Forum home Fruit & veg
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

moving an apple tree

Evening! I am a beginner gardener. We are trying to make more space in a long, narrow walled garden. We want to move two three year old apple trees up against the walls to espalier them. When is the best time to move it (fruit only just ripening now), we were told to start off by digging a trench about a foot and a half from the base which we've done - its about a foot deep - apparently this is to start the process of the move so as to reduce the amount of shock to the plant by taking it in steps over a period of months.

 

any advice would be welcome image

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    The usual way to train espaliers up against a wall is to start with one or two year old whips, a single stem. If yours is already multibranched, you will have to do some careful pruning to get the right shape. I would do that and move the tree with as large a rootball as you can get, in winter when the tree is dormant.

  • ha ha - they are not tip-bearing (phew) and they are small at the moment (5 foot max). I will await winter and then move - thanks both for your advice and wisdom image

     

Sign In or Register to comment.