Espalier

Espalier, a term borrowed from the French, and signifying a railing on which fruit-trees are trained as on a wall. Such railings are very variously constructed—sometimes of wood, sometimes of iron, sometimes of upright rails held together by a horizontal rail at top, sometimes chiefly of horizontal rails with upright posts for their support. Espaliers may be very conveniently and cheaply made of strong iron wire, sustained by upright iron or wooden posts, as in ordinary wire-fences. They vary in height from 4 to about 8 feet, according to situation and the size of the garden. On the Continent they are often constructed horizontally or at a more or less oblique angle to the sun at a few feet above the ground; but, although their introduction in this form into British gardens has been recommended by some writers, they have only been adopted here and there experimentally and with no satisfactory result. They have the advantage of securing the fruit in a great measure from the effect of winds, which often shake off great part of the crop of standard trees whilst still unripe; and owing to the full exposure to sun and air excellent fruit is produced, although there is no reflected heat as from a wall, which is therefore still superior. Espaliers are very common in gardens in Britain, and add at once to the beauty and the productiveness of a garden, the ground not being overshadowed as by standard trees, although, of course, the roots of the trees render it unsuitable for many crops to some distance on both sides of the espalier. Espaliers are often used to separate flower-borders from plots occupied by culinary vegetables. Apples and pears are considered more suitable for espaliers than any other kinds of fruit-trees commonly cultivated in Britain. The treatment is generally similar to that of wall trees, but the training is usually by horizontal branches. It is not unusual, when trees have become old and their branches thick and firm, to dispense with great part of the rails necessary in their earlier training.