Espalier Support/Trellis
What is an Espalier?
An espalier (pronounced “es-PAL-yer”)is a plant that has been trained to grow in a flat plane against a wall,fence, or trellis, though the term has also been used to describe the technique of training a plant to grow this way.
The technique was invented by the ancient Romans, and further developed in Europe. This technique allowed them to take advantage of the thermal mass of south facing walls (full sun in Northern Hemisphere) by growing fruit trees against them, the heat retained by the walls protected the trees from the cold and extended the productive period of the of fruit trees.
As the technique eventually became an art form in itself, the trees became a kind of living sculpture, and many ornamental trees and plants were also used as espaliers.
The main benefit of the technique of growing espaliered trees is that they save a lot of space. You can grow a productive tree in a space that would otherwise be too narrow to be of use, or you can line up trellises in an open area, a few feet apart, running north to south so they dont shade each other, to create a very high density espalier orchard. Espaliers have also been used to create living fences. A fruit bearing fence fits in with the permaculture principle that “everything has more than one purpose or function” very nicely.
You can virtually grow any plant as an espalier, it’s just a matter of maintaining a two-dimensional form by training all growth along a flat plane and pruning away any growth that can’t be laid flat because of the direction it’s growing.
Some plants are particularly suitable as espaliers. Plants that produce many flexible lateral branches and attractive flowers, fruit, and foliage and/or bark are excellent choices for espaliers.
How to Build an Espalier Support Against a Wall
The first step to espalier a tree is to construct a support for it. The following instructions will guide you through constructing an espalier support against a wall, using readily available materials.
If you are constructing an espalier against a wall, you need a wall that receives full sun at midday.
- In the Northern Hemisphere, this is a south facing wall.
- In the Southern Hemisphere, this is a north facing wall.
As I’m located in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia), I will be using a north facing wall in the example described.
Here is a picture of my espalier support, against the north facing side of a garage wall. You can just make out the two young pear trees against the trellis.
Espalier support against a north facing wall with a Nashi pear tree and Willliams pear tree
From this overhead angle, it’s easier to see things more clearly. An espaliered Nashi pear on the left with two branches and a Williams pear with four branches on the right (they are pollinators for each other). It’s their first year, so they still have some growing to do.
You can see the brackets holding the support posts away from the wall. The support wires need to sit about 6″ to 8″ (15-20cm) away from the wall to prevent the leaves of the tree getting burnt when the wall heats up to very high temperatures under the full summer sun!
Closer look at espalier support structure
Here, I’ve highlighted the positions of the support wires in yellow, to show how the espalier support is constructed.
Star pickets come pre-drilled along their length, so the wires were strung in these pre-existing holes, roughly 1′ (30cm) apart, leaving a slightly larger space at the bottom, around 2′ (60cm).
Position of support wires on espalier support
Construction Details
To construct the espalier support, you will need
- 8′ (2.4m) star pickets (x2)
- Heavy duty 6-8″ galvanised right angle brackets (x2)
- Plastic safety caps for ends of star pickets (x2)
- 5mm or 6mm bolts, nuts and washers for fastening bracket to star picket (x2)
- (for brick or concrete wall) masonry anchors of some sort to fasten bracket to wall (x4 or 6)
- 2mm thick plastic coated steel wire (depends on width and number of support wires – 1 roll)
- turnbuckles (x5)
The diagram below shows how the espalier support is constructed, less the support wires.
Two of these supports need to be constructed, one on either side of the wall, and the wires strung and tensioned between them.
Espalier support post fastened to wall
Construction basically consists of the following steps:
- Fasten the brackets to the wall (using masonry anchors if it sis made of brick or concrete) at the same height.
- Line up the star picket the correct distance from the wall so it lines up with the bracket, and rotate it so that the edge with the holes is facing the wall. This is so the bracket can bolt to the star picket.
