What Trees Can You Pleach?

Pleached trees, also called espaliered trees, are used to create arbors, tunnels, and arches as well as the “hedge on stilts” look. This technique works well with

chestnut, beech, and hornbeam trees

. It also works with certain fruit trees including lime, apple, and pear.

What are the best trees to Pleach?

• Prunus laurocerasus (Cherry Laurel)
• Photinia fraseri Red Robin.
• Carpinus betulus (Hornbeam)
• Fagus sylvatica (Beech)
• Tilia platyphyllos (Broad-leaved Lime)

Can I Pleach my own trees?

You will need to go for

straight, tall, bare root trees

with a girth of around 8 – 10cm, or, ideally a 10-12cm girth. Pleached trees are trained by creating a rectangular framework of bamboo in the ‘head' of the tree for the branches to grow along, to form a screen effect.

Can you Pleach an apple tree?

So What Is A Pleached Fruit Tree?

Any type of tree can be pleached

. Pleached fruit trees have clear trunks with a square crown that bears fruit.

Can you Pleach mature trees?

As

trees mature their frames can be removed

and over time branches will often graft onto one another. For more pleached trees and topiaries, see: Landscaping 101: Pleached Trees.

Can any tree be pollarded?

Many different species of trees can be pollarded on a regular basis

and in some cases it can be an effective way to rejuvenate a tree and to prolong its life.

Are pleached trees high maintenance?

They create an effective and attractive contemporary screen as they are slimmer than normal free forming trees and so work well in gardens where a neat hedge above the fence-line is necessary.

Maintenance is minimal

, just regular watering and pruning them a couple of times a year.

What does it mean when a tree is pollarded?

Pollarding is

a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree

, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. … Traditionally, people pollarded trees for one of two reasons: for fodder to feed livestock or for wood.

How do you make a tree tunnel?

By planting two rows of trees and then encouraging them to “arch” toward one another

, you can achieve a tunnel-like effect. Like the wisteria tunnel, a tree archway is clearly a long-term project requiring many years of careful planning. Select a species of tree that grows tall and narrow, and is tolerant of pruning.

Are pleached trees worth it?

The beauty of pleached trees is that they

create stunning visual effects

without taking up a lot of space on the ground. Ideal then for a small garden or for a formal garden where they can be used to create structure and to direct the eye. Pleached trees have been used by garden designers for at least four centuries.

Can you grow pleached trees in pots?

Pleached trees are planted in the same fashion as

any container-grown plant

, it's the staking that differs significantly. First things first though! Dig a hole that's 1.5 times the size of the original pot. Remove any debris from the hole.

How do you train a tree?

1. Remove broken, diseased, dying, or dead branches. Start at planting and repeat as necessary. …
2. Select a central leader and remove competing leaders. …
3. Select the lowest permanent branch. …
4. Select main (scaffold) branches and remove or cut back competing branches.

How do you look after pleached trees?

Plant in winter and during the early years also

prune in

the winter when the plants are leafless and dormant. Train and tie new shoots in over the summer. Once pleached trees have reached their full extent, prune in the summer, pruning to shape the tree growth and reduce its vigour.

What is the best evergreen tree for privacy UK?

Photinia red robin, Privet, Holly, Evergreen Oak and Laurel

all make superb Evergreen screening trees. A more formal alternative is Pleached trees. They take up little room, where space is at a premium and form a good barrier in summer and winter.

What is it called when you trim bushes into shapes?

Topiary

is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful.