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Beautiful fruit garden


The 10 Most Beautiful Flowering Fruit Trees

The 10 Most Beautiful Flowering Fruit Trees

Marvel in the beauty of these flowering fruit trees and learn about each tree's unique blossoms.

Fruit trees are the high-school overachiever of the garden. They’re the “4.0 GPA, flawless skin, all AP classes, volunteers at a nursing home” type. Flowering fruit trees are the darling of any garden because they do so much! They produce delicious fruit to be snacked on, baked, frozen, or canned. They also provide shade for you and your shade-loving vegetables. Not to mention that flowering fruit trees provide gorgeous and often delicious smelling blossoms ahead of their fruiting period.

Growing fruit trees in a smaller yard is no easy feat, but it can be done! Depending on your climate, you may have better luck with indoor container fruit trees. Here in New England, my small Meyer lemon tree thrives indoors, producing sweet-smelling flowers and fruit, but I know it wouldn’t fare well outdoors during the winter months. If you do plant flowering fruit trees in your yard, take care to protect them from wildlife, like deer.

Whether you are a flowering fruit tree connoisseur or just a big-time fan, let’s take a moment to appreciate the 10 most beautiful flowering fruit trees, in no particular order.

Apple tree

Lush and lovely, apple blossoms have five petals each and produce a sweet scent attracting pollinators like bees. Blooms arrive between early spring to early summer, depending on location and variety of tree. Because apple trees are not self-pollinating, the trees will do much better in groups of the same variety.

Peach tree

Peach blossoms show up on the scene in singles or pairs and have no more than five petals each. The flowers appear well before the leaves and provide a stark contrast to the dark bark of the branches. Color can range from light pink (almost white) to red and even light purple depending on the variety. Peach blossoms pollinate themselves so they don’t rely on other nearby peach trees.

Pomegranate tree

Pomegranate blossoms almost look like trumpets, announcing the arrival of the uniquely shaped pomegranate. These blossoms produce red or white flowers with three to seven petals each. Like peach trees, pomegranates are self-pollinating with both male and female flowers.

Lemon tree

Lemons come from a flowering fruit tree that produces delicate, white blossoms with a touch of purple close to the base. Many varieties grow year-round and are self-pollinating. Lemon blossoms can be harvested (along with the leaves) for tea. Blossoms also make a lovely food garnish.

Guava tree flowers

An unusual looking blossom, most guava trees produce a five-petal flower with several long central stamens often pulling focus from the petals, themselves. The stamens clump together at the base and shoot out in firework formation. Guava flowers are both self-pollinating and can rely on bees and other pollinators.

Cherry tree

In many places around the world, cherry blossom season is a major signal that spring has arrived. Certain varieties of cherry trees are ornamental statement pieces, and it’s hard to ignore the abundant pink-toned blooms. Cherry blossoms and leaves can be picked and turned into different candies and teas. There are even some Japanese recipes that call for pickling the blossoms first, before using them in pastries and other baked goods.

Plum tree

Like the cherry tree, some varieties of plum trees are cultivated to be ornamental and others are beautiful flowering fruit trees. The flowers on a plum tree that will bear fruit are tiny and white, while non-fruit bearing plum trees produce tiny pink flowers. Honeybees are the main pollinators of plum trees.

Pear tree

When pear trees begin to blossom, the flowers appear green at first then turn white. These blossoms have five to seven petals and have a mild sweet scent. Pear blossoms don’t have a particular taste, however can be used as a garnish.

Persimmon tree

With the cutest little yellow flowers, the Persimmon tree can take about six years to produce fruit. Each tree has only one gender of flowers and relies on pollinators like bees to reproduce. It’s easy to spot the difference between a male persimmon tree and a female persimmon tree. Male flowers are white with a bit of green tint and grow in groups. Female flowers grow by themselves and have more yellow in them.

