I think you can see all of the strings and makeshift posts in this pic. A few of the tiedowns should be visible, as well. With a lot of patience, and lot of extra time and money, you can make every tree in your garden all look exactly the same with these techniques. You have to locate just the right trees, though, with all the limbs growing more or less the same direction and at the same height from the trunk. Yeah. Time consuming. I'm a bit lazier. Plus, I like some variety in my plantings, no matter how formal the layout.

Notice that none of the strings touch the trunk or the other branches of the Montmorency. Doing that prevents you from accidently killing the tree by tying things too tight and rubbing the bark off the branches and trunk.

With a younger tree, in our application, we can place the posts about an inch to two inches offset from the trunk and just beyond the reach of the end of the limb. The posts should be lined up in the same line or plane that you wish to tie down the branches, using two posts per branch, one on either side of the tree. In this example, there are six posts. One post, IIRC, has double duty, holding and shaping two different branches.

With a larger tree, the posts should be placed much, much further away from the trunk and well away from the end of the branch. The larger the tree, the longer it takes to 'learn' and hold the shape you desire. You need the posts further away from the tree in order to allow for a certain amount of growth. Even then, you may be re-setting posts every couple of years, just to avoid creating any problems..

The Montmorency, because of the way it was growing, needed some variations on a general theme. It needed a bit more 'discipline' due to its younger age and the way it was growing. The main trunk was also growing at an angle. That had to be corrected, particularly in a garden where there just isn't a lot of room to play with. A mature tree, growing sideways in this garden, would become a physical obstruction, not an asset.

I also removed one branch that was simply too l;arge for the tree to bear and tied the rest of the branches to posts and strings, holding the limbs at a more horizontal angle than you might see in some types of open or vase shaped priuning. In a year or two, I'll remove the posts, tiedowns and strings and allow the tree a bit more freedom than you often see in true espaliered plants.

So, the Montmorency Vherryand other fruit trees in our garden are really examples of a combination of two types of pruning techniques.