Thanks Anton! Interesting website is it your own?
So with your experience growing discovery as a espalier would you say its
worth it.
I had both trees planted as standards only last autumn,but have had a change
of mind and want to grow them on a fence to save space.That's why I have a
MM106 discovery, it wasn't purchased in the first place to espalier
train.Otherwise I would have got whips & trained them from fresh.
I think I will have to give it a try as I have already got the secretors out
and butchered it!I should be able to get two tiers & then leave a leader to
further train.
Or would you be brutal & cut to two outward facing buds at 18 inch above
ground and start again!
I am not to bothered about them being perfect espaliers as long as they
resemble them,if you know what I mean.
I think it is that starting over again and waiting for it to bear fruit that
puts me off the 18 inch above ground scenario & the Wife seeing what I would
have done to the £ 17.50 tree we got last year !!!

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Thanks Keith,England,UK.
"anton" wrote in message
...

"keith ;-)" wrote in message
...
I have two young apple trees ,one is sunset which is a spur bearer i
have
planted this against a fence to train as espalier i would also like to
do
the same with apple discovery which is tip bearing.I have found out
recently
that tip bearers are not good for training as espaliers.
Has anyone trained one & had success or are you best to plant tip
bearers
as
standards?
They are for a fence in the vegetable garden or can they be trained
with
another method?


I have a Discovery on M111 that I trained as a not-very-brilliant
espalier.
The shoots are very stout and stiff compared with many other apple
varieties- so it's more difficult, though still possible, to persuade it
into a restricted form such as an espalier. I haven't always given it the
attention that it deserves when training it, which has exacerbated its
reluctance to be properly trained.

Tip-bearing as such is not a major problem. The yield would be fine if it
weren't for the wasps, who are peculiarly partial to a Discovery. :-(

http://www.btinternet.com/~treesandfruit/appl.htm

--
Anton