Author Topic: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .  (Read 3806 times)

jcaldeira

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 998
    • Planet Earth
    • View Profile
Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« on: November 26, 2013, 07:37:11 PM »
Some creative ideas for a fruit garden on these web pages from Axel Erlandson's garden:
http://truthseekerdaily.com/2013/11/the-strangest-trees-in-the-world/
http://www.arborsmith.com/treecircus.html

Sample:


If anyone's achieved something like this with a fruit tree, please share a photo!


mod edit: removed hot linked image
I thought the image I posted fell under "fair use" copyright, but I changed it to an image on my postimage account.  -John
« Last Edit: November 27, 2013, 01:10:24 PM by jcaldeira »
Applying laws and rules equally to all is a cornerstone of a civilized society.

boukmn

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 67
    • Florida
    • View Profile
Re: Here some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2013, 08:44:16 PM »
This is formally called "Espalier" Gardening.  Came across it just last month.  From what I read, it is often used on fruit trees to make them more harvest-able and aesthetically pleasing.  Combining grafting multiple trees together, single trees to themselves, selective pruning and bonzai-esque branch control...a whole hobby onto itself. 



Check this out:
http://www.frenchgardening.com/tech.html?pid=312615870324755
http://www.frenchgardening.com/tech.html?pid=312780943859755
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjotnm_iXdI


fruitlovers

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15883
  • www.fruitlovers.com
    • USA, Big Island, East Hawaii, Zone 13a
    • View Profile
    • Fruit Lover's Nursery
Re: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2013, 09:18:25 PM »
An espalier is training a tree to grow flat up against a wall or other flat object. What John is referring to is very different from an espalier. It is more like creating tree sculptures. I've heard of this garden in Gilroy. Would be neat to see. I think ancient people have been doing tree shaping for very long time, but usually for much more practical reasons. There is a famous video on youtube about tribal people in India that created  living bridges out of a ficus trees over hundreds of years.
The Living Bridge of Meghalaya........
Oscar

boukmn

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 67
    • Florida
    • View Profile
Re: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2013, 09:58:21 PM »
That living bridge is truly awesome!  I guess tree sculpting is more broad than espalier.  Going espalier flat with fruit trees has a stronger appeal I am sure you would agree.  I imagine; ten different grafted mango trees each planted espalier style four feet from each other in a line along my house or fence...feeding each other so there is no stunt-growth of some trees due to losing the root competition...harvesting at arm's reach...no neighbor fence "over hang" issues...roots don't undermine foundation.  Imagine the space savings alone...

Got to be worth a try!

fruitlovers

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15883
  • www.fruitlovers.com
    • USA, Big Island, East Hawaii, Zone 13a
    • View Profile
    • Fruit Lover's Nursery
Re: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2013, 10:07:26 PM »
Espalier is no doubt great, especially for small yards. But too high maintanance for lazy gardeners like me.
John, this type of tree sculpting is very common with Pachira. You can see Pachira being sold braided in many stores. I think it is especially common in China where it's considered lucky.
Oscar

BMc

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1740
  • Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
    • View Profile
Re: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2013, 12:18:22 AM »
Esaplier is especially effective in deciduous trees. I've always been impressed by 'step-over' espalier, which doesnt train against a wall or flat object, but is a fairly simple wire training similar to what you would do with grapes, but with a propper tree (though mostly dwarf varieties) to create a sort of fence. Looks amazing when used as a fence around vegetable gardens. There are lots of similar trellising that commercial farms do and should do more of (excellent in cyclone and hurricane prone areas), but the pics above are more of an art. The cube tree is quite amazing and I'd love to see it.

bangkok

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2823
    • View Profile
Re: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2013, 01:11:02 AM »
great video's/links , thanks for posting

Would be great to have cocktailfruit-tree's (mango) in espalier shape.

I have seen american tv-programs about american millionaires showing their houses/gardens but none of them had great tree's like this. I would like to have a cocktail mango-tree in espalier style.

LEOOEL

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1775
    • USA, South Florida, Miami, Temperature Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #7 on: November 27, 2013, 08:55:50 AM »
Great thread, very inspiring. Espalier can be used to put fruit trees in overlooked spaces in order to get more fruit.

Using living (fruit?) trees to create living structures like bridges, and why not, homes too, is very promising, aesthetic, and in a 'good green' kind of way; there is no need to do any painting, not to mention that it's also great for the environment, recycling, etc.

The only setback with building these living structures is the time it takes to completion. If someone or some company were pre-growing and selling these living pre-structure (fruit?) trees, it would certainly be more practical in that a lot more time would be saved. The customer would just buy the pre-structure (fruit?) trees and then have an installer 'plant' them in the desired/planned architecture layout and who knows, this could be the start of a whole new 'really green' industry in the USA.
« Last Edit: November 27, 2013, 09:59:11 PM by LEOOEL »
'Virtue' should be taught, learned and propagated, in order to save others and oneself.

shaneatwell

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1324
    • California, San Diego, sunset 23 and 18
    • View Profile
Re: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #8 on: November 27, 2013, 11:01:49 AM »
Cool thread. I've been thinking recently of espalier for one of my jaboticabas. The main problem in espalier fruit production is that you have to select fruits and sometimes particular varieties that are branch bearing and not tip bearing. There's much discussion of this regarding apples, pears and stonefruits for espalier. Because of the pruning you don't end up with many tips. Strangely you don't see mention of stem bearing species in those threads, i.e. cauliflory. And they should be ideal for espalier.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plmay99.htm
Shane

boukmn

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 67
    • Florida
    • View Profile
Re: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #9 on: November 27, 2013, 12:53:37 PM »
The main problem in espalier fruit production is that you have to select fruits and sometimes particular varieties that are branch bearing and not tip bearing.

It occurs to me that the open canopy of most espalier will also encourage greater-than-average shoot and tip production on the main stems since they are more light and air-flow exposed.  It seems the growth form of espalier you choose would be influenced by whether the tree is a tip or stem bearer.  In addition, when you choose to prune.  Perhaps this is why espalier fruit discussions don't focus on tip/stem fruiting as a limitation.

LEOOEL

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1775
    • USA, South Florida, Miami, Temperature Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Some ideas for our fruit trees. . . .
« Reply #10 on: November 27, 2013, 10:08:49 PM »
Cool thread. I've been thinking recently of espalier for one of my jaboticabas. The main problem in espalier fruit production is that you have to select fruits and sometimes particular varieties that are branch bearing and not tip bearing. There's much discussion of this regarding apples, pears and stonefruits for espalier. Because of the pruning you don't end up with many tips. Strangely you don't see mention of stem bearing species in those threads, i.e. cauliflory. And they should be ideal for espalier.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plmay99.htm

If I were to do some type of Espalier, I would definitely consider some of these fruit trees, very informative, thanks.
'Virtue' should be taught, learned and propagated, in order to save others and oneself.