Crabapple Palmette Verrier Espalier Beginnings - Spring 2022
Earlier this week, I showed off a couple of photos that featured the pair of Sugar Tyme Crabapple trees that were in (what I then called) a pre-espalier form . These were planted last Fall along the southside of our house, in front of our gate. Since they had already bloomed, I thought it was time to take out the pruners and remove all the non-necessary limbs to allow the trees to focus growth on the limbs that I cared most about. I started with a top haircut - pruning off the apical meristem or leader on both. That usually has a strong impact on the tree where it signals a bunch of NEW growth. I used the siding boards to get them the same height. From there, I went two siding boards down and removed all the little, starting limbs in between those two segments. Then, again two boards down. And so forth. I still am not sure what form these will take, but - for now - I'm training them horizontally. See below for what are (now) four-level horizontal cordon espaliered craba