Espalliered Pear or Apple Tree?

Hi, everybody,

Does anyone have an expalliered fruit tree? We would like to plant one on a south and west facing brick wall of the house and we were wondering if that is a good idea...

Also, does anyone know of a good source to order one?

Thank you. t.

Grow your own unless you're in a hurry or want to part with a nice chunk of change.

They'll do great on those walls or you can even create a fence out of them.
An 'Espalier' isn't a special tree. It's just a pruning and training technique that can actually be applied to any tree. Foxwillow Pines nursery has a Gingko Biloba espaliered against a wall of their house/office.

You could start at Stark Brothers if you want to order one. If you want fruit, you'll most likely need to have two unless there's already another one within a few hundred yards of where you will plant. Most need a pollinator.

I just dug mine out this spring. It wasn't flowering or breaking bud and I finally discovered mice/voles had completely ringed the trunk at ground level. I had started it from a seed a friend gave me from his lunch at work "..here grow this!" I started it in 99, started training it in 00 and had my first blooms 04. Five year old to bloom is common for a standard. Dwarf and semi-dwarfs may bloom earlier.

You know, you could check local nurseries and Home Depot, etc and see if anyone has fruit trees left and on sale. If they had what you wanted, then you could take them home, chop them down and start training the new growth.

Good luck and have fun.

thanks, 8ft,

You could sell me your rejected one! Thanks for your background info...

I don't really have the time to espalier from scratch, but thought I might pick one up from a nursery in the midwest, if they are available around here.

I know in CA they were quite common and delightful, although I never had one in my yard. A nursery near me has a 12 foot pear espaliered for sale, but it was the last of the batch and not in a 'fine form' you might say. A left over. But it gave me the idea.

I will check the source you mentioned and look further on the internet. If anyone else knows a source, I would like to hear about it.

Thanks. t.

tabasco - here's a place I know of with a nice selection that's been in business for years. I do my own espaliers, so I can't personally vouch for theirs.
http://www.henryleuthardtnurseries.com/

tabasco - 'don't have the time' do you mean you need big plant now or are you talking about the pruning and training? Pruning and training is really very easy, huh Mick?

I meant I don't have years to wait for the tree to grow up the wall. I can take care of the pruning alright. Just need a tall one.

m.g. Thanks for the source. I will check out the link.

How about some pics? :-)

If anyone is interested in more information, here is an article giving lots of interesting background material on the 'art of espalier' from Southern Accents:

http://www.southernaccents.com/accents/gardens/design/article/0,14743,587135,00.html

and one from 'French Gardening' that is really great http://frenchgardening.com/tech.tmpl?SKU=312615870324755

This message was edited Jul 22, 2005 5:36 PM