A wooden frame built out of old pallets secured into the ground, picture hooks and picture wire should do it.

or some thick fencing wire . anything you can train them to realy .

thank you so much - have made most of the stuff for the allotment or sourced off Freecycle... the cost of this stuff was so expensive ranging from £15 just for wire to £26 for wire and post!!

Hello! Why do your apples "have to be trained using gripple tension wire"??

well they are very low trees that need to be trained their branches to grow out sideways across an allotment they look beautiful but have to be fixed as soon as they arrive..
they look stunning in the catalougue just hope mine come out like that!!

Hello Ladygardener!

I only asked because I have a step-over spartan at the end of my veg plot. I planted it in a large pot, with the bottom cut out, to stop any of the surface roots spreading into the plot. The branches are supported to a basic strong frame with canes and ties, so that as the branches get thicker I can loosen the ties and re-tie, if that makes sense?! The frame was constructed from various bits of 3ft x 2" posts I had at 2ft intervals and hammered one foot into the ground for 2ft above, with 6ft battens across at 6" spacing, to create the espalier, as I do not want my apple to get any higher than 2ft. As the shoots have grown, I have gently bent them, pruned accordingly and tied them in. Crops have been excellent! Hope this helps.