Photo courtesy of Pauline Allen

popular designs.

The variety in espalier designs is limited only by a gardener's imagination. We have seen shapes ranging from hearts to initials to logos. With practice and patience, anyone can become a botanical architect!

Apple Art Espalier sells trees that have been trained into a few basic designs: Tiered (Horizontal Cordon), Informal (Fan), and Candelabra. On this page, we highlight those forms, as well as some other popular shapes which can be trained with relative ease.

Go to Informal, Tiered, Belgian Fence, Candelabra, Palmette Verrier .

Click on any photo, anywhere on this website, to see a larger version of it.


Informal The easiest form for the beginner to master, the "informal" (or "fan") design is created by training all growth onto a flat surface, such as a wall or trellis. Figs, persimmons, pomegranates and most ornamentals are best trained in this manner, because of their natural growth pattern.		Photo courtesy of Gregg Lowery
Photo courtesy of Sean McNeil	Tiered The tiered form (also known as the "Horizontal Cordon") is the most basic of the forms. It is attractively simple (especially trained against a stone wall), while also makes the perfect starting point for more complex shapes such as the "Palmette Verrier." Apples and pears are easily formed into this shape because their growth is more uniform than that of other fruits and most ornamentals.	Photo courtesy of Pauline Allen
Belgian Fence This form, truly a living fence, is very geometric and precise, and transforms the drabbest fence or boundary into something wonderful. Apples and pears make the best Belgian Fences, which are best started from very young bareroots, called "whips." Currently, we do not sell Belgian Fences, although we will do custom orders for them.		Photo courtesy of Sean McNeil
Candelabra We think this form is among the loveliest in espalier; it works best in tall, narrow spaces and is perfect for small gardens. As you can see in the photo, it looks stunning against a stone wall and is one of the best for sprucing up the side of a building or an ugly wall. Again, apples and pears make the best candelabras.		Photo courtesy of Pauline Allen
Photo courtesy of Pauline Allen	Palmette Verrier This is the most striking of the various forms of espalier, but by no means the most difficult to acheive, as it can easily be adapted from a tiered tree. Apples and pears work best with this design. Currently, we have none available, but we can provide a custom palmette verrier within a year of your request.