Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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C) Espalier
Training trees to trellises.
You can use either whip or feathered trees, al-
though feathered trees can save you training time and you will produce
your first crop sooner than you would with whip trees. For feathered trees,
simply select the branches you want and remove the others. Tie the selected
branches loosely to the trellis wires. Check the ties frequently during the
growing season, and replace them before the ties cut into or girdle the
branches.
For whips, you can head the leader back to the first wire to develop lateral
branches and repeat as needed for each additional wire or scaffold. This is
a slow method and delays time to fruiting. A better method is to leave the
terminal bud and rub off the next six buds. Leave several buds on the leader
at each wire or desired branch location and rub off all of the other buds just
