gardening in NC – Page 2 – Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County

By Stacy Edwards, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer intern of Durham County

A close-up view of a vibrant burgundy tulip flower with fringed petals, set against a background of greenery and a gray building.

Close-up of a purple muscari flower with clusters of grape-like blooms against a dark background.

(Image credit: Melinda Heigel; Bff CC BY-SA 4.0)

If you need a little encouragement in the dark days of January and February, consider planting spring-flowering bulbs now! From the purple, grape-like clusters and green spikes of muscari, to the sunny blossoms of daffodils and brilliant colors of tulips, there is a bulb for everyone and every landscape…and even the indoors.

Soil and Bulbs

Bulbs like well-drained soil and a pH of 6-7. Heavy clay in our soils in the Piedmont region of Zone 8 are a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, it’s nutrient rich and provides stable footing for roots. But clay holds water and can cause bulbs to rot. Drainage is greatly improved by adding compost, soil conditioner, or pine bark mulch into the soil as bulbs are planted. And speaking of soil, now is a great time to have your soil tested to see if there are any nutrients lacking or other needs. In the absence of a soil test, consider applying a slow-release complete fertilizer into the soil at the time of planting by following the instructions on the label.¹

Sun Requirements and Bulbs

Most bulbs like at least 6 hours of sun. But even the shadiest gardens can be great sites for bulbs in the winter as the deciduous trees lose their leaves and allow the sun to get in. Consider the path of the sun as you pick your spot. Some areas that would normally receive full sun in the summer may receive less sun in the winter. Again, drainage and consideration of planting location will help bloom production.

Tips for Planting Bulbs

Generally, bulbs should be planted 3-4 times as deep as their width but follow directions on the package. For large bulbs, like the giant alliums, allow 3-6″ between bulbs. Smaller bulbs can be closer together – 1-2.” A Hori-Hori knife can be very useful, and many knives have rulers embedded on the blade for measuring planting depth. Of course, a small trowel or shovel can be used too. A good layer of 2-3″ of mulch on top of the soil after planting will protect the bulb from severe weather and helps lock moisture in the soil. Planting bulbs in mass clusters makes for a better, more dramatic show.

Orange and yellow tulips in a blue and white porcelain was used as cut flowers inside a home.

Three terracotta pots containing tulip bulbs with green shoots emerging from the soil, placed on a wooden surface.

Spring-flowering bulbs make excellent long-lasting cut flowers. While it’s common to force bulbs like paperwhites and amaryllis during the holiday season, other bulbs like tulips, though more tricky since pre-chilling is required, are also suitable candidates. (Image credit: Stacy Edwards; Melinda Heigel)

Enjoying Bulbs Indoors and Outdoors

Consider starting indoors right now by forcing bulbs to bloom, which is the process of expediting the plant’s normal bloom cycle. All bulbs can be forced into blooming. The spring varieties, such as crocus, snowdrops, daffodils, and hyacinths, require a chilling period of 12-18 weeks whereas amaryllis and paperwhites do not. This article contains more information on forcing bulbs.

Purple muscari plant in blooming with green foliage in the background. — **Early-spring blooms**

A vibrant display of white daffodils with orange centers blooming in a garden, surrounded by green foliage. — **Early-spring blooms**

Extend the spring season by keeping the bloom times of each type of bulb in mind when making selections. You can often find information on flowering times right on bulb packaging. (Image credit: Stacy Edwards; Melinda Heigel)

There is a wide selection of bulbs that grow well in central NC. The North Carolina State University Plant Toolbox has a list of tulip bulbs that consistently do well as well as more details. Consider planting a variety of bulbs so that blooming extends over a few months. In early spring muscari, crocus, hyacinths and anemone begin to pop up out of the ground, showing promise that spring is on its way.

Daffodils follow with tulips and lilies shortly thereafter. Allium giganteum is a personal favorite with clusters of tiny flowers in the shape of a giant lollipop. Bulbs can be sourced online or at your local garden center and even the big box stores. Look for bulbs that are large and firm, are free of blemishes, and have not begun to sprout.

A Little Houskeeping on Growing Bulbs

In our Zone 8 area, many bulbs are considered perennials and come back year after year, requiring very little maintenance. After you’ve enjoyed the brilliant display of flowers, cut the spent blossoms and leave the stems and leaves to fade on their own. The natural deterioration of the leaves allows the bulb to store energy for next year’s bloom. Some gardeners fold over the leaves or tie them in a knot close to the soil level to obscure the unattractive browning of the stems, but many plant experts caution against this. This practice can reduce the leaf area exposed to sunlight and the amount of energy (food) the plant can store. And some gardeners just keep adding more plants to distract the view.

