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Espalier for tree beginner

PurpleandpinksPurpleandpinks Posts: 78
in Fruit & veg
Hi everyone,

We have recently had a big new bed installed and would love to add some espalier fruit trees. I'm relatively confident with gardening now but stick to herbaceous perennials mostly, so I need help please. Now that we have this new space we have room for a few fruit trees. I understand how to train them, but indont understand which sort of trees I should buy in the first place that will have branches I can bend. I can't seem to find any espalier trained trees in stock until Autumn. 

We are looking for apple, or maybe plum, any recommendations welcome. Trees in the garden centres are massive, and I'm very confused. Apologies for the stupid question. Pic attached! Thank you. 

Posts

  • PurpleandpinksPurpleandpinks Posts: 78
    Pear* not plum! 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    We have an espaliered Concorde pear which I grew from an unfeathered maiden ... following the instructions here 

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profile?PID=319

    It took five years to get a crop, but now it’s established we get at least a couple of dozen large juicy pears every October. 😋 





    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    You want a dwarf root stock to start. Then pick one type of apple variety you like, and choose a second that will flower at the same time, ensuring pollination. Like Dove said a maiden will take about 5 years to train,  but you can then choose the size it makes.
    Last year we got a concorde pear, on a quince C root stock, semi self pollinating and hopefully will stay smaller.
  • Mr. Vine EyeMr. Vine Eye Posts: 2,394
    https://www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/

    I got one a maiden fruit tree from here for my espalier apple. They seem to be out of stock of most now though, might be a bit late. I ordered mine in December when I got it.

    However, I have also successfully trained a cheapo fruit tree from Aldi. They sell them every year, also B&M, pound stretcher do similarly.

    I just cut it right down to the height of the wire. If there had been suitably placed branches already I’d have used those, but there weren’t. It grew new shoots and trained those exactly the same as you would have with a maiden. It’s just a bit chunkier low down than it would have been!
    East Yorkshire
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited February 2021
    I bought a ready-tiered Discovery apple six years ago or so from my local GC. I just planted it and tied the tiers into horizontal wires. It's the easiest way, I'd guess. They do like to get some sun. Remember to plant far enough away from the fence. Water loads for the first few summers.
  • PurpleandpinksPurpleandpinks Posts: 78
    Thanks so much everyone for the advice!
  • chickychicky Posts: 10,410
    @Purpleandpinks One other thing to mention if you go for apples and are doing the training yourself, is to make sure the varieties you pick are spur bearing (or at a push partial tip bearing) and not tip bearing.  You want fruit all the way along the branches, not just at the tips.  The RHS have a good list of all apple varieties which tells you which is which (and is helpful on pollination groups too).

    if you buy one that has already started to be trained, then you can probably assume the grower has selected an appropriate variety for you.
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