So you already know that I’m thinking about fruit trees and mostly thinking about a peach. I’d love more actually, like a plum and a pear (I think pear trees are so gorgeous I could learn to love pears) and an apple would be wonderful. Actually, I saw an ad somewhere for a nut tree of some kind – I think I might hunt that down.

With the technique known as espalier and time, I think anything might be possible – in fact, I might even be able to protect a cherry from the birds and get to eat one of two of them myself!

Espalier is much more frequently practiced in Europe than in North America (at least I can’t say I’ve seen many around Toronto) except look at this wonderful picture I found of an espaliered pear tree.

Joe Boles of the SHS grew this beautiful tree

Here’s another lovely tree. In this case an apple just after it’s been pruned as seen in the Hillwards blog

Espalier can be trained against a wall, where the extra warmth and shelter can create a microclimate and enable you to push the climate a zone or more. Espaliered trees can be trained to a wall 9 often along a sturdy wire or against a fence. When they’re fence trained away from a wall, they’re correctly referred to as espalier-aere or contre-espalier.

Even in the winter they’re striking. Like this apple from the UBC Food Garden

One more wonderful thing to occupy my daydreams.