kate, welcome.

link below to how i made my trellis. it's working well. check out especially the link at the bottom of the post. that site has a LOT of very good info.

lots of questions -- i'll answer a few.
1) i don't think you should trellis against a house. one of the main reasons to trellis in fla is to increase airflow, which in our humid conditions is important. unless you can rig it up so that there's at least a foot, maybe even more, between the house and the plants, i would think twice about it. (i can imagine a number of ways of doing this, esp if your house is brick). if you DO trellis against the house, the south or east would work best.

2) figs and pears espalier very well. any tree that offers lots of spurs can be espaliered well. i have read that peach trees don't espalier well, b/c they grow so vigorously; however, at leu garden in orlando, they have a number of peaches espaliered, and they look great. whatever you do, read up on pruning and understand what needs to go and what needs to stay to maximize fruit set.

3) on a relate note, pears can definitely be grown on a trellis. even without a trellis, i've seen several quite old pears that weren't more than 10 feet high. it's all about pruning. google "dave wilson dooryard fruit" for more info on aggressive pruning techniques.

check your ph -- why do you say it's acidic? most sand in fla is pretty ph neutral.

finally -- go to the fig forum and ask if anyone there has experience with growing figs that close to the ocean. i don't know anything about figs and salt, but it should not be a problem, since i've seen fig groves in morocco growing almost oceanside. hwoever, there might be varieties that do better and worse in such an environment.

Here is a link that might be useful: trellis

Figs, Pears and Apples should do fine there. Here is a Fig espalier growing right near Jupiter inlet. This house's back yard ends at the salt-water inlet, so it gets lots of salty wind.

Below is a link to a web site that shows how small you can keep espaliers.

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Espalier fruit trees

Certain peach varieties do superbly down here in regard to espalier. UF Sun Peach is one preferred variety for my zone (9b), but you will be more north, and therefore will have more varieties suitable for your climate.

Thank you for the links. Lots of useful information. The air flow advice is right on. I had to have areas of the brick cleaned this spring for spreading mildew. I was still overseas then so did not think of it as a problem after arrival. Maybe I should give up the espalier idea and just plant along the board fence. The espalier along the fence picture was interesting but if the figs are along the fence, I could just as well let them grow bushy.
In the picture of the fig growing up against the house wall seems to be lots of air flow. How is it attached? I can't see long lengths of horizontal wiring. The roof overhang is about the same as mine so the fig would not be too shaded.
The local wholesale/newly retail nurseryman a mile down the road told me that my "soil" is acidic.
I have been a heavy reader on the fig forum. While still overseas I checked the Santa Rosa County Ag. publications. The figs recommended for this area are Celeste, Hollier and Alma (I think this is a Texas A&M variation on Brown Turkey for the Gulf Coast).
Even with all this research and study there is nothing like local knowledge and experience.
Thanks for your help.
Kate