Selecting trees for your espalier fruit tree project

Rootstocks

Variety(cultivar)

rootstock

suitability of cultivar and rootstock for espalier forms

multi variety trees

pre trained trees

Whip and older, larger trees

Pollination requirements

Multi variety trees

Rating of trees that I think to be easiest and those that are more difficultds. Some trees will require close monitoring and use of some specific techniques.

Site - sunlight, drainage

Climate - tree right for your zone

Disease resistance - cultivar and rootstock

Pollination requirements

Pollination Requirements

Fruit Tree Pollenizers (Pollenisers) and Pollinators

remove ageof tree information

Typically it’s the age of the wood that determines when a blossom bud develops that can produce fruit. Its common for new grafts to set fruit the first year. This is important to know before you begin pruning any variety because you want to preserve your fruit buds:
Nectarines (Prunus persica nectarina) – fruit mainly on 1-year old wood. Self-fertile, only varieties with ‘Hale’ in their parentage will require another variety for pollination. Nectarines are really just smooth peaches without the ‘peach fuzz’.

Peaches (Prunus persica) – fruit mainly on 1-year old wood. Self-fertile, only varieties with ‘Hale’ in their parentage will require another variety for pollination.

Plums, European (Prunus domestica) – fruit on long-lived spurs on 2-year old wood and older. Most varieties require a suitable pollinator, but some varieties, such as Green Gage, and Damsons are self-fertile.

Plums, Japanese (Prunus salicina) – fruit on 1-year old wood, and on short-lived spurs on older wood. Most varieties require a suitable pollinator, but some varieties, such as Santa Rosa are self-fertile, while varieties such as Mariposa are partially self-fertile…

Quinces (Cydonia oblonga ) – fruit on current season’s new growth. Self-fertile.

Cherries, Sweet (Prunus avium) – fruit on 1-year old wood and older on branches and on long-lived spurs. Some varieties are self-fertile, while others require a pollinator. Popular red cherry is the Stella variety, and dark cherry is the Lapin variety, both are self-fertile.

Cherries, Sour (Prunus cerasum) – fruit on 2-year old wood. Self-fertile. The popular dark-red sour cherry is the Morello variety.

Figs (Ficus carica) – fruit at the base of current season’s new growth, but some varieties crop twice a year and also produce an early breba crop on the tips of 1-year old wood. Self-fertile.

Apples (Malus spp .) – most apples fruit on spurs on 2-4-year-old wood, some fruit on tips of short side branches. Most varieties require a suitable pollinator, but some varieties, such as Golden Delicious, Red Fuji, and Red Jonathon are all partially self-fertile. Apples are wind pollinated.
Dennis
Kent, wa

How close do pollinizers need to be?

A pollenizer (or polleniser), sometimes pollinizer is a plant that provides pollen. The word pollinator is often used when pollenizer is more precise.

Pollinator or Pollenizer – What’s in a word?

If pollination is a concern it is easy to insert a grfe in the spring or a chip bud graft in the summer: 

Timing?

Picture of an inserted bud stating the cultivar of the tree and chip or whip.

Rootstocks

Apples

For apples the first choice Malling 9 (M9). Budagovsky 9 (B.9 or Bud9) , Bud 10,

  • Malling 9 (M9) - It is a virus-free clone from the Netherlands and appears to be 5-10 percent less vigorous than M.9EMLA. M.9EMLA is a virus-free clone from the East Malling/Long Ashton research stations. It is approximately 25-30 percent more vigorous than M.9

  • Geneva 11 (G11) - 15 percent smaller than M.9

  • Geneva 41 (G41) - 25% smaller than M.9 NAKBT337

  • Geneva 16 (G16) - 20% smaller than trees on M.9T337. It does appear, however, to induce wider branch angles in the scion cultivar which is an advantage for espalier training to horizontal branches

  • Pajam 1 (Lancep) and Pajam 2 (Cepiland) are French selections that are relatively new. They are 35 to 40 percent more vigorous than M.9 NAKB 337

  • One other clone is M.9 RN 29, selected by Rene Nicolai in Belgium. In plantings at University Park with Gala, it is approximately 30 percent larger than M.9 NAKB 337.

  • Geneva 11 (G.11) is the second release of the Cornell breeding program; only limited plantings exist in Pennsylvania. In the 2007 Fuji trial G.11 was about 25% smaller than trees on M.9T337, but more productive. Has the advantage of being resistant to fire blight and crown rot as well as only rarely producing suckers or burr knots. Tissue-cultured trees are larger than trees propagated by stool beds.

Learn More

Latent Viruses: Most old apple trees contain latent viruses. These viruses do not affect the growth or productivity of the trees, however, if these old drees are a source of scionwood, the latent viruses my be a problem for rootstocks or other cultivars. An example is the apple rootstock G16. This rootstock is very sensitive to latent viruses and in apple and should only be propagated with virus-free scion wood on top.

Finding Trees

Local nurseries

Public events

Online sources

Growing your own

Temperate Deciduous Fruit Trees

The trees most commonly espaliered and used in most of my examples on this website include:

  • All types of pears (Genus Pyrus)

    • European Pears (Pyrus communis)

    • Asian Pears  (Pyrus pyrifolia). Other common  names: Nashi pear, Japanese pear, Chinese pear, Korean pear, Taiwanese pear, apple pear, zodiac pear, three-halves pear, papple, naspati and sand pear.

  • Most Genus Prunus

    • Sweet cherries (Prunus avium)

    • Sour Cherries (Prunus cerasus) Common names - acid cherries, pie cherries and tart cherries. 

    • Asian Plum - (Pruns salicina). Common names include Chinese Plum, Japanese Plum 

    • European Plums - (Prunus domestica). Also known as Common Plum and Prune Plum.

    • Apricot (Prunus armeniaca)

    • Peach and Nectarine (Prunus persica)

    • Almond (Prunus amygdalus)

    • Beach Plum (Prunus maritima)

    • Nanking Cherry - (Prunus tomentosa). Common names include Nanjing cherry, Korean cherry, Manchu cherry, downy cherry, Shanghai cherry, Ando cherry, mountain cherry, Chinese bush cherry, and Chinese dwarf cherry. 

  • Fruiting Quince (Cydonia oblonga)

  • Shipova (xSorbopyrus irregularis).  A cross between Mountain Ash and Euroopean pear (Pyrus communis x Sorbus aria)

  • Medlar (Mespilus germanica). Common Medlar.

  • Hawthorns (Crataegus spp.).

    • Common names include hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, May-tree, whitethorn, Mayflower and hawberry

    • Mayhaw (Yellow -Crataegus opaca and Red - Crataegus aestivalis). These are the best know of the edible Hawthorn species, the berries of many other have medicinal qualities. (Crataegus spp).

    • All Hawthorns can be espaliered.

  •  Many Figs (Ficus spp)

    • Common Fruiting Fig (Ficus carica)

  • Many Mulberries (Morus spp.

    • Common Mulberry (Morus alba). Other common names include White and Black Mulberries

  • Persimmon (Diospyros spp.) - Note: Persimmons are growing in warm temperate and sub tropical regions.

    • American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana). Common names - Common Persimmon, Date Plum, Eastern Persimmon, Jove's Fruit, Possum Apples.

    • Asian Persimmon (Diospyros kaki)

  • Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas). A member of the dogwood family (Cornaceae).

  • Pawpaws - (Asimina triloba). common names: pawpaw, custard apple, dog banana, Indian banana, false-banana, pawpaw-apple and fetid-shrub.