I started our espaliered apples at the grafting stage, which gave me an extra year of wiggle room before I had to decide on the shape I planned to train them to. Then last fall, I made a simple setup of crossed wires between t-posts and bent the trees along the lines. But nine months later, the apples had already outgrown their first training wires --- time for a second set of supports higher up!

The espaliered apple in front of the porch got even less formal training. I just bent down limbs to attach to nearby objects willy-nilly. In the case of both this tree and those trained to wires, I also bent down or snipped off secondary branches that were reaching for the sky.

My goal with both sets of training is pretty simple --- keep the trees two-dimensional and easily coverable during spring freezes. A few of the trees already have flower buds, so I might get to test out that hypothesis as early as next spring (although 2018 is more likely). Here's hoping my 2D apples are a success!