Bulb planting is an easy process, and the small amount of work is rewarded by a brilliant and encouraging display of flowers in the early spring when it seems as though the gray days are never ending. Happy planting!

Notes

1–A complete fertilizer is one that contains all three of the primary plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, in that order. You will see that listed as three numbers separated by hyphens. An example of a complete fertilizer profile you would find on a bag of fertilizer is 10 – 10 – 10.

Resources and Additional Information

More on spring-flowering bulbs, including additional selection recommendations and care instructions: https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/spring-flowering-bulbs/

More on the blog about amaryllis bulbs, often forced indoors during the holidays:https://wp.me/p2nIr1-30g

Edited by Melinda Heigel, NC State Extension Master Gardener volunteer of Durham County

Article Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-6F4

By Jeff Kanters, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer of Durham County

Color illustration of a man gardening, holding a shovel in one hand and a plant in the other.

“The only true wisdom is in knowing

you know nothing.”

–Socrates

In November of 2023, I planted in eight new one-year-old apple tree whips at the Briggs Avenue Community Garden’s teaching orchard. While most of the trees were planted along a designated row, two of the apple trees were planted differently. I planted each one in large rectangular raised beds that flanked an arbor between the north and south orchard. I intended to train them into espalier along a large panel of cattle fencing constructed at each side of the arbor.

Wooden arbor structure with cattle fencing, designed for training apple trees, in a community garden setting.

Arbor with cattle fencing to train trees to espalier. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

The History of Espalier

For those who may be unfamiliar, the term ‘espalier’ (pronounced /eh·spal·yay/) is French to describe a fruit tree or ornamental shrub whose branches are trained to grow flat against a wall, and/or supported in flat fashion on a lattice, a framework of stakes, or fencing in some ornamental design.

Black and white illustration from 1847 of an espalier walk in a fruit garden, featuring two figures among fruit plants against a trellis backdrop.

Mid-19th-century rendering of espalier at a garden estate in Beacon, New York. (Image credit: Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art. Anonymous, “The Espalier Walk in the Fruit Garden at Wodenethe,” in A. J. Downing, ed., Horticulturist 1, no. 11 (May 1847) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

The practice of espalier has been around for centuries — even since ancient times. The application of espalier became formalized in medieval Europe, used primarily to maximize fruit production within confined or limited spaces. The practice evolved further during the Renaissance, particularly in France which embraced both its functionality and its design aesthetic. Eventually the practice found its way to England and then the American colonies in the 1700s. And here we are.

What Apple Trees Make Good Espalier?

Two tree varieties were selected for espalier at Briggs, ‘Horse’ and ‘Aunt Rachel,’ both heirloom apple trees grown in North Carolina. What made these apple trees unique and good for espalier training is that they are spur producing. This means that apples develop on short twig-like spurs along a branch, rather than clustered on the tips of new growth. The apples produced are more easily harvested along the flat plane of the espalier shape, and the trees are easier to train, prune, and manage without sacrificing fruit production.

Tip-bearing varieties on the other hand produce fruit on the tips of branches and pruning to manage an espalier shape would likely remove too many potential fruit buds, reducing fruit production. Another advantage of espalier-trained trees is that the shape improves air circulation and makes disease and insect control easier.

There are many espalier shapes available. I chose to train each tree up and along a cattle fence support into a flat candelabra shape. This would allow a maximum of growing area for fruit production and establish an ornamental look to the trees.

Sketch of a planned espalier apple tree design resembling a candelabra shape, with green foliage and a grid background.

Planned candelabra shape for the apple trees. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Espalier Plan for Apple Trees Put into Action

The new tree whips were planted in November 2023, centered at each fence panel and within six inches of the fence. The top one third of each whip was pruned off to a healthy bud to support and reduce stress on the young roots and stimulate lateral bud growth for the next growing season. The young trees initiated their first growth in the spring through the summer of 2024. The next decision I needed to make was when to prune and initiate the training of the new tree growth.

Garden arbor structure with cattle fencing, used to train apple trees into espalier, surrounded by a stone path and planting area.

As indicated by the white arrows, new apple tree whips planted in each bed November 2023. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Training and Pruning Apple Trees for Espalier

There are different approaches about when to start training and pruning a young tree for espalier. The climate zone, annual rainfall, temperature changes, soil structure, and type of tree are some of the factors that influence the growth rates of apple trees to take into consideration. Whereas some trees may put out enough growth the first year to begin the training of growing branches immediately, other trees may need a full year to grow and build adequate sugar reserves in their roots.