Orange tree

Similar in shape and color to the lemon blossoms, orange blossoms are sweet-smelling and often used in fragrances and perfumes. Like many of the beautiful flowering fruit trees, not all orange blossoms will become oranges, and many will drop from the tree after they bloom. Unlike the lemon tree, orange trees typically only produce once a season, since the fruiting period can take up to 10 months.

Which flowering fruit trees are your favorite? Do you grow any at home? Let me know in the comments!

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8 Small Fruit Garden Ideas

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Growing fruit in a small garden may seem challenging but it’s possible to grow your own fruit even if you have limited garden space.

Small fruit gardens can produce an abundance of fresh fruit without taking over your entire backyard.

In this article I’ll show you how to create a beautiful edible garden full of delicious home-grown fruit.

This post contains affiliate links. Please read the disclosure for more info.

8 SMALL FRUIT GARDEN IDEAS

1. Container fruit garden

Growing fruit trees in containers is a great way to have a  productive edible garden when you have limited garden space.

Fruit trees grown on dwarf rootstock are ideal for container gardens because they only grow to about half the size of a regular fruit tree.

You can also prune them back to keep them to a manageable size.

See if you can find a multi-grafted fruit tree which will produce several different fruits from the one tree.

RELATED: 11 Best Fruit Trees To Grow In Containers

2. Grow fruit trees indoors

There are many dwarf or compact fruit tree varieties that will happily grow indoors and produce fruit.

Most popular fruits are available in mini or dwarf varieties including oranges, apples, cherries and pears.

Indoor fruit trees grow best in front of a sunny window and you can move them outdoors when the weather is nice.

It’s a good idea to place the pot on a plant stand with wheels to make it easier to move around.

3. Espaliered fruit trees

Espalier is a technique that involves training a tree to grow flat against a wall or trellis to maximize space in the garden.

As the branches grow, they’re attached to the trellis with wire, creating a beautiful fan shape as the tree matures.

There are many different fruit trees that can be espaliered including pears, apples, citrus and figs.

4. Vertical fruit garden

Making use of the vertical space in a small fruit garden will help to maximize your yield.

There are many different climbing fruits that you can train to grow up an arbor, pergola, trellis or even a fence.

Some popular climbing fruit plants include grape vines, kiwi fruit and passionfruit.

They’re also great for providing shade and privacy in your yard.

RELATED: 10 Climbing Fruit Plants

5. Balcony fruit garden

If you live in a small apartment you can still grow your own fruit.

Sunny balconies are ideal for small container blueberry plants or you could grow a dwarf citrus or fig tree in a pot.

It’s also possible to grow an abundance of strawberries in a vertical planter like this 5-tier strawberry planter.

6. Small fruit hedge

Another way to incorporate fruit plants into a small garden is to plant a fruit hedge.

Blueberries can be planted to create a beautiful edible hedge but they’ll need protection from birds as the fruit begins to ripen.

Pomegranates are another good option for warm climates.

They have beautiful bright red flowers which are followed by fruit in summer and fall.

RELATED: How To Keep Birds Away From Fruit Trees

7. Combined flower and fruit garden

Fruit gardens don’t have to be in a separate part of the garden.

You can incorporate small blueberry shrubs into your garden beds or plant a few fruit trees alongside your driveway or in your front yard.

The beautiful spring blossoms will brighten up your garden and in the summer you’ll have beautiful home grown fruit to harvest.

8. Shaded fruit gardens

Most fruit trees and vines need full sun to produce fruit, but if your backyard is partly shaded during the day you can still grow many different types of fruits.

Fruits that will grow well in partial sun or dappled light include gooseberries, currants, elderberries and kiwis. [1]

You can train them to grow on a trellis so they get more light.

So there are 8 ways to grow fruit in a small garden.

You don’t need a huge backyard to grow your own fresh fruit at home.

With the right location you can have your own small fruit garden no matter how much garden space you have available.

Are you on Pinterest? I have boards dedicated to Growing Fruit and Gardening Tips that you may enjoy. You can also find me on Facebook.

