All you Limbertwig apple lovers- do you place your scaffold branches higher than normal to account for the drooping branches? Am afraid my lower scaffold apples (Black, Brushy Mtn, Myers Royal LT) will end up laying on the ground. Have never seen a mature limbertwig tree so not sure what to expect. Thanks for any ideas.
Steve
I’ve heard the training used to be a central trunk up about eight feet, with the branches hanging down from there in a cascade. However my limbertwigs act like any other apple’s growth habit and branch normally.
Thanks Kevin. My Myers and Brushy also appear to have normal, stout branches but Black LT is quite willowy.
Hambone,
Here’s a video of a pretty limbertwig espalier from Tim Hensley:
Am interested in this thread because I have 10 varieties of limbertwig growing. Unfortunately they are only 2 years old and so far appear to have normal limb growth.
Thanks Matt. With fruit on the tip end, this one sure did droop!
Ginger Gold is the main drooper I grow and once they start bearing fruit you just prune branches to upward growing shoots where they are as low as you want them. Sometimes you have to cut out even the lower scaffolds (upper scaffolds are always cycled over time on any variety to maintain a productive central leader) when they become excessively pendulous if you want to maintain a standard central leader shape. Such trees seem to want to grow to a weep where the top tier becomes the entire tree, starving the lower scaffolds of light. Nothing wrong with going that route- very easy to maintain with drooping types.
Thanks Alan, great info.