- Slowly drive the star picket into the ground, aim to drive about 2′ (60cm) into the ground, but make sure you stop driving it in when a hole in the star picket lines up with the hole in the bracket.
- Bolt the bracket to the star picket, using a nut and washer or lock washer so that it doesn’t loosen.
- Put plastic safety caps at the tops of the star pickets (they have really sharp edges after you hammer them in!)
- String up wires, one at a time, starting at bottom and working upwards, tie through hole in star picket (see details below), tie to turnbuckle, then fasten turnbuckle to opposite post and lightly tension.
- When all wires have been strung, tension them all up, from the bottom ones, working upwards.
The most important thing to aim for here is a very sturdy structure. Here are a few important notes:
- Use the heaviest brackets you can, make sure they have the cross-bracing running from one end to the other, forming a closed shape like a triangle. The plain “L” shaped brackets aren’t as strong as these.
- Both the brackets sideways, not vertically. Once you add the wires and tension them up, they will be exerting a sideways force to pull the support poles inwards to wards each other. A bracket which runs horizontally is more strongly braced against a horizontal force.
- Use all the holes in your brackets to mount them on the wall. If each bracket has three, use all three. If you’re tempted to just put two in, remember, you can make the thing 30% stronger for very little more effort!
The whole trellis is visible from this angle, brackets, posts and wires clearly visible
Braced bracket for extra strength, mounted horizontally and facing inwards for maximum strength. One bolt fastens the star picket to the bracket. Since the bolt occupies the hole on the star picket, the wire is fastened around the end of the bracket.
Barrel roll tie is used to fasten the wires to one side, in this case the left star picket, turnbuckles used on the other end on the right hand side.
Using turnbuckles with a hook on one end makes for quick attachment, just put the hook ends into the holes in the start picket (make sure you get the largest turnbuckles that will fit in the star picket holes). Wire attached to the eyelet end of the turnbuckle using a Haywire Twist and Barrel Roll tie.
Close look at the Haywire Twist and Barrel Roll tie
It’s simple, cross the end over each other, then twist them both around together three times to make the Haywire Twist, then bend the short end or tag out so its sits at 90 degrees to the main wire, like an “L” shape, and wrap it three times around the main wire to complete the Barrel Roll part
The Haywire Twist and Barrel Roll tie with a clearer background (my sleeve)!
You will realise that you can’t attach the turnbuckle hook through the hole in the star picket where the bracket is attached. The simple solution is to simply tie a small loop of wire securely around the bracket, and fasten it to that, as shown below.
Turnbuckle hook fastened to a secure wire loop on bracket where bolt occupies hole is star picket
Wire loop used on very to also, as plastic safety cap obscures top hole!
Now that the trellis is complete, you’re ready to plant the tree, and train its branches along the trellis wires, and that will all be described in an up and coming project on this site!
Pear tree branch trained along wire
Please note that some of the extra details and construction tips in the Grape Vine Trellis project may helpful in the construction of this project, so please check it out here.
Happy espalier-ing!
October 30, 2010 at 12:36 am |
I’ve just seen it in a young man’s place in the Adelaide hills inside a fruit avery, a place like for bird’s, but this site is for keeping every kind of bird away from ruining the fruit before it is ripe.
I’m probably to old to start it now, I’m 64 years old, may ask The Lord to do it with me with the tree’s I already have, some are over 20 years old of the few that I have, one is a 3 variety apple tree, 1 apricot, 1 very large fig of the same age, have also younger trees 1 each of manderine and orange. It is all very interesting, but I’m probably to old for it all now. Many thanks, Mickola.
October 30, 2010 at 6:35 am |
Hi Mickola,
I’m guessing you mean like an aviery, a completely enclosed structure covered with mesh. I’ve seen that before too. Luckily, you don’t need to go to those extremes, in permaculture we work with nature, and nature does provide a very effective bird deterrent in the form of a well-fed domestic cat! The birds still get the fruit higher up that you can’t usually reach anyway, and everyone’s happy! By the way, no age is ever to late to begin anything new if your heart is it it.
