This Week I Learnt About Fruit Trees

Feeling rather smug with my veg growing efforts, I have decided its time to try a few new things. One of the big bonuses of growing my own veg is that the kids have started eating more vegetables. Partly because they do taste better but also the fact they picked the peas or pulled the carrots. So my next task is to get more fruit into them. The strawberries are proving a success. Even my son who declared he hates strawberries has been spotted munching them in the garden.

But I don’t know much about fruit trees or any kind of trees so I have nabbed the lovely people at Tree2mydoor.com for a bit of question time. If you never heard of Tree2mydoor you can read about them at the bottom.

First off my garden isn’t that big, I have it in my head that a fruit tree would need lots of space. Are there any fruit trees that are smaller?

Yes there are loads to choose from! A lot of the fruit trees that we sell have been grown from dwarf root stock. When the trees are grown from dwarf root stock it means that they never really grow very large. Fruit trees grown from root stock are also known to be quite heavy croppers, so that’s another big bonus to them; they’re space savers and often pack lots of fruit too like the bramley apple tree.

If I lived in rented accommodation and bit loathed to plant a tree in the garden are there any that tolerate a container of some kind?

Lots of the fruit trees that we supply are container grown and will happily live in pots, especially for the early years of their lives. Just make sure that you give them a pot that is large enough for them to develop in, something really tiny would be a bit too restrictive. Some fruit trees, especially ones belonging to the citrus tree family, like our lemon trees and lime trees can be kept in pots their whole lives happily.

Don’t think you can’t trees if you are living in rented accommodation, It’s great because you can keep them growing happily in pots and eventually maybe plant them up in a few years if you ever move house.

The part of my garden that gets the sun all summer long is rather full of vegetables. I do have some space where the sun is only there half the year and half the day. Is there anything that likes that sort of position?

Hmmm this is a difficult one… most fruits will still grow in partial shade, but remember the amount of direct sunlight that a fruit tree gets is proportional to its crop. In other words if it’s partially shady then expect half the crop you would get in a really sunny spot.

My patio isn’t the typical sun trap but lives the whole time with no sun. Although lovely and sheltered from the wind should I give up trying to grow a fruit tree here or any other kind of tree?

If an area gets no sun at all it is unlikely any fruit trees will do very well in these conditions. The best advice for these spots, is to use them for your shed, storage, water butts etc. i.e. all the bits n bobs you don’t want in the rest of your garden, so you can leave more space to plant your lovely plants, trees and veggie’s.

Here’s a handy hint; type in your postcode or the postcode where you are thinking of planting a tree in Google maps – if the garden or patch is south facing, then you know it is a good place to plant a fruit tree.

Do you need more than one fruit tree for them to produce fruit?

It depends, quite a few of our fruit trees are self fertile, meaning you do not need more than one fruit tree to produce fruit. For example, fruits like the wonderful Stella Cherry trees, sunburst cherry tree and conference pear trees are all self fertile.

Fruit trees that are not self-pollinating will need to be cross-pollinated with a different variety of the same fruit species. Now all this sounds a bit complicated, but it doesn’t need to be so difficult.

Generally, a good rule of thumb is to have a bit of a snoop around the local area looking for other varieties of the same fruit species , if you see any fruit trees growing nearby or even better the neighbours have fruits trees, then you should be fine.

If I plant a fruit tree now will I have to wait several years for it to fruit?

No not at all! Our citrus trees fruit up to 4 times per year and you might be lucky enough to order one when it is in full fruit. Likewise most of our garden fruit trees arrive around the 4-6 ft in height area and are already fairly mature. Most of our fruit trees will develop fruit the first year, but after the next season and they have had a chance to settle in they will fruit a lot more prolifically. It is a safe bet that your trees will develop more as they go on, but that doesn’t mean they won’t produce any the first year by any means.

Stuck what to give someone for a special anniversary or birthday? Tree2mydoor is a site dedicated to sending unique gifts to your friends and family. Like a Silver Birch for a Silver Anniversary or a Hawthorn Tree as an engagement present as Hawthorn is said to represent true love, partnership and commitment. There other choices too like Fruit trees, Topiary trees, Olive trees and many more to choose from. The gifts are sent with a personalised card and carefully wrapped in eco-friendly packaging.