• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • John F Dean
  • Timothy Norton
  • Nancy Reading
  • r ranson
  • Jay Angler
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • paul wheaton
  • Tereza Okava
  • AndrĂ©s Bernal
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • M Ljin
  • Matt McSpadden

Will you use a trellis to grow apples? What type of trellis is it? V trellis?

 
Posts: 29
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I am collecting information about apple planting and have many recommended images for v trellis. What type of trellis would you use?  When should I use it? Are there any other recommendations besides these? Like bird nets, fruit bags, etc?
Agrow.jpg
[Thumbnail for Agrow.jpg]
 
pollinator
Posts: 288
Location: WNC 7b
77
4
hugelkultur goat forest garden trees chicken homestead
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Intriguing, we have apple trees and don't trellis them. Does the trellis assist in protecting the fruit for birds?
 
steward and tree herder
Posts: 10750
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland. Nearly 70 inches rain a year
5110
5
transportation dog forest garden foraging trees books food preservation woodworking wood heat rocket stoves ungarbage
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I suppose if you use really dwarfing root stocks, the trees may need some support, although I thought it was just the trunk that needed support. My parents grew cordon fruit as a garden divider when I was a child, but that was a very simple system. It was somewhat like this - with the trees put on the diagonal:

cordon fruit tree garden divider
cordon fruit tree garden divider

(source)
In this way they had several varieties of apples and pears in a very small footprint. It was practical in a small garden to do this. There are obvious downsides of very dwarfing rootstocks as I understand it: they tend to be rather shorter lived, and susceptable to diseases. Apart from a lot of summer pruning, there was very little other maintenance required.
I think in a larger space like pictured above I'd rather have more variety, more vigorous trees, and interplant with other trees and flowers to provide habitat for the natural pest controllers.
 
Agnes Jones
Posts: 29
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Sena Kassim wrote:Intriguing, we have apple trees and don't trellis them. Does the trellis assist in protecting the fruit for birds?


I find that using a trellis system can have a certain effect on protecting fruits from bird infestation, and it might be better to add fruit protection bags or bird nets to this foundation.
 
Let's get him boys! We'll make him read this tiny ad!
Learn Permaculture through a little hard work
https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic