Fan-Training Fruit Trees Against a Wall in Scotland

One side of the fan is dense with growth and carrying fruit; the other is bare wood with a couple of thin whips reaching for the light. What fruit there is sits in a cluster near the top. Nothing is lower down. There are gaps where a branch died back or was cut out for disease and never replaced, and the whole shape has drifted from a fan into something closer to a hand missing a few fingers. That isn't bad luck: it's what a fan does by default if the training and the annual replacement pruning aren't kept up: vigour drifts toward the top and the tips, the base goes bare, and one side gets away from the other the moment it's shaded, under-tied or left to sort itself out. Avoiding it, and fixing it, means knowing what a fan does structurally and giving it a wall that suits the fruit.

What fan training is

A fan-trainedA fruit tree or bush trained flat with branches radiating out from a low point, the standard shape for wall-grown stone fruit. Full definition → tree is grown with a short clear trunk, usually no more than about 45cm, splitting into two main arms that spread outward at an angle, with further branches tied in from each arm to fill the gaps, radiating out flat against a support like the ribs of an open fan. It's different from an espalierA fruit tree trained flat against a wall or wire framework with horizontal tiers of branches, most often apples and pears. Full definition →, which runs its branches out in flat horizontal tiers, and from a cordonA fruit tree or bush trained as a single main stem with short fruiting side-spurs, usually grown at an angle against a wall, fence or wire. Full definition →, a single stem grown at a slant with short fruiting spursWhether a fruit tree carries its fruit mainly on short side-shoots along older wood (spur-bearing) or at the tips of the previous year's growth (tip-bearing). Full definition →. Almonds, apples, cherries, figs, gooseberries, pears, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums and redcurrants can all be fan-trained, but it's the standard form for stone fruit, and usually the first form recommended in a garden with limited space.

Building the framework

The framework goes up over two to three years, and every step forces the tree into a flat, evenly balanced shape rather than letting it grow upward and outward in whatever direction is easiest. The steps for an unfeathered maiden whip are:

Stage	Timing	What happens
Year 1	Spring	Main stem cut back to about 40cm, leaving three strong buds; wires fitted from 40cm above ground, 15cm apart
Year 1	Summer	Two shoots from those buds tied to canes at 45 degrees to form the primary arms
Year 2	Spring	Each arm reduced by two-thirds to an upward-facing bud; other growth off the trunk removed
Year 2–3	Summer	Four shoots selected per arm (one at the tip, two spaced on the upper side, one on the lower) and tied in at about 30 degrees to the arm
Year 3	Following spring	Each of the four branches on each side cut back by a third, to an upward-facing bud if possible

Plant the tree 15 to 22.5cm from the wall or fence, sloping slightly towards it (apricots about 30cm), on horizontal wires starting 40cm from the ground, 15cm apart and 4 to 10cm clear of the wall. Tie each shoot to its cane or wire with soft garden twine or a proper tree tie, not anything that can cut in, loosely enough to allow the branch to thicken, and loosen ties that start to bite. Getting the two primary arms even in year one matters more than almost anything else: an arm that's tied in late, tied slack or left shaded gets away from its pair, and that early imbalance is what a lopsided, one-side-bare fan usually traces back to years later.

Keeping an established fan filled in

Once the framework is up, the job shifts to stopping the shape drifting, which is where most neglected fans go wrong. Peaches, nectarines and acid cherries are pruned by replacement: after harvest, older, fruited wood is cut back to a vigorous new shoot lower down, which is tied into the gap it leaves, so fruiting wood keeps renewing from the base rather than migrating upward. A strong replacement shoot is vigorous and well placed, growing roughly in the direction the gap needs filling and thick enough to hold its shape once tied in, not a thin whip and not one crossing back into the middle of the tree. Apricots, sweet cherries and plums are different: after tying shoots into the framework in June, pinch the remaining new shoots back to six leaves, then shorten them again in August to three leaves to create a spur. Apples and pears fruit on older wood, so the strategy is building spurs: prune shoots from the main framework to three leaves above the basal cluster. Whichever fruit it is, a gap from a dead branch or a limb removed for disease should get a replacement shoot trained into that exact space the next time one is available.

