Espalier, a row of fruit trees which are spaced equidistantly along walls, secured to trellis-work, and trained skilfully, in order to form a tapestry of natural verdure bearing fine fruit and forming the principal embellishment of kitchen gardens. Espaliers also protect trees from the elements and enable fruit to ripen earlier. However, continual care, shrewd cultivation, and much skill are required to train espaliers: this is what usually betrays the ignorance of the poor gardener and forms the masterpieces of those who know how to balance the constraint imposed upon a tree with its expected yield. Not every fruit tree is suitable for espalier training: ‘pip-fruit’ trees are less suitable than stone-fruit trees of which some species are extremely successful, among them the peach, which is particularly worth using even though it is the most difficult tree to train. When planting an espalier, one should firstly proportion the distance between the trees given that the whole pleasure and utility of the espalier will depend upon its original disposition. This spacing should be adjusted according to factors such as the height of the walls, their aspect, the quality of the terrain, the tree type, etc., which should all be taken into consideration. Walls which are no taller than 8 or 9 feet can accommodate only half-standard trees which should be spaced at intervals of 12 or 15 feet. If the walls are about 12 feet high, one may plant a different fruit tree on a stem of about 6 feet between the espaliers in order to decorate the top of the walls. The quality of the soil should also determine the spacing. North-facing trees grow more vigorously than south-facing trees and need to be spaced at greater intervals. Some trees take up more space than others: apricot trees need more room than peach trees, fig trees need even more, and so on.

The shaping of espaliers is not unimportant: at first it might seem that an espalier in which the trees were joined together, completely covering the wall with verdure, ought to be the most beautiful, but this uniformity would impede the production of fruit, which must be one’s primary concern. Espaliers should on the contrary be clearly detached from each other and spaced at sufficient intervals to enable their branches to continue to stretch out and order themselves without being obstructed by those of neighbouring trees. A particular form needed to be devised for these trees which approximated to the way in which trees grow naturally, and which was both visually pleasing and conducive to the bearing of fruit. The shape of an open hand or fan seemed most suited to meeting these two objectives. However, because sap travels more easily along branches which approximate to a straight line than along those which diverge from one widely, espaliers should be allowed to gain more height than breadth, unlike contre-espaliers, which are generally given more breadth than height on the grounds of expediency. [1]

Notes

1. See article Contre-espalier.