The fruit wall: are tall trees really necessary?

A large number of canopy shapes and planting congurations are used in fruit growing worldwide. In the past, but even today, in China for instance, tree canopies were made up by complex structures, with 3 levels of organization, starting from the main stem up to big branches, minor branches and bearing wood. Even in modern orchards based on conic shaped systems there is a robust secondary structure in “centrifugal pruning” with the aim of having productive wood and crop in the periphery. The height and width of trees has not only a major influence on production and quality, but also on many cultural practices and on crop protection