Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

If you’ve ever seen an espaliered fruit tree and thought, “Wow, that looks fancy!”, you’re not alone. In our early days as orchardists, we saw an entire orchard of espaliered cherry trees on a field trip, and we were hooked! Our espalier journey began as soon as we got back to the farm.

Two decades later, with a great deal of experience and a rocky road of ups and downs under our belts, we’re here to tell you that as much as we love espalier fruit trees, the practicalities of creating them can be a bit trickier than the glossy pics would have you believe!

Today, we’re sharing the four most common challenges people face when training espalier trees, and how you can avoid them.

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What is an espalier?

Espalier is one of those gardening terms that people often recognize but aren’t always sure about.

In simple terms, it’s a technique for training fruit trees to grow flat, usually along a wall, fence, or trellis. Instead of spreading in every direction, the branches are guided into elegant, two-dimensional shapes—or at least, that’s the theory.

After working with thousands of backyard fruit growers in our Grow Great Fruit program, we’ve noticed that espalier fruit trees don’t always turn out the way people imagine.

A few common challenges can make them harder to manage than expected, and sometimes the result is more of a tangle than the elegant garden feature you had in mind.

An espalier fruit tree against a wooden fence

A common challenge with espalier fruit trees is managing excessive growth at the top of the tree

Why choose an espalier fruit tree

There are lots of great reasons to consider having an espalier tree in your garden. They can be used to create striking ornamental features or borders. They’re also a clever way to grow fruit productively in a small space, or to grow fruit where it’s easy to reach for thinning and picking.

Traditionally, espalier has been used to grow fruit trees in protected spaces against buildings, or in walled gardens, to guard them from frosts and extend their growing season.

However, most people who have tried to grow an espalier will tell you it’s not necessarily the easiest option for growing fruit.

Like most things in the garden, it comes with both benefits and challenges. In this post, we’ll unpack what makes espalier special, when it’s worth considering for your garden, and a few pitfalls to watch out for before you decide to give it a go.

red apple on tree — Espaliered apple trees need special pruning

The pitfalls of trying to espalier your fruit tree

There are a few downsides to growing espaliers, such as the increased workload, potential fruit exposure to sunburn, and creating and maintaining the shape you’re trying to achieve.

One of the biggest challenges with espalier fruit trees is that, because the tree is often trained against a wall or structure, it can be much harder to protect it from birds and other animals that want to eat your fruit.

Freestanding fruit trees are relatively easy to protect from birds. There is a wide range of simple netting systems that you can use in your garden, depending on your needs, capacity, and budget.

However, most of them depend on being able to access your tree from all directions. Connecting your tree to a fence or wall that extends beyond the edges of the tree immediately introduces a big challenge—netting the whole wall is just not possible!

This doesn’t mean that protecting an espaliered tree is not possible! It just adds a dimension of planning how you’re going to protect the tree right from the beginning, or resigning yourself to losing much of your fruit crop to the wildlife!

A purpose-built espalier enclosure can solve the problem of how to protect espaliered fruit trees from birds

Espalier pruning basics

In many ways, pruning your fruit tree into an espalier shape is just like pruning any other fruit tree. You still need to go through establishment pruning to create your desired shape at the start of the tree’s life, and maintenance pruning to keep the shape in good order each year.

Understanding basic fruit tree pruning principles is the least you need to know, but there are a few other factors to consider when you’re venturing into the specialist world of espalier.

Choosing the right tree

Any fruit tree can be espaliered, but the best ones will have moderate vigour and flexible wood. It’s also great if the tree naturally forms good spurs and doesn’t respond to pruning cuts with too many strong water shoots.

Choosing the right rootstock

As we mentioned, trees that are not too vigorous are the easiest to espalier, but at the same time, don’t make the mistake of choosing a tree that is too dwarfing—aim for the Goldilocks zone of moderate vigour.

If you want to avoid having an endless fight of removing too much wood from your trees in an effort to create the perfect shape, only to see the tree respond by growing masses of replacement wood, then semi-dwarfing rootstocks are your friend!

Choosing the best shape

We’re often asked which espalier shape is easiest to create and maintain, and we wish there were a simple answer to the question!

Truth is, there are dozens of potential shapes you could choose for your espalier. From Fan to Horizontal Cordon, Belgian Fence, or Stepover, there are many well-known and more obscure options.

Deciding which to include in our guide The Art of Espalier: A Practical Guide for Backyard Fruit Growers was a bit agonising, to be honest—we didn’t want to leave any out! However, we wanted to give detailed set-up instructions for all the patterns we included, so in the end, we narrowed it down to the 13 most useful, easy-to-explain variations.

The trick in creating a successful espalier is choosing the right one to match your space, fruit needs, aspect, and rootstock, and then sticking to it!

Some of the espalier shapes from our well-used Royal Horticultural Society book

The four most common espalier mistakes

Even though espalier can look effortless when it’s done well, there are a few common traps that can trip people up. Knowing what to watch out for makes the process much smoother, so let’s look at the four mistakes we see most often—and how you can sidestep them.

1. Lack of clarity about which shape you’re trying to achieve

One of the keys to espalier success is having a clear plan from the beginning. Do you want a classic horizontal shape, a fan, or perhaps something more decorative? Without a clear vision, it’s easy to end up with branches heading in all directions, making it much harder to correct later. A little time spent sketching or imagining your end goal will make every pruning decision simpler.

Choosing the wrong rootstock for the shape

Not all fruit trees are created equal when it comes to espalier. Vigorous rootstocks often grow too strongly, making some shapes difficult to achieve. On the other hand, a very dwarfing rootstock might not have the strength to fill the space. Matching the right rootstock to the design you want—and the space you have—sets you up for a tree that’s both manageable and productive.

Failure to pay attention often enough

Espalier isn’t a “set and forget” project. Young branches grow quickly, and if you leave them too long, they can harden in the wrong place or even snap when you try to reposition them. A quick check every month or so in the growing season allows you to gently guide the tree into shape and correct emerging problems, which can save a lot of frustration later.

Not understanding how fruit trees grow

At the heart of espalier is working with the tree’s natural growth habits, not against them. Knowing which buds are likely to grow into strong shoots, how trees respond to pruning, and where fruit is most likely to form gives you the insight to shape your tree effectively. A little knowledge about growth patterns can be the difference between a confusing jumble and a beautifully balanced espalier.

Espalier might take a bit more thought and regular care than a standard fruit tree, but the results are well worth it. With the right plan, the right tree, and a little ongoing attention, you can create a stunning garden feature that also rewards you with delicious home-grown fruit.