April 2011 Two years ago we planted two Anna apple trees espalier-style. This year the branches became heavy enough with apples to require a sturdy trellis. Jill, from Sweet Life Garden (and a best friend since 7th grade) designed the trellises and her brother, Kirk, from Custom Garden Works, built these beauties. Jill, her husband Hal, and Kirk installed the trellises and then Jill thinned out the fruit and tied the branches to the the posts. February 2010 This is how the trees looked a…

Gabe has the greener thumb of the two of us, so he is here today sharing some ideas to get your edible landscape going. Everything mentioned are things we have tried in our own yard here in Georgia. (pinnable graphic we made to bookmark post for later!) Having a new home with a relatively blank

Last Friday Handsome & I spent the day at Tryon Palace…..enjoying the gardens and the annual Heritage Plant Sale. I love the potager at Tryon Palace….. ooooooo, I’d love to have one like it! Throughout the potager {traditional kitchen garden} they have many espaliered fruit trees. Figs, apples, pears. Espalier is a French word that […]

University of Arkansas researchers studying rotating cross-arm system for its benefits to improve yields and fruit quality in blackberries.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) horticulturist Fumiomi Takeda of the Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, West Virginia, developed arotating cross-arm (RCA) trellis and cane-training system for floricane-fruiting blackberry—blackberry plants that produce harvestable fruit after the first year of growth—to help growers overcome environmental challenges, produce more fruit, and reduce labor costs. This system can increase a grower’s income by more than $6,000 per acre—a…

Espalier trees are the result of intense training, in which the plants are urged to grow flat against a wall, fence, or trellis. Learn more about how to espalier fruit trees in this article.

"Still think apple trees need to be spaced 8-12 feet apart? ...use small trees spaced close together... Apples can be trained 18" apart on a fence or trellis like a grape vine, planted 2' apart in a hedgerow, or planted 4-to-a-hole, 18" apart. These apple trees can be kept any size by utilizing summer pruning, no matter what rootstock they have.