Espaliered Apple Pruning
Question from Robin:
My espalier apple trees are just starting to drop a few brown leaves but are generally filled with green leaves, new flowers and some small apples. I believe I should still go ahead and winter spray them to force leaf drop and the necessary dormancy. Is this correct? Much appreciated,
Answer from Pat:
In mild Mediterranean climates most espaliered apple varieties are low-chill types, such as ‘Anna’. Now during the last few days of December, or in early January is the time to clip—don’t pull—off the remaining leaves still clinging to the tree. Unfortunately when one lives near the coast they often fail to fall off naturally. Removing them now in winter helps to prevent the build-up of pests and disease and also stimulates the tree to put out new fresh, green growth necessary later to shade your fruit.
Also, do your dormant pruning now, including shortening some spurs if they have grown too long. Be sure to leave enough spur wood on the tree that you will have an adequate crop. By shortening some spurs I mean those than have grown several inches or even a foot long and are threatening the shape of your espalier. (I also shorten these in August if they have gotten out of hand and taken off skyward, like buggy whips.) This is a problem one can run into with espaliered trees.
Immediately after pruning preferably on the same day apply dormant spray going over every inch of the tree bark up close with your hand sprayer. Applying dormant spray is a much easier job with an espaliered fruit tree than with a standard tree. Dormant spray helps keep diseases and pests at bay.
Once you have pruned your low-chill apple variety, it is quite likely that it will immediately begin putting out fresh green growth and flowers, often at the same time. So by doing your winter pruning now you will stimulate the tree to put out the leaves, flowers, and tiny fruits you are used to seeing at this time of year. The fact they are not there this year is good since this gives you a chance to do your dormant spraying while the tree is bare.
Thanks so much for your as always, well detailed response. As I was stripping the leaves yesterday I noticed loads of new blossoms and apple clusters in varying sizes. I snipped some but wasn’t sure if should strip the trees entirely of blooms and mini apples knowing dormant will probably make the blossoms drop anyway. I think that is way I find gardening such an adventure. One is on a continual learning curve. In appreciation, Robin
No. Never cut off the flowers or tiny fruit! Wait until it is time for thinning the fruit to start thinning them. Your first query to me clearly stated there were no flowers or little fruits on the tree. In future years, if possible, do your pruning and dormant spraying earlier before the flowers and fruit appear. When flowers and small fruits are on the tree of course you should avoid spraying them if possible, but if a bit of spray reaches them it’s not the end of the world. You can spray the trunk and the main branches and crotches of the tree, if you want to, without harming the fruits or flowers. However, spraying will not make the flowers fall off, as you suggest. The reason for not spraying flowers is that chemical sprays could burn the flowers, harm the pollen and hurt bees. It is better not to spray the immature fruit also, but many months will go by before you will be eating them. Next time don’t dormant spray when flowers and fruit are on the tree and next time never cut any of them off.
Thanks, Pat for the clarification. The problem I have with these trees (Golden Dorsett) is except for July-August they have almost continual leaves, flowers and fruit probably because they are on a south facing wall. That said, there were fewer flowers/fruit in November so in the future that may be the best month to spray this set of trees?
Theoretically it is fine to prune deciduous fruit trees and dormant spray them in November. However, in the case of Dorsett, which doesn’t drop all its leaves in November, I would not choose to prune and dormant spray it that early. One reason is that you most likely would need to cut off a great many more leaves then than later. Also as soon as you prune it you will force it start flowering and putting out more leaves. That means you would have to fertilize it then ahead of cold weather. Not a good idea since cold weather is ahead. I have grown Dorsett facing south also (which is the best direction for fruit trees to face) and I know how this variety continually bears fruit, flowers and leaves year round. Despite this characteristic, it seems to be a rugged, largely disease-free variety. If you are a totally organic gardener perhaps you might try skipping dormant spray on this tree to see how it does. In a completely organic garden, many beneficial fungi are allowed to exist that can help you the gardener by attacking and killing the pathogens. (Synthetic fertilizers kill many if not all of these beneficial organisms which is one of the best reasons for going organic.) In most cases, however, I would never skip dormant spray, especially for peach and nectarine trees since peach leaf curl is a devastating problem and there is no way to halt it once it takes hold. The late Chuck Kline, Horticulturist Emeritus of Seaworld, had an Anna apple growing at his house overlooking the ocean on a south-facing lot in La Jolla. It bloomed and bore fruit year round. Chuck and his wife Lois simply relaxed and enjoyed that tree. Chuck fed it lightly in February, he kept it clean and hand-picked any pests such as caterpillars, and he never dormant sprayed it since it was always flowering or fruiting, but he did prune and train it and cut off all the leaves in mid-winter, usually the last week in December, between Christmas and New Years. If I were you I would treat your Dorsett apple tree like that.