I love my cordon apple trees. But they have got a bit messy. Not so much in the pruning as I've done that every summer without fail. More in how they're tied in (and the weeds under them).
The wires had gone loose and the bamboo canes had rotted out.
So time to cut all the bamboo and tree ties from the wires.
I did this and then pulled all the wires tight. I had to brace the end posts a bit more and add in 2 new middle posts as well.
Now I need to find enough hazel rods from my over grown hedges to tie back to the wires. The idea being that if a tree is growing too well it'll be put in at less than 45 degrees, and if it needs a bit more vigour it will be put in over 45 degrees.
The hazel keeps them straight and lets me tie the trees to that rather than directly to the wire.
So far I've only tied back in one tree though! A great job for my 1/2 hour a day at the moment, although I'm still not done digging up bindweed roots (6 full buckets so far!).
Anyone else have trained trees like this growing?
Heavens that looks like a lot of work. What if fruit production like compared to a normally grown or espaliered tree?
ReplyDeleteI'd say per square meter of tree space about the same as any other trained fruit. The yields are not huge the quality is always good if you keep up with the pruning.
DeleteAlthough this is quite a big job it's not too bad as only time I've done this since I put them in. Just wish I could stop the nettles under them!
What IS.. not what if! Doh!
ReplyDeleteCleanup is always hard and seemingly unrewarded labor. Good job sticking to it.
ReplyDeleteIs cordoning the equivalent of trellising for vines?
Yeah, so it's just a way of training it so all the fruiting buds are near the main stem. Laid at an angle so the growth is slowed a bit. I did some posts about it when I put them in, its quite interesting (although I'm a massive geek with this). There should be a search icon at the top of the page, just type in cordon and the research page should show you lots.
DeleteOur horseradish grows in a dry spot on our land. We water when necessary, otherwise it fends for itself. It hasn't spread from this area and it was planted many, many years ago.
ReplyDelete