8 Step Espalier Apple Tying Method with Egremont Russet on M9 Rootstock

Set the frame before the first tie

M9 keeps Egremont Russet to roughly 2.4 to 3 metres when grown unstaked, which is why this pairing suits a compact espalier. Tier gaps of 35 to 45 centimetres match the short internodes on M9-grafted Russet. A more vigorous MM106 plant commonly needs 50 to 60 centimetres between tiers, and that extra spacing changes the whole wall.

A four-tier frame fits inside 1.8 metres of post height. In a typical arrangement, the bottom wire sits at 40 centimetres above soil level, then the next wires run at 80, 120 and 160 centimetres. The top wire at about 1.6 metres leaves room above it for the leader and tying points during training.

The bottom wire deserves particular care because of the graft union. On M9 the graft usually sits 10 to 15 centimetres above ground, and it must remain clear of soil and mulch. If mulch creeps up and covers the union, the scion can produce its own roots, which removes the dwarfing effect that made M9 suitable for the espalier in the first place.

Use galvanised straining wire of 2.5 to 3 millimetres gauge. Tension it between end posts made from 75 millimetre treated timber, using Gripple fittings or ratchet straining bolts. M9 is brittle-rooted and poorly anchored, so the frame is also the tree’s permanent support.

A loose bottom wire matters more on this rootstock than it might appear. Wind movement transfers through the trunk into the graft union, and a leaning maiden will not recover a square first tier. Before planting, pull the wires tight enough that they take the tree’s weight for life.

The eight ties that shape the tree

Plant a feathered maiden or whip in the centre of the post bay, with the graft union plainly above the soil. Give it one full season to establish before asking it to make horizontal wood. That first year is for rooting, straight growth and choosing useful buds.

In the first dormant period, cut the leader back to a bud 5 centimetres above the bottom wire. Look for two strong buds just below the cut, facing along the line of the wire. Those two buds are the future arms of the first tier.

During the next summer, the uppermost shoot becomes the new vertical leader. Tie it weekly to a temporary bamboo cane lashed to the post, keeping it plumb. A bent leader throws the next tier out of alignment, and the error travels upward through the frame.

The two lateral shoots selected for the bottom tier begin on angled canes at about 45 degrees for their first growing season. That angle lets the shoots keep extending while still preparing them for a flat tier. If a one-year shoot is pulled straight to horizontal too early, its extension stalls and 20 to 30 centimetres of useful reach can be lost.

In the second dormant period, lower the angled canes to the wire and tie the laterals along it. Use soft Flexi-Tie or 4 millimetre tree tape, with each fixing made as a figure-of-eight loop so bark and wire stay apart. Frame wire and ordinary string cut into thickening wood; soft tree tape spreads the pressure.

Shorten each horizontal to a downward-facing bud at the point where you want that season’s extension to stop. In a 4-metre bay, that stopping point is usually about two-thirds of the way from the trunk to the post. The remaining length is filled by later extension growth, which keeps the arm balanced and avoids a long bare section close to the trunk.

The second tier follows the same cane-then-lower sequence once the central leader reaches the second wire. Choose the next pair of laterals from the leader, train them upward on angled canes through summer, then settle them onto the wire in the dormant season. Repeat the same rhythm for the third and fourth tiers.

Maintenance then becomes annual. Each August, prune Egremont Russet fruiting spurs under the Modified Lorette regime, cutting new growth to three leaves above the basal cluster. At the same visit, check every tie for girdling. Flexi-Tie left on a thickening cordon for two seasons can strangle it, so make open loops and leave a fingertip of slack at every fixing point.

Spur pruning for Egremont Russet

Egremont Russet is a tip-and-spur bearer with a strong biennial tendency, and the espalier form can exaggerate that habit or steady it according to the severity of the summer prune. Cutting August growth back to three leaves above the basal whorl builds compact spur systems along each horizontal within four seasons, while unpruned shoots drift back into tip bearing on long whippy extensions that an espalier wire cannot keep flat.

The rough golden-brown finish is genetic russeting, so it is a skin character rather than a spray problem. Open spacing matters: crowded spurs shade one another, fruit colour becomes uneven, and every third winter the oldest woody spur clusters should be thinned back to a replacement bud so the tier carries fruit of even size from base to tip.

A 4-metre bay worked through

Take a single bay 4 metres wide between two posts. Set four wires at 40, 80, 120 and 160 centimetres. Plant one Egremont Russet maiden at the centre, on the 2 metre mark. Each horizontal cordon then has 2 metres to travel from trunk to post on each side.

On M9, a healthy Russet lateral commonly adds 50 to 70 centimetres in a good first season after lowering. Reaching 2 metres usually takes three to four seasons of extension growth for each tier. Across four tiers, full coverage of the bay is a year five or year six result from planting.

Bay width should follow that pace of growth. Once an M9 bay goes much beyond 4 metres, the post ends tend to remain open because the tree lacks the vigour to fill them. For a longer run, use two trees per bay at the quarter points and let their cordons meet in the middle.

Pollination affects the planting plan as well. Egremont Russet is only partially self-fertile and belongs to pollination group 2. A compatible partner, such as a group 2 or group 3 cooker on the same M9 frame, noticeably lifts the crop. Giving that partner its own bay keeps pruning rhythms separate, while interplanting it into the Russet tiers changes the timing of both spur pruning and lowered-cane training.

A 4-metre frame can look generous on planting day, with tidy wires and an empty rectangle waiting for growth. The practical tension is that the frame looks finished well before the arms have filled it.