Kiplin Hall: The art of espalier will help you train a tree

E is for espalier, a rather exotic sounding name for shaping the growth of fruit trees.

Growing trees in this way helps the tree to take advantage of the warm brick walls in the spring and summer, and it makes the fruit easier to pick – branches can be arranged in rows at easy to reach intervals.

Kiplin’s walled garden and 90 acres of park land are due to reopen on Monday, March 29 just in time for the Easter holiday. The walled garden produces fruit and vegetables for the tea room recipes and is carefully looked after by a large team of

If you look around the Kiplin estate there are many fruit trees, especially in the walled garden and these all need lots of care and attention. They are looked after by head gardener Chris Baker and his team of volunteers.

Chris explains why the trees are grown in this way: “The apricots, peaches and sweet cherries are trained in a fan shape on the south facing wall in the walled garden allowing maximum warmth to protect the flowers in spring and help the fruit ripen in summer.

“We do actually get ripe apricots and peaches even in North Yorkshire. Pruning the trees involves removing some of the new growth and taking out unwanted shoots growing out from the wall.”

The bountiful walled garden produces fruit and vegetables for the tea room recipes and is carefully looked after by a large team of volunteers

The apple and pear trees in the walled garden are free standing in rows and are pruned using a technique called the Modified Lorette System to train them into the espalier shape to maximise the fruit produced in the smallest space and to make harvesting easier.

This requires summer pruning to remove most of this year’s growth and tying the new growth into the wires to retain the shape.

Most of the fruit trees at Kiplin have been planned in the last ten years but walking into the walled garden you’ll see the characterful gnarled bark of an ancient looking apple tree.

During the Easter holiday visitors can enjoy a pizza picnic, as local firm Proper Pizzas return to the grounds by popular demand

This is all that remains of the garden before the estate fell into disrepair. It is thought to have been planted around 1850to 1900.

The fruit grown in the walled garden at Kiplin is used in the tea room to make jams, cakes, and even ice cream. As well as vegetables which are used for soups. The tea room will be offering a takeaway menu when the grounds reopen on Monday, March 29. During the Easter holidays Proper Pizzas will also be on-site.

We look forward to welcoming visitors back to Kiplin and encourage visitors to stretch their legs and explore the 90 acres Kiplin Hall and Gardens has to offer.