Chapter 5 simple trellis shapes

The waning interest in espalier fruit growing in the 20. Jh. probably also had its reason in the fact that the trellis forms, according to the fashion, were more and more playful and connected with a too high maintenance effort. The literature named and drew for instance a snake trellis with 3 circles on top of each other, circular palmette in 3 tiers, composite hoop trellis with straight and circular axes, spiral trellis with 4 string trees etc., all tree forms that required almost daily supervision. This was simply too much.
After the 1. and 2. After World War II, rational production of fruits and vegetables was initially more important for survival, and there was neither time nor inclination for "gimmicks" with shaped fruits.
Thanks to the participation of old and newly founded garden clubs in the 1970s and their professional consultations, fresh interest was aroused again, in which the newly organized allotment garden system also played a considerable role. Now the gardens were significantly smaller than before and people returned to the space-saving forms of cultivation with high-quality fruit. Weak-growing rootstocks and new, more robust cultivars without alternance (alternating high and low yields each year) made the simple trellis forms interesting again, even though they required comparatively more maintenance than conventional round crowns.
Today, only those forms are advocated which are easy to grow and which do not impose too great a constraint on natural growth. The playful trellis forms of the 19. The trees of the twentieth century certainly look decorative in the patterns, but in practice they require almost daily attention and also considerable knowledge and skills for correct upbringing. If interest in it wanes for even a year, such intricate forms very soon go wild and are then almost impossible to undo.

Trellis forms

Were first planted along the walls of palace parks, but later they also found their way into the gardens of the common people.

The focus at that time was that, through selective pruning and by cultivating on protective walls, it was possible to harvest quality fruit from heat-requiring fruit species such as peach and pear or from demanding apple varieties, even in less favorable locations.

1. The Vertical Cord Tree

In former times it was called guirlanden cordon.It consists only of the trunk and short fruiting wood of the pome fruit, which should garnish the trunk evenly from bottom to top. It usually needs a strong frame on which it can have a firm hold against wind pressure with bamboo or sheathed steel rods. Cordon trees are equally suitable as pathway dividers, privacy screens, and at the same time offer the possibility of planting a different variety with each tree. The trees are spaced 70-80 cm apart (sometimes less), depending on the typical growth of the variety, up to a final height of 4.00 m on the wire frame. However, because of the different flowering times with regard to plant protection, apple and pear should never be planted together.
After planting, the young trees are immediately attached to bamboo poles or to more inconspicuous, green-coated steel rods (from the hardware store), as they are also sold as bean poles. They must be fixed to the tension wire at a height of 2 m without sliding.
Ongoing care:
– pruning of unleaved shoots shortly before flowering, if not pinched in the previous year.
– Cut back too old whorl wood down to fruiting wood near the trunk.
– From the end of May, desprout the still "glassy" young shoots to 3-5 leaves above the leaf rosette. –
The pinching work is valid for all trellis forms and is always to be done again on individual young shoots-
get when they have become about 25 cm long.

Apart from pome fruit, currants and gooseberries can also be raised as single-shoot forms, similar to the cordon tree. This is nowadays the usual cultivation method in commercial cultivation.

2. The horizontal string tree

The former name was horizontal cordon.It is very suitable as a pathway trellis form, which also allows a pre-planting with low summer flowers or perennials. The planting distance is 4-6 m, depending on whether you prefer the one-armed or the two-armed way of upbringing. The planting of the annual (!) Grafting is done in the fall, but the bending to the 40 cm high tension wire is done only in the following early summer, when the tree is well grown and the shoot is quite juicy. To do this, hold the shoot at a height of 40 cm firmly in one hand and rotate it lengthwise around its own axis with the other hand, as was done in the past with steep shoots on fast-growing trees, in order to reduce the strong growth. Now the wood fibers loosen, but they do not break any more, if one staples the shoot right-angled to the wire.
The same procedure is used for U-shapes and verrier palmettes to bring the leading shoots into a right-angled shape. The longitudinal cracks heal again in a short time.
It is recommended that this procedure be practiced on comparable one-year-old lumber before the "real thing" so that no mistakes are made afterwards.
Due to this horizontal position of the stem, almost all the upper eyes develop quickly and evenly. Now it is important to prevent individual new shoots from sprouting too vertically by regular pinching, because all of them should develop evenly. The leading shoot is allowed to grow upwards at an angle undisturbed during the year, so that the increase in length is ensured. Only in the following spring it is pulled horizontally.
Horizontal string trees need by no means be exclusively low. In Alsace, such decorative forms with a height of 1.80 m and a strong trunk are not uncommon. But then the upbringing takes 2 years longer.