Regards
November 24, 2010 at 7:13 pm |
This is a very helpful site – thank you! I have learned about espalier but would not have known anything of how to Acutally go about it.
thats a great help – thanks!
Kaz
April 7, 2011 at 3:21 am |
Thanks for all the detailed information. My husband and I are looking to plant concord grapes this year. Is this style of support system appropriate for grapes?
April 10, 2011 at 12:06 pm |
Yes, this trellis will work fine for grapes. I have also written instructions specifically for a Grape Vine Trellis , which is basically a smaller version of the espalier tree trellis shown here. When you think of it, a grape vine trellis is just an espaliered grape vine anyway. The best size ultimately depends on how big you want to grow the grapevine!
Regards
April 21, 2011 at 12:15 am |
Hi Angelo,
I regret that I couldn’t bring Evan over for your last open day – he wasn’t in Victoria that weekend.
It would be great if you had time to upload pictures of how your handsome trees are training up.
Catch you later.
Anji
April 26, 2011 at 2:03 am |
PS. Where you bolted the support bracket to the star picket: Was the hole that was already in the picket big enough for this job or did you have to drill it to widen it?
May 14, 2011 at 1:30 am |
Hi Anji, the holes in the star pickets were big enough to put the bolth through, but in some instances I have used star pickets where the hole was not large enough. In such cases it was very easy to drill the holes out a bit bigger, drills cut therough metal very quickly when they only have to cut on the edges of existing holes.
May 13, 2011 at 7:11 am |
Because I wanted to use star pickets for organic reasons (not treated pine posts) I found your site especially helpful. Thank you very much for your work in developing the site and in particular the photos. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I, however, have one question. I notice you have support wires approximately every 30cm or so it seems from the photos, how did you make the holes in the star pickets. Can you buy the star pickets with the holes already drilled or did you use a special drill?
Thanks again for your effort.
Greg
May 14, 2011 at 1:32 am |
Hi Greg, Thanks for the comments! The star pickets have holes in them already, running down one of the three sides only. This is because they are designed for fencing, and the holes are where the wores are strung through. Make sure you line up the side with the holes facing the other star picket before you hammer them in the ground sos that the sides with holes face each other.
September 22, 2011 at 10:01 pm |
Hi,
Thanks for taking the time to put together this unique information.
I am looking to grow a living, espalier trellis on which to grow hops. Hops can be quite prolific, and standard hops trellises are known to be up to 18 feet.
Do you have any suggestions as to what tree might be right to espalier into a trellis on which I could eventually grow hops?
Thanks
-Ryan
September 23, 2011 at 10:28 am |
Hi Ryan,
I grow my hops beside my espaliers, but run the hops along the wall of the house instead, supported by plant anchors that nail into the brickwork and use quick release plastic clips – they’re used for supporting climbers on brick walls.
My hops were quite happy with this setup, visitors to the garden got some decent harvests for their home brewing!
Personally, I would not recommend runing hops over an espaliered tree, for two reasons:
Firstly, because the tree has limited light exposure, being flat against a wall, you run the risk of shading out the tree with the vigorous growing vine, as both grow in the warmer months.
Secondly, when hops grow, they tangle and entwine themselves pretty well around their supports, and when they die down in the colder months, you have to spend ages pruning away and untangling the dry, rope-like stems of the hops, and it takes a bit of effort. Mine ‘escaped’ and tangled its way around the pear trellis to its rght, and the berry trellis to its left, into a lemon tree, and across a garden bed into an elderberry shrub in a pot. I’ll confess it wasn’t fun untangling the mess afterwards.
The standard practice is to give hops their own support, a long wire or two suspended between any two points above head height should work well enough for hops, make harvesting easier, and keep this prolific vine out of trouble!
