[nafex] Horizontal cordon espalier vs New Tall Spindle

Preface:

So the fluffy one is strongly kicking the tires on establishing a small commercial orchard. As a result I likely shall be inundating the list with asinine questions that only a rabbit who does not know his fluffy little tail for a hole in the ground can do.

Question #1:

Does anyone have any studies that show the yield for espalier orchard systems, I am thinking in particular about 3 to 4 tier horizontal cordons (i.e. 6-8 arms)? In general my reference point are apple yields.

Additional information related to the question:

I have been looking strongly at the New Tall Spindle system for apples and really like it, but I am deeply concerned about the ultimate height and one of goals is to have a truly pedestrian orchard (for one I am deathly afraid of height, I get on a kitchen chair and I get nervous, couple that with age and deteriorating knees, it seems to me pedestrian is the way to go. Also on the limited acreage I am considering I don't think I could manage the cost of a self-steer platform).
Hence I started thinking of horizontal espalier. Since I will be managing the pruning myself, the skill factor is not as much of a concern as it typically would be in an orchard. My instincts tell me this is a bad idea, as the French would not have started looking at fruiting walls etc if the yields were acceptable. But I am very open to people's experience.

Kindest regards to all,

The fluffy one




_____________________________________________________________
The Free Email with so much more!
=====> http://www.MuchoMail.com <=====
__________________
nafex mailing list
nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Northamerican Allied Fruit Experimenters
subscribe/unsubscribe|user config|list info:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex