A kitchen gardener's blog

Espalier Pruning

January 23, 2009 - The thing I like most about winter in Tennessee is the occasional warm sunny day. Whenever this happens, I clear as much from my schedule as I can, to allow for a few hours of gardening. Although rain was in the forecast for today, we woke to sun. So I decided today was the perfect day to prune my pear and apple trees while taking in a little vitamin D. I am training these six trees as an espalier fence along the southern border of my vegetable garden. The means frequent summer shoot pruning.

Well this past summer, my trees sent up so many new shoots that I could not keep up with the pruning and I ended up with the out of control trees you see in the photo on the left. Pruning is the one gardening task that still intimidates me. So before heading out this morning I consulted my copy of American Horticultural Society Pruning & Training. Armed with the confidence of knowledge, a sturdy pair of new gloves, and very sharp hand pruners, I quickly transformed my trees to look just like the diagram in my book.

I finished just as the rain clouds were rolling in. Let's hope my efforts will be rewarded with trees covered in flowers this spring and apples and pears in the fall.

Leave a Reply