easier to see what you have to work with.

[Martin H]

Can you do a picture from a few different angles? That'll make it easier to see what you have to work with.

Good idea. I'll plant at the weekend (I have to go to work all the time it's daylight during the week) and not cut straight away so I can post some pics.

[FB.]

I would decide where best to prune them before planting, just in case you change your mind.

Also; certain varieties and rootstocks are more suited to various forms than others - and also somewhat dependent on the soil quality and adequate rainfall.

Which varieties and rootstocks do you have?

[Martin H]

Okay, now that I have unpacked the plants properly and had a good look, I can see that only one of them is a feathered maiden. It's a Braeburn on M9.

I have numbered the side shoots in the second picture. My first thought is to leave [4] and [5] as the bottom tier and take the rest off. But if I did that, where would I cut the main stem?

Thoughts welcome!

[FB.]

I'm going to be honest and say that I really doubt that Braeburn M9 would be suitable for an espalier.
M9 is usually used for small bushes and cordons. I doubt that M9 has the power to supply sap all the way along the great lengths of the arms of an espalier, unless the soil is of exceptionally good depth and fertility.
I also have doubts about the ability of Braeburn to resist the powdery mildew which is a serious problem in the lower-rainfall East of the UK.

The usual rootstock for espaliers is the much-stronger MM106. In drier Eastern counties I would strongly recommend MM111 as a substitute for MM106 and for espaliers because it tolerates hot, dry soil much better than MM106 which prefers cool, moist soil (but never waterlogged).

But....you have what you have. I would suggest that no amount of watering or fertilising will be too much. M9 is a weak grower and requires a very rich, fertile soil which does not dry out. Mulch and manure in winter, fertilise in spring and water very heavily at least every week in summer.

It looks as if the tree is very well-feathered, so it should be no problem to select well-placed side branches to train as the arms of the espalier. Tie the branches to supports which will both support them and bend them permenently to the position which you need.

Once M9 starts to fruit, it can be difficult to make it grow again. A very young M9 may even kill itself trying to fruit, rather than build a good root system. Dwarf rootstocks will actually shrink their root system if cropped too heavily as they desperately try to find nutrients to supply to the fruit.
I suggest you concentrate on vigorous growth for the next couple of seasons. Vigorous growth will be achieved with lots of feeding and also by some moderate pruning this winter. The removal of surplus branches should accomplish the "hard pruning" which will cause the tree to fight back hard with strong growth next year.

[Martin H]

Thanks very much!

I knew from your earlier posts on here that I was stretching it a bit with M9; hopefully limiting it to two tiers will help it cope.

Thanks for the advice on cultivation, I'll let you know how it gets on!

[Speed Gardener]

FB - when you say feed the trees, do you mean just using a manure/compost./mulch combination, or using a fertilising product, be it wood ash, comfrey tea etc, or any manufactured fertiliser, or a combinatiuon of all of these?
I have just bought and planted some M9 cordons (pot grown) and the root systems are completely different to all my other bare root cordons, they're made up of a fibrous ball root system rather than the longer roots that you get with bare rooted plants. I think they'll need extra help tp get established. I didn't know they were going to be supplied like this, all the other ones from this supplier were bare rooted.

[FB.]

Speed Gardener

The reason I recommended that Martin goes crazy with fertilising is because M9 is not really strong enough to become an espalier. Only with maximum effort might it get there. Additionally, M9 is fairly resistant to crown and root rots and tolerant of heavy soil.
I would not recommend such heavy watering for the MM106 rootstock, which rots easily if the soil is too wet/heavy. Not usually a problem because the stronger MM106 doesn't need such watering anyway. However, as said before; MM106 is not happy on dry soil either; it likes a happy middle ground of moist but not saturated nor dry.

If you're growing as cordons or small bushes - which is what M9 is meant for - then I would mostly go for just the winter applications of manure and compost.

I would suggest that you knock-off most of the soil from your containerised M9's to make them "bare root" - and spread the tangled roots as far as possible in the planting hole.
This will prevent the roots growing round in a circle inside their rich compost rootball. Roots will not grow from a fertile compost rootball into an infertile garden soil. The compost in the rootball of container plants is likely to be much richer than ordinary garden soil and therefore deters the roots from growing outwards. Get rid of the compost and give the trees native soil; they don't get a choice of soil then!

[FB.]

I should add that Martin's beautifully-feathered maiden looks, to me, as if it has been chemically/hormone-treated to induce the prolific branching.
In my experience, it is not "normal" for a maiden to be so well-feathered with every bud having grown-out into a side branch.
Treatment with substances such as benzyladenine is known to increase branching.

[Martin H]

Thought you might like an update ...

After planting I cut it down to just 4 "arms" and tied them horizontally. During the year I trained all 4 leaders, tied to canes so as to get roughly even growth by raising and lowering. It's done pretty well in this wet year and is now close to filling its space. Summer pruning has started creation of a few spurs. I've now tied the 2012 growth down to the wires for the winter.

Mindful of your warnings on vigour, I decided not to give it too much space to fill so I'm hopeful I'll have something reasonably sturdy by the end of 2013. I'll post an update and some pics next summer!

Thanks again for all your advice.

[DuncanM]

Can't we have some pics this year? I'm planning to do something very similar, but on M26 and I'd love to see the progress now

[Martin H]

Can't we have some pics this year? I'm planning to do something very similar, but on M26 and I'd love to see the progress now

Here you go. About time I cleared away those gazanias...

[DuncanM]

That looks fantastic!

Do you think they could have been grown to 6 arms if it's done 4 in one year?

[FB.]

It's turned out well - you've done a good job.

M9 can suffer from poor anchorage, so keep it well supported for at least a few more years.

If, one day, it is to be freestanding, you should ensure than branches form equally on each side, to prevent it becoming unbalanced and subsequently leaning or falling over.

Also, once fruiting begins it tends to dramatically reduce further root growth to the detriment of good anchorage - even the big M25 rootstock has been known to lean or fall over if planted as 2-4yr old trees and allowed to crop quickly (M25 is both vigorous and eager to crop when very young, contrary to "the books" claiming that it takes several years to start cropping).
Of course, if the 2-4yr M25 trees hadn't lost half their roots when transplanted from the nursery (or had they been planted as maiden whips) they would not be at such risk of leaning or falling over.