I collected what I think are some of the best posts related to espalier and related gardening techniques. Its still a work in progress.
Best of
Theory
Informational
Projects
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Thanks for pulling this thread together. Iāve just clumsily begun my espalier journey.
It will take a while to read through the linked threads.
Iāve only started one at the momentā¦a Belgian fence with 5 Japanese plums. Unfortunately 3 of the 5 whips didnāt ever bud out from the nursery. I have Julien A growing out to graft 3 more varieties to replace the failed ones.
Next i am growing out several OHxF 87 rootstocks for a European and an Asian cordon espalier.
My unknown now for the cordon multi-variety attempts is do I grow out the rootstock and create the 3 cordons then graft the varieties a few years down the line to the cordon scaffolding? Or do I attempt to chip bud graft at the cordon elevations on a straight trunk with the different varieties?
Plenty of time to think on it but Iād love to hear anyoneās ideas over the colder months at are heading into.
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Phil, be careful with European pears, you are in Louisiana, and most European pear varieties have enormous requirements of winter chill hours.
Regards
Jose
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On the whole yes they do.
For the price of some scion I will try out some of the better taste reputation, fire blight resistant, lower chill varieties.
Iām OK with a small investment of time to see. I will also get some experience grafting and shaping espalier.
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To be a bit clearer, pear is not native to the Americasā¦so all pears at least initially came from the old world.
We do however have many naturalized and bred varieties for some of the climates here.
There are fire blight resistant varieties since that is a big issue across much of north America.
There are low chill choices, whether they are good eating or not.
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If you also want them resistant to fire blight, they have to be the recent hybridizations of pears carried out in the countries of Eastern Europe.
Some examples:
- Yablunivska
- Saxonia Eckehardt
Regards
Jose
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Shibumi I like the idea you have of planting the pears and then later grafting to them. I ordered 10 Oh x 87 rootstocks last spring and 35 apple. I grafted all the same day, after they began to bud out we had some 28 degree temps, either that or something killed all the pear and none of the apple. It has been suggested to me that with pear they need to be planted for a year then grafted. I think if one waited until they leafed out snipped them 1 inch below the wire, then let them grow onto the wire as cordons, that first year. Keeping the upright about 4 inches above the wire, by repeatedly snipping. Then the second year stub the cordon back to one or two inches, graft onto it and regrow your cordon. Be willing to take 2-3 years to develop that first cordon. If you try to hurry the others along that lowest level will never develop properly. Pictured is the first cordon on an apple espalier I have. This is the third year and I let it fruit a little and began the next cordon up. Iāll take next year to fully develop the cordon before I proceed upward again. Donāt be in a hurry.
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Very nice.
As far as the OHxF 87 rootstock, the first reason I am growing it out is the caliper of the rootstock when it arrived was smaller than the new growth wood on the pears I already have, so I couldnāt graft anyway as the scion would be bigger than the rootstock.
Thanks for reminding me about the possible lower cordon growth issue if too much apical grow is allowed on the vertical. Makes perfect sense. My growing season is very long so it would be easy to get a lot of growth once things get going.
I saw a very nice apple espalier at a nursery locally that was done via chip budding. Itās very clean and I liked how the graft healed with only a faint line and slight wood color difference to show it had been grafted. That being said Iād be worried even more that achieving successful chip grafts would be difficult for me. That process would likely take as long.
With growing out the rootstock to develop the cordon scaffolds I think I would be more confident.
As the first cordon gains length I think for me I might be able to get the second level started the first year.
Regardless itās certainly something I will learn as I go and even doing things right doesnāt always yield the results you want.
I will try a few of them for redundancy.
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I have a Novamac apple on B9 espellarā¦
I summer pruned it late Julyā¦ many terminal buds had just formed then.
This is what those look like today.
In year 2 (this spring) it had 20 blossom setsā¦ and has several fruit spurs nowā¦ hopefully the new growth ā¦ pics above develop into fruit spurs too.
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I should have added, with apical growth preferred on trees , it will be better if I allow the cordon growth to be more of a fan at first. I will pull the branches down further into the growing season to the horizontal.
Iām not sure how long it takes before that would risk splitting at the crotch though. Iād imagine itās a bit different for each fruit variety depending on the thickness and flexibility of the wood.
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I tie the shoots down horizontal very early and then let the further growth grow āupā. That way the critical part is taken care of early on,
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My thought on waiting until late summer to train the two laterals is to stimulate better growth as they would act more like apical stems.
If they are trained right away they may push laterals early and take away from the main cordon growth.
Maybe pear is less likely to do this but Iām training a few plums on a Belgian fence espalier at about 50Ā° angles and those branches are producing laterals like crazy. I keep pinching the end growth off to give more resources to the main branch growth.
I also thought if I didnāt train them horizontal right away and the branch becomes a bit thick to bend near the trunk, I could do a few kerf cuts to make the bend.
This method was discussed on this forum elsewhere to gain more fruiting wood on trees by lowering the branches (not espalier). I thought that was an interesting way to get a bend.
It would heal quickly.
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They have Krymsk 86.
It doesnāt say they are comercial only on the website that I can see.
Cheap bare root shipped spring.
If this turns out to be correct an you make a small order, post back here to let others know
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So here is one of my OHxF 87 rootstocks I am growing out for a pear espalier. This has grown well and itās already where I want the tree to be.
I think I will head it in spring below the first cordon elevation (3 tier horizontal cordon style) and try to get enough growth to start the second cordon as well.
This way I will later graft my varieties onto the established rootstock laterals instead of trying chip or T- budding.
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