Regards
November 22, 2011 at 3:25 am |
Hi I am trying to espalier my apple trees along the side of my drive way. I am using star pickets do how I get the wire tense and do I need to anchor the star pickets to the ground somehow?
November 22, 2011 at 9:45 am |
Hi James,
As shown in the article, you use the turnbuckles to tension the wires. If your star pickets are not bolted to the wall with brackets like I’ve shown, they need to be securely anchored into the ground, best to concrete them in, or for a less drastic approack, use crushed rock or gravel in the hole, and use something heavy to compact it down so it will hold. If it’s a free-standing structure, it might help to read the instrctions for my my grape vine trellis design – http://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/grape-vine-trellis/
November 22, 2011 at 10:26 am |
Thanks that’s exactly what I needed. I know now what to ask for and how to achieve the right result.
November 26, 2011 at 6:42 pm |
Hi there,
From the comments I assume that this site is Australian–and I’m in North Carolina, US, so your north wall is my south. I’ve got a perfect south facing wall on my brick house from which I just removed a bunch of very gnarly old holly trees–now it’s wide open, lightly shaded by a crepe myrtles for part of the day. I am thinking it will be a great place for an espalier apple tree and have ordered one partially trained with 6 different apple varieties grafted to it! This will be rather a significant investment of time and $$ so I want to make sure the tree thrives. I guess if your wall is not too hot then mine won’t be? It gets up to 40C some summer days here, and that wall gets really hot! It won’t fry my apple tree, you think?
November 28, 2011 at 1:48 am |
Thanks for pointing this out, I’ve updated the article to clarify this point:
If you are constructing an espalier against a wall, you need a wall that receives full sun at midday.
» In the Northern Hemisphere, this is a south facing wall.
» In the Southern Hemisphere, this is a north facing wall.
As I’m located in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia), I will be using a north facing wall in the example described.
As you correctly point out, you would use a south facing wall in the US.
A wall facing the midday sun does get quite warm indeed, which is why we space the support 15-20cm (6″-10″) from the wall. If you use this spacing, it shall work fine, and if you really want to be on the safe sie, go with a 12″ (30cm) spacing from your wall if you have the room.
November 28, 2011 at 2:05 am |
That’s very kind of you to clarify in case other Yanks and assorted northerners find your site.
I think I will plant 12″ from the wall. And I think I’m going for a 3-in-one pluot rather than the apples. Pluots love heat, it seems.
Great info, BTW!
December 11, 2011 at 6:19 am |
Fantastic site! I’m really, really enjoying reading through it. I’d love to espalier some fruit trees along a boring wall near my front door. I have 2 questions for you. My front yard is a concrete jungle – how could I modify your construction technique as to not need the star pickets? I am not able to secure them in soil due to a concrete driveway. Secondly, I would have to grow the fruit trees in pots – can you successfully meet the needs of espaliered fruit trees if growing them in pots?
December 11, 2011 at 11:20 am |
Hi Mandy,
If your backyard is all concrete, and you have solid walls on either side, you can simply frill into the brickwork, screw in some eye screws or other suitable supports, and then string wires between them.
You can grow and espalier treees in pots, but you have to use dwarf varieties, such as dwarf citrus trees, which work quite well. Figs and olives are the few full sized trees that can be grown in pots, most other trees cannot handle being root-bound. When growing trees in pots, get the biggest pots you can get, your trees will be happier in the long run.
Regards
February 25, 2012 at 11:30 pm |
Great article!
I am planning to create a Belgian Fence espalier along the side of my garage. Will plant 3 trees (donut peach & 2 nectarines). Will two Star Pickets be sufficient for the 24′ long wall or do you think I should use more?
February 26, 2012 at 3:08 am |
Hi Kathy, if you can get the posts (star pickets) anchored firmly enough, they will be able to support such a long run of wire under tension. If not, I would use four star pickets spaced 8 feet apart to give you support for three trees totalling 24 feet.
March 19, 2012 at 9:11 pm |
Blackthorn you`re a real buzz !…the most descriptive site ever.
