Building Wire Supports To Grow Fruit On Walls, Fences & Posts

How to train fruit trees on wires

These instructions apply to fixing wires to existing fences or walls for training maiden fruit trees into cordons, espaliers, or fans.
If you are making rows of posts in your beds, it's best to run the rows North-South, meaning that they face East-West.

• Cordons and espaliers are best for spur-fruiting apples & pears.
• Fans are best for all stone fruit, and tip-bearing apples & pears.

Wire-Trained Fruit Trees Against an Existing Wall or Fence

You will need 14 or 16 gauge galvanised fencing wire. 14 gauge wire is necessary for rows of cordons and espaliers, the thinner 16 gauge wire is fine for fan-trained trees and soft fruit.

The wire needs to be held away from the wall or fence, standing out by about 2-4 inches / 5-10cm. You could use wooden battens, or angled metal angle brackets to do this.

The spacing of the wires depends on what you want to grow:

Spacing Between Wires for Different Types of Fruit Tree

To make the wires nice and tight, you will need to use straining bolts at one end: you can fix the wire to these and then tighten them to make the wire taut. Ask your local DIY shop for advice.