Espalier not throwing out enough side branches

Ian Mckendrick

Last year I planted an apple tree to grow as espalier.  It threw out two side branches at the height of the first wire fine, but then just grew straight up, past the second and thrid wires speaced at 18 inches.  This year it is not showing signs of putting out side shoots for the second and third wire heights.  Do I need to prune the central stalk back to get the side branches at the desired heights?

pansyface

Here is an interesting article which describes the botanical process involved in encouraging side branches. The article describes creating a stepover style tree, but espaliers are built on the same theory.

http://www.plantsmanscorner.co.uk/journal-articles/961-how-to-train-a-stepover-three-steps-forward-one-step-back.html

 

Ian Mckendrick

Thanks for the answers.  Very helpful.  Looks like I need to prune the mainstem back to promote more side growth.

Dovefromabove

Yes, you've got it, you cut the leading stem back at each tier, allowing three shoots to grow - the lower two are to form each lateral and the top one will become the leading shoot.

Ian Mckendrick

Thanks.