I`m in Taree NSW,often too much groundwater,so figs in cut up old water tanks alongside house brickwalls for me….scroungers might like to use shells of washing machines..`fridges…stoves & the like…you can grow a small trailing plant to cover them.I also use corrugated iron & paint it green…putting fruit trees against walls also helps keep the flying fox away..we have thousands here.
Hey Mickola,I`m 74 this year(2012)..growing keeps you going !
thank you so very much……….Clem.
March 30, 2012 at 12:52 am |
Love your site and your pictures/explanations. Been wanting to do this for a very long time. am now 53. i’m going to have my trees in containers as I am renting – but will plan to move them into a permanent site when I have a house again.
April 13, 2012 at 12:31 am |
Hi, thanks for your informative site. I live in Perth West Aust, and live near the beach, my backyard (courtyard) is brick paving with a wall running north south, with a lane way behind it, the area receives sun, mid morning, midday and part of the afternoon, I was hoping to put in 4 fruit trees (type to be determined) and your help here would be appreciated! They will have to be in very large pots, and was wondering if it’s not an ideal position, being on the west side of the house, with our 40+ temps in summer, and the possible heat reflection from the wall, brick paving and also a 2 storey house.
The brick paving area is 1.5m wide from brick wall to house. Your thoughts would be appreciated before I make maybe a BIG mistake, and plants lovely trees only for them to die. Cheers Jen
April 17, 2012 at 1:06 pm |
All that thermal mass from the walls will heat up that area immensely, and considering that pots have a limited water supply, those trees will probably cook in summer, that is a very hostile environment for plants. There is a simple solution though, add some shade! If you can get some 50% shade cloth (this is for plants, not the regular 70% or higher rated ones for people!) and position it appropriately so the trees are saved from the full impact of the sun, and they’ll do fine. Put in a basic irrigation system on a timer for the pots so they will water themselves in summer and it should all work fine.
August 3, 2012 at 7:34 pm |
My posts are in. Hardware ready to go. Brought home a young Honey Crisp apple tree this morning! Thank you….this website helped me as well….all the way from Calgary, Alberta, Canada!!
August 4, 2012 at 9:01 am |
Excellent, great to hear, thanks!
August 17, 2012 at 3:27 pm |
Am also here from Calgary, Alberta Canada. Thank you for the helpful details about espalier-ing!
To my fellow Calgarian, where did you purchase the espalier-ready Honeycrisp tree?
September 11, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Susannah – you may find siloam Orchards in Uxbridge, Ontario helpful. Not sure if they mail order but I have 15 starts on hold with them now. A call might not hurt.
They have about 300 varieties of Heritage breed apples available in their private nursery. They do a fall pickup day in October once the stock has gone dormant.
September 11, 2012 at 2:38 pm |
Hi Blackthorn – I hope you don’t mind, but I have linked this page to a gardening forum as you have posted such great instructions for starting an espalier. Hopefully my attempt will be as good as yours! Cross-post is here: http://forums.delphiforums.com/sproutoff/messages?msg=922.1 I will remove it if you request it. I hope this doesn’t offend you.
September 11, 2012 at 2:44 pm |
No problem, that’s fine, I don’t mind. As long as it get’s more people gardening I’m happy!
February 18, 2013 at 2:35 pm |
Hi, love the site. Am planting apple trees soon… I plan to espalier. A question…as the trunk grows and lengthens, do you have to adjust the branches up higher and higher on the support? Or does the length coming from the top keep getting bent into branches. I guess what I’m asking is… Will the trunk lengthen from the bottom? Or does it only add girth?
February 19, 2013 at 12:11 am |
The trunk of the tree only increases in girth, it gets thicker, but everything else stays where it is, the position of the branches stay where they are, as the only increase in height comes from new growth at the top. Once the espalier is topped at the height you choose, it just puts out new branches and fruiting wood.