3. The Bouche-Thomas hedge

Sue was formerly also called oblique double cordons.

The one-year (if necessary, also two-year) grafting is planted obliquely, at an angle of about 45°, 100 cm apart. Only the leading shoot and one of the side branches are left, which in turn is directed at an angle of 45°. The wire frame should be 2.20 m high with three wires, and suitable rods should be used to mark out the later growth form at an angle of 90°. If there is no suitable lateral wood on the leading shoot, make a crescent-shaped indentation with a knife above one eye, which will thus sprout safely. leading and side shoots remain almost up to the desired final height without pruning; but as a result of the oblique planting, sufficient side wood is usually formed.

4. The U-shape and verrier palmette

The planting distance for the U-shape is about 1.60 m, for the verrier palmette 2 m. The wire frame with 4 tension wires should be 3 m high and with suitable rods pre-draw the desired growth form. The opposite tiers of a trellis should be raised as much as possible at the same height. The right-angled twisting off of the leading shoots can only be done in the following early summer if the sap is good, because of the danger of breakage. Often nurseries also have pre-formed double U-shapes on offer. Such trellises are quite impressive, often also expensive, but nevertheless they usually have to be changed again after a few years, because the inner space is no longer sufficient for the side garnitures.

5. The simple palmette

It is quite easy to grow as pome and stone fruit espaliers, because the trees remain in their natural growth habit with (initially) one central shoot and 2 oblique side branches. Planting material can be 2-year-old grafting on weak-growing rootstock with 2 lateral branches. The planting distance should be kept at about 3 m, with the wire frame laid out as for the verrier palmette. Suitable, non-slip fixed sticks also determine the growth form here.

In the case of a double palmette, the central shoot is only cut back to 60 cm above the first branch when the two side branches are already well covered with fruiting wood. Now from the two upper eyes develops the 2. tier, but without a central shoot, the two arms of which must again be correctly attached to sticks. Repeated pinching and tying are again summer work as with cordons.
Palmettes are also suitable for plums, peaches and apricots. Plums and peaches should be rejuvenated after a few years, but apricots do not tolerate stronger interventions.

6. The fan shape of stone fruit

It is quite simple in upbringing and is preferably suitable for stone fruit on a solid background. When planting biennial grafting, immediately remove the central shoot so that 2 side shoots can develop more vigorously and be attached to the wall in an oblique position.

In contrast to pome fruit, sour cherries and peaches only blossom and fruit on one-year-old shoots, which must be cut back immediately after harvesting. Otherwise, thin, drooping branches are produced instead of the desired new shoots. Nevertheless, a vigorous rejuvenation pruning may be necessary after quite a few years for a new growth.
Peaches are less likely to be squeezed into angled shapes and are therefore staked more freely on the trellis, in a fan shape. The particular variety should be chosen according to the time of ripening, as follows: On the wall trellis fruits of the same variety ripen 2 – 3 weeks earlier than in the open field, this should be noted, otherwise they may rot during the vacation season.
Rework on the peach is usually appropriate, even if the pruning work was done conscientiously just before or during flowering. First, all poorly leafed, weak shoots are removed, because each fruit needs more than 20 leaves for the best possible development. Then it is better to cut out the excess young fruit now than later, so that they sit separately and a distance of about 20 cm from fruit to fruit is ensured.

Older berry bushes, especially currants and josta can still be transformed into a trellis. It does require more effort due to multiple pruning and pinning of shoots, but the crop size is higher as a result of better exposure, and the fruit is larger, has more flavor and a uniform ripening process. Space is also gained. Four strong shoots are tied to a scaffold with 3 tension wires like a fan, all others are removed at ground level. Side wood starts only from 30 cm height. It is also kept short in subsequent years so that it forms short shoots and the fruit stays close to the scaffold. The oldest shoot is taken out after four years to make room for a strong young shoot for another four years.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *