How far apart should I plant pear trees for an esplier?

How far apart should fruit trees be planted for espaliering?



In espaliering, you control the plant. How wide do you want the fruit trees to be? Will you use a vertical or horizontal pattern? How many arms do you want? Each arm needs plenty of light for fruit production, so allow space to either side of each arm for leaves and open space. The verrier palmette is the most popular espalier shape. Horizontal branches are usually spaced 12" apart %26amp; this distance is maintained as each branch is turned upward. So multiple the number of vertical arms times 12" to determine the horizontal space needed for this espalier pattern.



A good illustrated guide to fruit tree espaliering is "The American Society Pruning %26amp; Training A Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual" by Christopher Brickell %26amp; David Joyce.