Espalier! Train a Tree to Lean

Belgian Fence in foreground. Credit

We have a "blank" wall in our garden & a friend suggested trying espalier. (According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "tree or other plant that is trained to grow flat against a support.")

We found a great book, Living Fences, by Ogden Tanner, which has wonderful, inspiring photos (now we wish we had more blank walls!), and great how-to illustrations.  We took the book to our local hardware store & bought all the thingamajigs needed & this is what happened next...look closely, the wires are there, but won't show until our red chokeberry is much bigger! (Note, clicking on photos will display the original size, which is usually much larger.) 

Our espalier project, which is just waiting for the bush to grow.

A few more examples, to inspire you.  I suggest a search for espalier on  pinterest or flickr if you'd like to see more!

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