Espaliers
Sydney Park Brown, Thomas H. Yeager, and Robert J. Black2
An "espalier," (pronounced "es-PAL-yer") is any plant trained to grow in a flat plane against a wall, fence, or trellis. The word espalier also may be used to describe the technique of training a plant to this flat plane. A French word, espalier is derived from the Italian spalliera, which means “something to rest the shoulder (spalla) against.†The Romans originated the technique, but later generations of Europeans refined it into an exacting but rewarding art.
Espalier has considerable merit in today's garden. The practice originally was used in the old world to conserve space. The English located espaliered fruit trees against a wall with a southern exposure for cold protection. Today, espaliers are used mostly for decorative accents in the landscape.
An espalier is a living sculpture in the garden and is especially effective against a blank wall to relieve the monotony of a row of shrubs. An espalier is also a good choice for a narrow area where spreading shrubs or trees cannot be easily maintained. With landscape spaces becoming smaller around single family dwellings, an espaliered plant may have considerable appeal. More than one espalier design is seldom used in a given landscape.
This document is Circular 627, Department of Environmental Horticulture, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First published: May 1985. Reviewed and revised May 1993, June 2004, Sept. 2007. Reviewed November 2010. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
2. Sydney Park Brown, associate professor and Consumer Horticulture Specialist ; Thomas H. Yeager, professor, woody ornamental specialist; and Robert J. Black, professor emeritus. Cooperative extension service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611.
Copyright 2009 University of Florida
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