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Layout of a fruit and berry garden. Photo - Botanichka

Planning a fruit and berry garden is a responsible task, the solution of which will depend on the future supply of the family with tasty and varied fruits and berries. Therefore, when planning a site, you need (as the people say) to hurry slowly.

Garden planning. © woodcroft orchard

Preparatory work

When planning the land, it is necessary to allocate an open sunny place for the garden with a high groundwater table. It is impossible to lay a garden in a lowland, where cold streams of air and water will roll down during the spring flood. After an external examination of the land allocated for the garden, determine and write down in your diary a list of preparatory work.

Zoning when planning orchards and berries

On a separate sheet of the garden diary, draw the layout of the garden. The garden can be located in front of the house, to the side or behind, but the trees and bushes should be located from north to south for better illumination and have three zones. They can be located one after another or divided into three separate sections located at different ends of the total area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe cottage.

On the pages of the garden diary, write down the names and a brief description of fruit and berry crops, and in the diagram indicate their location on the plot area under the numbers.

Plan the future garden so that the plants do not interfere with each other and do not block the light. © pickleshlee

Berry Layout

When laying out the berry on the diagram, immediately consider the nature of the plants. So, blackcurrant grows quietly surrounded by other neighbors, but sea buckthorn and viburnum are rather quarrelsome with neighbors. Therefore, they are planted separately. Sea buckthorn can be used as a green hedge, and viburnum, hawthorn - in a landscape decoration of a recreation area. In solitary plantings of mowed lawns, they look great.

Some owners believe that berry growers are generally best placed along the boundaries of the plot. In this case, part of the land is released for other crops or zones (recreation, sports, etc.). Such planning is suitable if the site is not fenced with a green hedge or the berry bushes themselves can serve this purpose with their features (thorny, dense, etc.).

Planting density of berries is very important. It is a natural regulator of the optimal development of plants, their resistance to diseases and the formation of crops.

The number of certain berry bushes is very important. Think over and on the diagram plan in advance the quantity of each type and variety so that you can provide your family with fresh berries and make preparations for the winter. For a family of 4-5 people, 20 raspberry bushes will be enough, 3-4 bushes of all types of currants and gooseberries, ioshta, shadberry and honeysuckle. Leave some room for exotic newcomers to come into your line of sight over time. A properly planned berry tree grows normally and bears fruit within 7-12 years, and then gradually rejuvenates or the bushes are transferred to another place.

Planting berry bushes. © Thomas Generazio

Layout of the orchard

On the next free page of the garden diary, draw a layout of fruit crops. Conditionally allocate 4 square meters for each crop. m of total area under one tree. Do not thicken the landings. Trees will grow and begin to interfere, and even oppress each other. Planting pits should be in a row at a distance of 4.0-4.5 m. Leave aisles at least 2.5-3.0 m. Pay attention to the types of crops. So, today most farms are switching to columnar forms of apple and pear trees - the main horticultural crops in the dacha economy. In terms of habit, these species are much smaller, and the yield is almost equal to tall crops. Columnar forms are easier to care for, they are resistant to disease, less damaged by frost.

For an average family, 1-2 trees of each type are enough. Early, middle and late varieties should be present in the garden in order to have fresh fruits throughout the warm season and also prepare processed ones for the winter. From garden crops, it is enough to have 2 cherries (early and late). Instead of a medium cherry, plant 2 cherries. They form a crop after an early sweet cherry. You need 1 quince (later you can graft another species or other varieties on it), 2-3 plums, including one marabelle.

1-2 apricots of frost-resistant varieties are enough. 2-3 apple trees, which over time through grafting can be turned into 6-8 varieties of different ripening periods. Don't forget to leave room for exotics. Be sure to plant the nuts separately. Almost nothing grows under the crown of this crop. If you like hazel, set aside the first row for it so that taller trees do not deprive it of the sun with their shade. 11-12 fruit trees will eventually grow into 18-20 varieties of all kinds.