Stone fruit is never cut while dormant. Silver leaf is a fungus that infects through wounds, mainly caused by pruning, from airborne spores active from September to May, and once established it can silver the foliage and kill branches, sometimes the whole tree. So fans are pruned in spring and summer on a dry day, with stone fruit finished by late August. Apples and pears tolerate a later winter cut. A badly neglected fan is renovated over two or three seasons, not in one go: in spring or early summer, shorten back a third of the uppermost shoots to a replacement shoot within the main framework, which restores balance without provoking a flush of vigorous, upright, largely fruitless regrowth.

What the wall is buying you

A fan doesn't need a wall in the bricks-and-mortar sense: a stout fence or a post-and-wire frame works structurally, with the same wire spacing and tension. What a wall buys, beyond somewhere to fix wires, is a warmer, calmer patch than the open ground a few feet away. Masonry absorbs heat through the day and gives it back slowly after dark, and it blocks wind that would otherwise knock pollinating insects off the blossom or chill new growth. Sunny, especially south- or west-facing aspects are ideal for just about any fruit, but especially sun lovers such as grapes, figs, peaches, nectarines and apricots, while shade-tolerant fruits such as acid cherries and currants suit shady, north- or east-facing aspects.

The general pattern across the UK is that places in the east and south tend to be drier, warmer, sunnier and less windy than those further west and north. Scotland is the most northerly part of the UK, and much of its west coast, islands and uplands sit on the cooler, wetter, less sunny side of that pattern, though the east is generally drier. So the reliably warm, sun-trap wall that fan-training advice assumes is rarer to own here than that advice, written with a milder climate in mind, takes for granted. A warm wall in a Scottish garden still does real work for whichever fruit needs it, and is worth more because good ones are scarcer. The practical task is matching the fruit to the wall on offer rather than assuming any wall or fence will do. Where a good wall isn't available, grow peaches and apricots in a greenhouse or polytunnel in colder regions rather than forcingCovering plants to exclude light and speed early, tender growth in the dark, most associated with rhubarb and sea kale in late winter. Full definition → a fan onto a wall that was never going to ripen them. Apricots can go under glass too.

Which fruit needs the warm wall, and which doesn't

Fruit	Needs a warm, sheltered wall	Fans well without one
Peach, nectarine, apricot	Yes, early blossom is frost-sensitive and fruit needs sustained warmth to ripen	Only in exceptionally mild, sheltered gardens
Sweet cherry	Best against a south or south-west wall for flavour and ripening	Can be grown as a free-standing bush or pyramid if space allows
Acid (Morello) cherry	No	Tolerates some shade, so suits a north-facing wall, or free-standing
Plum, damson, gage	No	Commonly grown fan-trained on an ordinary fence, or free-standing
Gooseberry, redcurrant	No	Fans readily on a post-and-wire frame with no wall at all
Fig	Benefits from wall heat, especially for ripening a useful crop	Restricting the roots probably matters at least as much as aspect in a cool climate

In a Scottish garden without a strong south or south-west wall, don't force a peach or apricot fan onto a mediocre one and expect southern-England results, and don't rule fan training out either. Put the acid cherry, the plum, the gooseberries and the currants on the fence, wall or post-and-wire run available, and save the one good warm wall, if there is one, for whichever of peach, nectarine, apricot or sweet cherry the garden can support. With no wall at all, a free-standing fan on a post-and-wire frame, built to the same 15cm wire spacing, works for the hardier fruit. It's the wrong choice for peaches and apricots without real shelter and reflected heat, where a hardier fruit, a Morello cherry on the shadiest wall, or the tender fruit under glass is the more realistic route to a crop.

Looking after a fan once it's up

A wall takes something away as well: the base of a wall or fence is in a rain shadow and vulnerable to drying out even in rainy weather, with eaves and foundations intercepting more, so a plant using it as support can succumb to drought stress unless it's irrigated. Water a new fan generously through its first couple of summers and in dry spells after that, and mulchA layer of material spread over the soil around plants to suppress weeds, retain moisture, and improve soil structure as it breaks down. Full definition → over the root area in spring. Feed in spring as growth restarts. Keep watering consistent while fruit develops (regular moisture matters in early to mid-summer while apricots are swelling), because a sudden soaking after a dry spell, too much watering or very wet weather at ripening can split fruit, cherries especially.

