Two-dimensional tree training
I started our espaliered
apples at the grafting stage, which gave me an extra year of wiggle
room before I had to decide on the shape I planned to train them to.
Then last fall, I
made a simple setup of crossed wires between t-posts and bent the trees
along the lines. But
nine months later, the apples had already outgrown their first training
wires --- time for a second set of supports higher up!
The espaliered apple in
front of the porch got even less formal training. I just bent down
limbs to attach to nearby objects willy-nilly. In the case of both this
tree and those trained to wires, I also bent down or snipped off
secondary branches that were reaching for the sky.
My goal with both sets
of training is pretty simple --- keep the trees two-dimensional and
easily coverable during spring freezes. A few of the trees already have
flower buds, so I might get to test out that hypothesis as early as
next spring (although 2018 is more likely). Here's hoping my 2D apples
are a success!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Wow--never thought of espaliering even out in a field just to enable covering (easier picking too). Brilliant!!!
I'm also envisioning metal barrel on each flat side of the tree, lifted on a pile of rocks, with spaces to insert wood & start a fire. Then if it's a really cold night, heat the water during the day, before covering for the night. Effort, yes, but once set up, just leave the closed barrels. What do you think?
Thanks, everyone, for your comments! In relation to the top support, I don't think it should be necessary since these trees have a pretty sturdy root system. In fact, many of them are on MM111, which is a pretty big tree if left untrained. So they shouldn't act like grapes or other vines, which require support for their full lives. My training system is more of a guide for me to tie limbs to than a full-time support.
Of course, time will tell. I could be wrong....