One evening at the Stratford Festival, I found myself at a table next to local resident William Conklin who unexpectedly said, “I have to go home and espalier.” At first I feared he might be ill. Then, as if I were an cordoned fig, Conklin set me straight. “I’m training my apple tree,” he explained.
Espalier is an ancient form of highly decorative topiary practised upon fruit trees and ornamental shrubs. Currently enjoying a renewed popularity in town gardens, pre-trained espaliers are becoming a staple item in garden centres and nurseries. These living sculptures are especially attractive against blank walls and in intimate garden areas where a full tree might be a little oppressive.
But espalier is more than just horticultural whimsey. What at first appears to be a highly affected and unnecessarily labourious method of growing just a little tree is in fact one of the most practical and rewarding gardening techniques ever developed.
“I don’t have a huge space so I’m trying to maximize what I have,” Conklin said when I visited his garden. “Espalier naturally lends itself to that. And the effect is lovely.”
Conklin’s espalier, an apple tree trained in a classic fan shape against his garden wall, is truly striking. This dwarf root stock grafted with several varieties of apples now stands at a height of about two metres.
“I get a very high yield on a very small space,” he explained. “For example I’ll be able to get five different kinds of apples without using five different trees – and I won’t have something 10 or 12 feet tall spreading out another 10 or 12 feet across the garden.”
The creation of abundantly-producing plants that are as decorative as they are space-saving is what espalier is all about. The term espalier generally refers to any tree or shrub that has been trained in a flat, two-dimensional shape against a wall or a fence. The name is a French derivation of the Italian word “spalliera” which means to rest one’s shoulder against something.
From earliest times, figs, fruits and vines have been cultivated against the walls of gardens, but it was the Romans who first noticed that fruit yields increased when trees were severely pruned. Centuries later, monks in medieval monasteries took the art of pruning to sophisticated levels, training their wall-hugging plants into all manner of flat geometric shapes. The English went on to adopt espalier after discovering their trees benefited from the reflected warmth and protection of a wall.
Conklin, a retired music teacher, chose to undertake an espalier as much for its historical value as its practicality and beauty. He and his partner, environmentalist David G. Hallman, own a heritage house in Stratford, Ont. They plant the grounds of their 1870s Italian Renaissance Revival home to reflect gardening trends that were popular during Victorian times. For example, Conklin’s pride and joy is a rather amusing raised vegetable bed fashioned in the shape of a four-poster bed.
“I haven’t gotten into growing heritage plants, but it has crossed my mind,” says Conklin.
He started his espalier by purchasing a one-metre high dwarf sapling that had already been grafted to provide multiple varieties of apples. “I put the poor thing into bondage,” he says. “I used some bamboo stakes to straighten out the branches and then attached them to galvanized wires.” These wires are attached to vertical posts that Conklin has installed near – not touching – his garden wall.
“It’s better not to have it touching the wall,” he cautions. “It allows for better ventilation, so there’s fewer bugs and fewer problems with blight and bacteria.”
Fruit trees can be trained into any number of classic and elegant shapes, but bear in mind, the selection of plant greatly influences the selection of pattern. A simple fan shape is ideal for apples, figs, peaches, apricots, cherries, plums and pears. Other popular treatments are the candelabra-shaped Palmette Verrier, and the chevron-patterned Oblique Palmette.
Cordons are espaliered plants trained into a simple straight line, usually straight up and down or at a 45-degree angle, while multiple-cordons or tiered cordons are grown in horizontal T shapes. Training angled cordons in opposite directions creates an eye-popping, open diamond lattice pattern.
It is also possible and often desirable to espalier a plant away from a wall. Tall, freestanding espaliers are often used as garden dividers, while very low, trained trees serve well as fanciful garden edging.
Of course, growing an espalier requires a substantial time commitment, especially during the initial phase of training. It generally takes three to four years for espaliered plants to bear fruit, but keep in mind, trees grow faster than you imagine and espaliers require constant pruning. Although Conklin started his espalier only last season, it has already doubled in height.
“It has a nice width on one side,” he said. “The other side is not doing as well – but it will. It’s coming along. I did some clipping the other day.”
Plants that produce lots of flexible, lateral branches are ideal candidates for espalier. Some species of roses as well as ornamental shrubs and grapevines look particularly stunning when espaliered, but small fruit trees are the overwhelmingly best choice for any beginning espalier gardener.
Given enough time and effort, almost any plant can be espaliered. Unfortunately, full-sized fruit trees pruned heavily to stay small will bear little fruit and will take herculean measures just to keep them forced to a practical height. The most successful espaliers incorporate dwarfing rootstocks that are easily managed and are available in many varieties.
So far, Conklin is quite pleased with the results of his considerable efforts. "It’s very romantic,” he said. “I like putting things in the garden that are personal and attractive and interesting. I don’t know where or when I first saw one growing, but making an espalier has always been sort of dream of mine.”