Spur bearing apples and most European pears are easily the best subjects for formal espalier training. Some fruit trees, notably apples, produce fruit on short laterals called spurs. This type of growth is very suitable for espalier training because of its compact nature, i.e. fruit is held on the plant close to the branch network.
Tip bearers carry fruit at the end of 1 year old laterals and therfore the fruit is often held some distance from the main branch network. These plants can be espalier trained but will be more difficult to restrict in a 2 dimensional plane.
To complicate matters a little some apples may bear fruit in a mix of tip and spur positions.
|
Variety name |
Bearing position |
|
Adam's Pearmain |
Tip & Spur |
|
Autumn Pearmain (false) |
Spur |
|
Beauty of Bath |
Spur |
|
Bedfordshire Foundling |
Spur |
|
Blenheim Orange |
Tip & Spur |
|
Braeburn |
Spur |
|
Bramley's Seedling |
Tip & Spur |
|
Brown Snout |
Spur |
|
Calville Blanc d'Hiver |
Spur |
|
Catshead |
Spur |
|
Cleopatra (Ortley) |
Tip & Spur |
|
Cornish Aromatic |
Spur |
|
Cortland |
Spur |
|
Court of Wick |
Spur |
|
Cox's Orange Pippin |
Spur |
|
Democrat |
Spur |
|
Early McIntosh |
Spur |
|
Emneth Early |
Spur |
|
Empire |
Spur |
|
Esopus Spitzenburg |
Spur |
|
Fameuse (Snow Apple) |
Spur |
|
Freyberg |
Spur |
|
Fuji |
Tip & Spur |
|
Gala |
Spur |
|
Geeveston Fanny |
Spur |
|
Golden Delicious |
Tip & Spur |
|
Golden Noble |
Tip & Spur |
|
Gooseberry |
Spur |
|
Granny Smith (spur) |
Spur |
|
Gravenstein |
Spur |
|
Isaac Newton's Tree |
Tip & Spur |
|
James Grieve |
Spur |
|
Jonagold |
Tip & Spur |
|
Jonathan |
Tip & Spur |
|
Kandil Sinap |
Spur |
|
Keswick Codlin |
Spur |
|
King David |
Tip & Spur |
|
Kingston Black |
Spur |
|
Laxton's Fortune |
Spur |
|
Legana |
Tip & Spur |
|
Lord Derby |
Spur |
|
Lord Lambourne |
Tip & Spur |
|
Merton Worcester |
Spur |
|
Mutsu |
Spur |
|
Opalescent |
Spur |
|
Orleans Reinette |
spur |
|
Peasgood's Nonsuch |
Tip & Spur |
|
Pine Golden Pippin |
tip & spur |
|
Pink Lady™ (Cripp's Pink) |
Tip & Spur |
|
Pott's Seedling |
Spur |
|
Red Astrachan |
Spur |
|
Ribston Pippin |
Spur |
|
Roundway Magnum Bonum |
Spur |
|
Saint Edmund's Pippin |
Spur |
|
Scarlet Nonpareil |
Spur |
|
Spartan |
spur |
|
Stewart's Seedling (Ballarat) |
Spur |
|
Striped Beefing |
Spur |
|
Sturmer Pippin |
Spur |
|
Sundowner™ (Cripp's Red) |
Tip & Spur |
|
Tompkin's King |
Tip & Spur |
|
Twenty Ounce |
Tip & Spur |
|
Tydeman's Early Worcester |
Tip & Spur |
|
Upton Pyne |
Spur |
|
Vista Bella |
Spur |
|
White Transparent |
Spur |
|
White Winter Pearmain |
Spur |
|
Winter Banana |
Spur |
|
Worcester Pearmain |
Tip & Spur |
|
Yarlington Mill |
Spur |