During the following winter dormancy, selective pruning is done to encourage the tree to put out the additional lateral growth needed to further develop new branches for training that second year. Whatever the approach, espalier training on an apple tree should be started when the tree is young during its first couple years of growth. Starting from the lower base of the tree, the training will continue as the tree grows to utilize as much space and branching as possible.

Because the young trees were initially slow in putting out their first new growth in 2024, I chose to allow them to grow their first full-summer season before initiation of training in 2025. During winter pruning in January 2025, I did prune out developing branches that were growing outward away from the flat plane of the fence. I also pruned off another third of the vertical top trunk of the tree to stimulate lateral buds to grow branches when growth began again in the spring.

Espalier apple tree growing against a cattle fence support in a community garden, with surrounding greenery and a structure in the background.

Young apple tree growing against a cattle fencing support in a garden setting.

(Left to right) The ‘Horse’ variety and ‘Aunt Rachel’ after summer growth of August 2024. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

This spring of 2025, both trees put out robust growth and I was able to identify better developed lateral growing branches to initiate training to a two-dimensional form. New branches growing into and through the fence and/or outward away from the fence were again snipped off to focus all branch growth laterally along the same plane as the fence to position and secure the developing branches in a flat horizontal manner along the fence.

Young apple tree trained against a cattle fencing for espalier, with green ties securing branches.

Young apple tree trained along a cattle fence in a garden setting.

(Left to right) Pictures of ‘Horse’ and ‘Aunt Rachel’ trees putting out new growth after espalier training started in April 2025. The candelabra design begins to emerge. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Tips for Training New Espalier Growth

A note of caution when training new growth: take care to allow any new lateral branch growth to get enough length and firm up past the very new, soft-green stage before beginning the training. Attempting to bend a growing branch when it is too soft could result in its snapping off from the trunk. A month or two of slow hardening of the new limb will enable the growing branch to be positioned properly and secured at the fence without breaking off.

There are many kinds of ties, bands, or wraps that are used to secure the flexible branches to train espalier that are effective. I chose one that is high-quality cloth fabric, stretches, is non-constricting for limb growth, provides good support, and holds up for at least eighteen to twenty-four months before degrading or removal. This gives the branches over a year to harden off in position.

A hand securing an apple tree branch to a cattle fence using a green tie for espalier training.

Securing a branch laterally with a band on the fence. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

As new growth continued to pop outwards from the trunks, I identified newly-developing lateral branches, starting with the lowest set about three feet from the ground. Each opposite set of laterals was trained to grow out from the trunk and parallel to the ground along the fence. Working upward, another set of developing lateral branches were selected growing about twelve inches above the ones below. As new lateral branches grow out up from the trunk for upcoming growing seasons, the same process is followed, striving to maintain a distance of about ten to twelve inches between each lateral branch along the fence.

The espalier training of both young apple trees has progressed nicely this second season as both trees have produced four sets of lateral scaffold branches trained on the fence already. I will continue to head off the top growing vertical trunk to get more lateral limb development each season.

Young apple tree trained against a cattle fence for espalier in a garden setting.

A young apple tree trained along a cattle fencing structure in a community garden, with a stone path and shed visible in the background.

The espaliers really taking shape in summer of 2025 with ‘Horse’ on the left, “Aunt Rachel’ on the right. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

If you have limited space, a sunny area, want to grow apples, and have an artistic bent, espalier trees may be for you. Growing espalier takes attention to detail and some patience, but the payoff can be most gratifying.

Stop by Friday or Saturday between 9:00 am and Noon for a visit at Briggs Avenue Community Garden‘s teaching orchard at 1314 S Briggs Avenue, Durham, and check out the developing espalier trees. I will provide updates in coming blogs as the trees grow and training continues to the first apple harvests.

Resources and Additional Information:

Growing fruit trees in central NC–read more on our blog: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-2ln

A History of Early American Landscape Design: https://heald.nga.gov/mediawiki/index.php/Espalier

History of Espalier: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/espalier/

Garden Techniques for Limited Space: https://extension.usu.edu/ogdenbotanicalgardens/edible-garden-techniques

Incorporate the Art of Espalier in Your Landscape: https://extension.missouri.edu/news/incorporate-the-art-of-espalier-in-your-landscape https://lancaster.unl.edu/espalier-create-living-art-form-and-function

Edited by Susan Sharp and Melinda Heigel, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteers of Durham County

Article Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-6lv