Early stone-fruit blossom is frost-vulnerable wherever it grows. When frost is forecast during flowering, cover the tree overnight with biodegradable fleeceA lightweight, breathable fabric laid or draped over plants to trap a little warmth and keep off frost, wind and some flying pests. Full definition →, hessian or an old bedsheet supported on bamboo canes so it doesn't touch the flowers, and remove it in the day so insects can reach them. Last-frost timing varies sharply across Scotland by altitude and distance from the coast, so check Scotland's frost dates to judge how much protection a site needs. Peaches and apricots flower early enough that few insects are about: hand-pollinate with a small, soft paintbrush, dabbing gently into the centre of every open flower over several dry, sunny days.

All peach and apricot varieties are self-fertileA plant that can set fruit using its own pollen, without needing a second, different variety nearby to cross-pollinate it. Full definition →, so one tree gives a full crop, which matters when there's room and a decent wall for only one. As fruit colours up, protect it from birds (and squirrels) with netting, raised clear of the fruit on canes or a light frame and fastened securely so nothing gets tangled. A wall-trained tree is easier to net than a free-standing one because it's already flat against a fixed structure.

Peach leaf curl is worth planning for on an outdoor fan, and probably more of a live concern in a wet climate. The fungus needs wet conditions to infect emerging shoots in spring, distorting and reddening the leaves and weakening the tree if it happens year after year. The RHS prevention is a rain shelter of plastic sheeting over the top and front of the tree from November to mid-May, with the ends left open so pollinating insects can still reach the flowers; keeping emerging shoots dry stops infection. It matters most in wet springs, which are more common on Scotland's western side than in the drier east.

Buying a tree already partly trained saves two or three years over a maiden whip, and it's more forgiving for a first attempt, since the early framework is already in place. Whichever route, ask for a rootstockThe root system and lower stem a fruit tree is grafted onto, chosen to control the tree's eventual size rather than for its own fruit. Full definition → sized for a fan: the rootstock controls vigour regardless of variety. St Julian A suits plum fans, and Gisela 5 (semi-dwarfingHow much a fruit tree's rootstock limits or allows its eventual size, from extremely dwarfing (smallest) through to very vigorous (largest). Full definition →) and Colt (semi-vigorous) suit cherry fans. Fan-trained Gisela 5 cherries reach about 1.8m tall and 3.5m wide, against about 2.5m by 5.5m on Colt. Once a fan is established, the growing guides for plums, cherries and damsons carry variety-specific pruning detail, and Pruning Fruit Trees in Scotland covers general timing beyond trained forms.

Common questions

Sources

Show the 11 sources

• RHS: Fan-trained trees, initial training: Cut back to about 40cm with three buds, canes at 45 degrees, arms reduced by two-thirds, four shoots per arm at 30 degrees, cut back by a third; plant 15-22.5cm from the wall, wires from 40cm and 15cm apart, 4-10cm off the wall
• RHS: Fan-trained trees, pruning established fans: Replacement pruning after harvest for peaches, nectarines and acid cherries; pinch to six leaves in June then three in August for apricots, sweet cherries and plums; spurs for apples and pears; prune in spring and summer, stone fruit by late August; renovate by shortening a third of the uppermost shoots to replacements
• RHS: Fruit basics, positioning your fruit trees and bushes: South- or west-facing aspects ideal for sun lovers (grapes, figs, peaches, nectarines, apricots), acid cherries and currants suit north or east aspects, base of walls dries out and needs irrigation
• RHS: How to grow apricots: South, south-west or west-facing wall, about 30cm from the wall, fleece over blossom on frosty nights, self-fertile, hand-pollinate, birds and squirrels, regular moisture when fruit swells
• RHS: How to grow peaches: South or south-west wall, hand-pollinate with a small paintbrush over several dry sunny days, self-fertile, greenhouse or polytunnel in colder regions, St Julian A rootstock, split fruit from overwatering or wet weather
• RHS: How to grow cherries: Sweet cherries against a south or south-west wall, acid cherries tolerate a north-facing wall, Gisela 5 and Colt sizes when fan-trained, fruit splits in wet weather, birds
• RHS: Apples and pears, espalier pruning and training: Wire spacing comparison, permanent-support requirement for trained forms
• RHS: Silver leaf: Infects through pruning wounds, spores active September to May, prune plums and cherries in summer
• RHS: Rootstocks for fruit: St Julian A for plums, Gisela 5 and Colt for cherries all suitable for fans
• RHS: Peach leaf curl: Wet conditions needed for spring infection, plastic rain shelter from November to mid-May with ends open for pollinators
• Met Office: UK regional climates: East and south of the UK tend to be drier, warmer, sunnier and less windy than the west and north