In order for the garden to serve for a long time and not get sick, it is necessary to use zoned varieties. They are more resistant to diseases, pests, weather changes, bear fruit longer. You can get acquainted with varieties and varieties for your region, up to the district, and their characteristics in catalogs and other literature. When buying seedlings, be sure to contact the experts. Remember! A garden planted with low-quality seedlings will add work and care, but will not please you with the harvest and quality of the fruits.

General approaches to planting a garden

Plant a garden in autumn, that is, dig planting holes according to your scheme, prepare near each one the fertilizer mixture that is necessary for the condition of the soil.

Preparing the planting hole

In autumn, you will only be able to prepare a planting hole of approximate dimensions, as the final version will be determined by the size of the root system, depending on the age of the purchased seedling. The preliminary size of the planting pit is approximately 60x60 for 2-year-old seedlings, for 3-year-olds it can be increased to 70x80 cm and finalized when planting the seedling in the pit.

Preparing the soil mixture

Near each hole, mix the top layer of soil with humus, peat. In the spring, before planting a seedling, add a glass of wood ash and slaked lime and 200 g of nitrophoska to this mixture. Mix well.

Saplings of fruit trees and berry bushes are best purchased from trusted manufacturers. © mainetoday

Purchase and preparation of seedlings

Planting of seedlings is best done in spring. During the growing season, the seedlings will get stronger, the root system will strengthen. A young tree adapts to a new location during the warm spring-summer-autumn period.

Do not rush to buy seedlings from individual unfamiliar sellers, especially along the roads leading to the dacha. It is better to purchase seedlings in farms that grow them or in nurseries. There is more confidence here that you will acquire the desired zoned variety of the garden or berry crop you need.

Carefully inspect the selected seedling. If you find dried roots, a crooked stem, cracks in the bark or drops of gum, refuse to buy. Remember! No assurances from the seller will return the lost time.

Rules for planting seedlings

Soak seedlings in rootstock or other growth stimulant 1-2 days before planting. Prepare a container of clay talker with the addition of root, planriz or phytosporin. Other biofungicides suitable for tank mixes may be used.

Approximately 2-3 weeks before planting seedlings, pour some of the soil mixture into the hole with a cone. During this week, the cone will settle, and the planted seedling will be correctly placed in the pit. Dip the prepared seedling into a mash, insert it into the pit, straightening the root along the cone so that there are no creases upwards, and fill 2/3 of the pit with soil mixture. Fill the bucket with water. After soaking, pour in the rest of the potting mix or soil. Drive in a stake and secure the seedling with a figure eight to the support. A loose seedling, swaying under the gusts of wind, will break off the small roots that provide the plant with the soil.

Important details of planting

When planting, be sure to check the correct depth of the root collar. When it is deepened, the tree can dry out for no reason in 5-10 years (especially on heavy soils). On light sandy loamy soils (especially in the south), it is better to deepen the root collar somewhat into the soil (8-10 cm), "hiding" it from the upper drying layer. In seedlings that form adventitious roots or shoots (figs, currants, plums, apple trees), deepening does not interfere with the normal development of the tree. Seedlings of these crops quickly rebuild the root system, often on insufficiently moist soils.

In self-rooted seedlings, the root collar should be at the level of the planting hole or 2-3 cm higher (no more). In grafted seedlings, the grafting site is located 4-8 cm above the root collar. Beginning gardeners often confuse the root neck and graft and deepen the planting to the grafting site. In this case, the root neck is deeply buried in the soil and the tree dies early.

If you correctly identified the root collar and planted the seedling so that it rises 4-5 cm above the soil, then the tree is planted correctly. We compact the soil around the planting. At a distance from the trunk with a radius of 30-50 cm, we make a roller 5-7 cm high and pour 2-3 more buckets of water. Together with the soaking water, the seedling will also be pulled into the soil. Make sure that the root collar remains 2-3 cm above the soil. If necessary, top up the soil after watering and mulch with a small layer of fine mulch (peat or humus, sawdust). If live seedlings are purchased, the planting is done correctly, in 2-3 weeks your garden will turn green with the first young leaves.

