Espalier or Trellising Fruit Trees or Grapes Can Reduce House Cooling Costs

Q. I just saw this video on the internet on espaliering fruit trees. It is located at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP7voRKFUoE
Is that something that would work well in Las Vegas or just cause more stress to the tree? I have a small area on the south side of my house where the A/C unit is and would love to get a green wall of sorts on there to keep our bedrooms from roasting in the summer. I had thought about grapes, but the espaliered fruit trees might be an option.

A. Great video! Yes, John. It will work here. Just keep your water emitters to the outside of the fruit trees and not near the foundation. We have high salts and don’t want to undermine the foundation or walls used for trellising. This will help direct roots away from the structures.

            Make sure you whitewash the limbs as they can sunburn in hot, very exposed locations.

            I can see you are thinking now in terms of microclimates and growing spaces in the yard. Plants are flexible. Make sure they have enough sunlight to be productive, match the plant to the microclimate and manage the plant to make it fit and make sure you commit the time to doing it. It is that simple.