Espaliers: The Smart Trees

Espaliered Fruit Trees: by Kim Marie Freeman
An espaliered tree is one that has been trained to grow in certain direction and yield the most fruit. It has less leaves. They are closer to the ground and their fruit is easier to reach. The word espalier is French, and it comes from the Italian spalliera, meaning “something to rest the shoulder ( or spalla) against" Deuteronomy 33:27 reads-"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" 
The espalier method involves nothing more than training the trees to do most of their growing horizontally. Likewise we need to branch out horizontally. Christ commissioned us to go "out" into all the world .We cannot just live a life of prayer and seclusion., but we must branch out.
Some espaliered trees are trained to grow horizontally only. They become so side-heavy that branches may break if not continually supported. When we focus only on works , we lose sight of our Maker above. We lose our faith when we focus only on what tasks we have to accomplish. We require support from above to be able to maintain an outward reach.
The healthiest espaliered fruit trees are trained to be low to the ground, possess branches of equal length, and all vertical growth is supported by firm horizontally trained branches. When we remain humble in stature, stand on a firm foundation, we too bear more fruit. But our support system should come mainly from God and Jesus! Early Hymns told of the importance of Leaning on Jesus-

"Leaning On Jesus",
Sad, broken-hearted,
At an altar I’ve knelt,
I’ve found a peace so serene.
All that He asked is a Child-like trust,
a heart that is learning to lean.
Learning to Lean
Learning to Lean
I'm learning to lean on Jesus
finding more power then I've ever dreamed
I'm learning to lean on Jesus

Our Support System Can Develop To The Place Where It Can Take The Place Of God In Our Lives – Deut. 33:27;  27"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them."Look at what you are depending on this evening.  Do you ever find yourself trusting people, things and self more than you trust the Lord?
  Our Support System Can Prevent Us From Looking Up For The Help We Need – Our focus should be vertical and not horizontal!  Nothing cripples our walk of faith any more than all the earthly, human crutches upon which we lean.  These crutches cause us to look at what we can do for ourselves, or what others can do for us.  When we lean on the unfailing prop of God Himself, we can be sure that He will always come through.
      3.  Our Support System Is Temporary At Best - Every plank in earthly support system can and will fail; but if we learn to lean solely on the Lord, He will never fail, Heb. 13:5;  5"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."  Matt. 28:20-Matthew 28:20 -"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

It takes a season for each level of branches on an espaliered tree to be established. It is easy to see how mature it is because it's levels can be counted like rungs on a ladder. It has very few leaves to detract from the fruit. Too many leaves are like excess baggage on an espaliered tree. They are their just for show and hide the fruit from view.They remove energy from the tree that could go towards furthering the harvest. We all have leaves. What we need is a  supernatural leaf blower, The Holy Spirit, to remove the unwanted leaves. Focus On The Fruit.
Tree buds are scraped away with the thumb of the gardener quickly and easily on an espaliered tree. This keeps branches from forming and diverting the tree from it's intended direction and function. When we have an idea that's not healthy we need  to "nip it in the bud" in order to go in the right direction.
A stunted or deformed plant can possess interesting or unique characteristics might become the highlight of the garden. Every branch can be made useful.
Bending and training of the limbs that will remain in the design is done during the summer season. Older trees can be espaliered but it takes much longer .  It is easier to train a young branch than an old one. Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go,And when he is old he will not depart from it."