Apple trees on trellises. © starkbros

How to determine the root neck

  1. In a young seedling, wipe the lower part of the trunk and the beginning of the root well with a wet cloth. The root collar is defined as a transition from greenish (trunk) to light brown (root zone).
  2. In older seedlings (3-4 years old), we wipe the lower part of the trunk with a wet cloth and, after the wet zone has dried, carefully scrape off the bark with a knife at the site of the inconspicuous expansion of the trunk into the root. If at the site of expansion the scraped color of the young subcortical layer is green, then this is the stem, and if it is yellowish, then the root zone. The place of transition of one color to another is the root collar.
  3. In some seedlings, the place where the upper lateral roots originate from the trunk is clearly visible. This is the root collar. The place of origin of the roots should remain above the level of the landing pit.

What should not be done when planting seedlings

What should be done when planting seedlings

7 beautiful ideas – Woman Delice

The idea of ​​growing fruits at home may seem strange to some, but city gardens and vegetable gardens on window sills have long become quite a powerful trend – thousands of residents of large cities grow fragrant herbs, lemons and other plants in their apartments , which not only decorate the interior, but also go into the culinary business.

Growing fruit trees at home is more difficult than keeping basil in a pot, but it is worth it: although it is hardly worth counting on large yields, from a decorative point of view, such plants fully justify the troubles in their maintenance.

an orchard in the apartment

Planting an apple or pear tree in a 30-meter apartment, of course, is pointless, but certain types of fruit bushes and trees feel very good in a pot - they grow well, give beautiful foliage, and with proper care they also bear fruit .

What could be more touching than drinking tea with lemon grown on your own windowsill?..

development of the root system.

Figs

Figs have very interesting foliage, are quite unpretentious, grow slowly and do well in a pot. In the apartment it is better to grow dwarf varieties (some can be ordered on amazon or searched from ornamental plant suppliers in your country) - for example, Negro Largo .

Ornamental varieties of figs (which do not produce fruit) grow well in shade and partial shade, edible varieties require full sun and are capricious about watering.

However, edible varieties require 2 to 5 years to start fruiting, and most often they take up quite a lot of space, so it hardly makes sense to grow this tree in a small apartment.

Lemons and limes

The most popular and least demanding home fruit trees. In the greenhouse, you can buy dwarf varieties of these fruits that do well in pots on windowsills and bear fruit regularly.

However, nothing prevents you from trying to grow a tree from the seeds of a lemon bought in a store - however, it is not a fact that it will begin to bear fruit in a pot, but you will definitely succeed in growing a beautiful green tree.

Lemon trees require a lot of sun, ideally 8-12 hours a day (which is generally logical), and they need high humidity - so they will have to be sprayed with water regularly, otherwise they will become sad.

And if you live in warm regions, then don't forget to "walk" your lemon tree for several months a year on the balcony or terrace, and then it will bring you many small lemons in gratitude!

Olive tree

The tree itself is quite unpretentious, and there are dwarf versions that not only do well in a pot, but also bear fruit - for example, Picholine , a variety that decorators and interior bloggers adore .

Like lemons, the olive tree requires at least 6 hours of sun a day, but it can be watered rarely, it tolerates dry periods well, so this tree is ideal for lazy owners.

Avocado

To be honest, it is very difficult to grow a tree in a pot that will produce avocados in an apartment, but it is possible - the trick is to plant not a germinated stone, but a cutting from a tree that bears fruit.

There are dwarf varieties of avocados (Gwen, Whitsell) that grow well in a pot and even bear fruit if properly cared for.

Like other southern trees, avocado loves the sun, so you need to put a pot with it on the south side of the apartment. However, if you don’t really count on fruits, then nothing prevents you from germinating a seed from an avocado bought in a store and growing just a beautiful green plant that will decorate your home.

Banana

Getting a banana tree to bear fruit in a pot is also almost impossible, it needs space and a special type of soil for this.

However, as a decorative accent, the banana tree works just fine, as it produces beautiful, dense foliage (and it's also great at converting carbon dioxide into oxygen).

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