A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself.                                                                      - May Sarton

Photo by Holly Barnes

Espaliering of fruit trees was developed in Europe centuries ago to get more fruit from less space. The technique involves pruning to a specific pattern of height and width, but with so little depth that the tree is almost flat. A sunny, blank wall, or a freestanding structure in a narrow garden is the ideal location for an espaliered tree or shrub.

Most espaliers are dwarf fruit trees, especially apple, pear, peach and nectarine. These trees are easily espaliered, as they are at a workable height and are prolific and early fruiters.

Espaliered fruit trees have the same cultural needs as other fruiting trees including at least six hours of sun each day. Support is the most important need of espaliers. Branches are tied into definite patterns until the wood hardens several years later. There are many different patterns and designs that trees can be pruned. To shape the tree in the first few years you must prune heavily in late winter or early spring. New growth must be trained as well to the shape you have chosen.

Espaliered trees offer high yields in small spaces and are a good choice for small city gardens. I have three apples in various stages of espaliering and we are enjoying the fruits of our labors, as well as the unique appearance of our trees.  

There are many sources of instruction for espaliering, including books on gardening and pruning, literature from nurseries, and I even found a video on YouTube. Give it a try!
Going from the exotic to the native, Jacie Jensen recently updated me on developments at their local farm. The Jensens are a third-generation farm family whose land includes a one-hundred acre remnant of native grassland ecosystem on Paradise Ridge southeast of Moscow. Newly named Thorn Creek Native Seed Farm is dedicated to increasing the seed stock of these native species. A selection of 25 individually potted grasses and wildflowers native to the Inland Northwest is now available at local nurseries in one convenient package, a Palouse Prairiescape.  With this product, gardeners and landscapers can enjoy the beauty of our original prairie ecosystem.   These plants, which flourished from the Rathdrum Prairie near Coeur d’Alene to the Camas Prairie near Grangeville, will create a native grassland habitat of about 25 square feet.

The 25 plants include 10 species of native wildflowers: prairie smoke, blanketflower, western aster, slender cinquefoil, tall cinquefoil, wild baby’s breath, western hawkweed, Oregon sunshine, taper-leaf penstemon and goldenrod; and three species of native grasses: Idaho fescue, blue wild rye, and bluebunch wheatgrass. All are perennials and drought tolerant. After becoming established with light watering the first summer, the plants will require no irrigation.

Thorn Creek Native Seed Farm has a nice new website, www.nativeseedfarm.com, which is a good read on what is in the Jensens hearts as they work on this project.


In the July Garden:
Continue succession plantings of beets, bush beans, carrots, chard, kohlrabi and lettuce;

Keep roses, perennials and annuals blooming by removing (deadheading) spent blossoms;

Cut hardy geraniums to the ground after bloom to promote fresh growth of foliage;

Use a strong water spray on aphids and encourage their predators by providing a bird friendly garden;

Water in the early morning hours only;

Fertilize roses for the last time this year. Prune climbers and ramblers when they finish blooming;

Fertilize established trees, shrubs and broad-leaved evergreens and water them deeply when weather is very dry;

Take softwood cuttings;

Mow lawn at high setting;

This is the month to enjoy fine warm days outside, in the garden, the arboretum or the park. Get out there!


Holly Barnes gardens on her city lot near East City Park and enjoys these sunny warm days of summer in Moscow.