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What are the easiest fruit trees to grow


The Best Low-Maintenance Fruit Trees

Guest post by Rachael Baihn of LawnStarter.

There is something special about being picking a piece of fruit off a tree in your own garden. Some trees can grow to take up a lot of space while others can be kept quite small to adapt to your garden size. If you live in an urban jungle with little space on your patio or a home in suburbia with plenty of surrounding space in your backyard — there is always a way to create a thriving outdoor space full of fruitful plants, shrubs, and trees.

Depending on the variety you choose, some fruit trees are self-pollinating and some require a pollinator. Self-pollinating fruit trees include apricots, nectarines, peaches, and sour cherries; whereas fruit trees that require pollinators include apples, pears, plums, and sweet cherries. Trees requiring a pollinator may seem like additional work, however, it’s really just a strength in numbers game. Big or small orchard–here are tips on the best low-maintenance fruit trees to plant in your garden or fill your small outdoor space with.

  1. Plums

Requiring less care than other fruit trees, plum trees are an excellent choice for a low-maintenance orchard. They adapt to a wide variety of conditions and are more compact than other fruit trees that require little to no work. Plums are a stone fruit that are both delicious and beautiful. Most plum trees are not self-pollinating, so you will need to plant at least two plum trees to bear fruit. When planting a plum tree, it is important to make sure that the variety you choose will grow well in your climate. European, Japanese, and Damson plum varieties are available depending on your location.

Plum trees should be planted in well drained moderate soil that gets full sun exposure. Plant plum trees at the highest point of your garden to discourage frost from settling around the base as it can damage the tree. Plum trees do well in areas that are a bit sheltered from wind exposure as well. Standard sizes should be planted 20-25 feet apart while dwarfs should be planted 15-20 feet apart. Thinning branches is an important part of having plum trees in order to take off branches that are too small to hold the fruit weight. Water newly planted trees weekly and continue to water well into October to encourage stability during the winter. Prune young plum trees in early spring and established trees in the middle of summer to avoid infection.

Top 10 Fruit Trees

  1. Peach

Homegrown sun-ripened peaches are a staple for many pies, jams, muffins, and cobblers throughout the summer season. Peach trees grow best for gardeners who are in Hardiness zones 5-8 and possibly to zone 9 if winter temperatures don’t drop below -20°F. Peach trees love full sun and they need to be planted in soil that is well drained. Peach trees come in a large standard size or a smaller dwarf size, making this tree great for a variety of gardeners with different spaces. Plant standards 15-20 feet apart and dwarf varieties 10-12 feet apart. Check the tag on your peach tree to see if it is self-pollinating or if you need to purchase two.

  1. Pears

Juicy pears are a staple in summer and fall dishes and pear trees have little to no issues with disease or insects. Pears are not self-pollinating, so you will need at least two in a garden to produce any fruit. Pear trees are slow starters and probably won’t produce any fruit until at least 3 years after planting. However, once they are established, they should have plenty of years to bear good fruit.

 

Pear trees like well-drained soil in full sun and prefer areas of a garden that have good air circulation. Fire blight is the most common pear disease that is seen mostly in the Eastern United States. Choosing fire blight resistant varieties will help to deter this disease from ruining fruit. Standard size pear trees should be planted 20 feet apart and dwarf varieties should be 15 feet apart. Only a small amount of ammonium nitrate is required for pear trees and check with your local extension office on what is common in your area. Annual pruning is important in creating a central leader system to produce the most fruit.

  1. Cherries

If you want beautiful flowering trees with the bonus of edible fruit, then a cherry tree is a great option for a low-maintenance fruit tree. Both sweet and sour cherry trees are easy to grow and both fruits have a wide variety of uses. Sweet cherries are used for raw eating and you’ll need at least 2-3 trees for pollination. There is a dwarf sweet cherry tree that is self-pollinating that is new to most markets as well. Sour cherries are uses for jams and cooking and those trees are much smaller than sweet cherry trees.

There are both standard and dwarf sizes and it can be about 4 years before a cherry tree will begin producing fruit. Standard trees can become quite large and ladders will be needed in order to harvest all of the 30-50 quarts of fruit that they produce. Dwarf varieties will produce 10-15 quarts in ideal conditions. Cherry trees should be planted in late fall or early spring in an area of full sun with good air circulation. Sweet standard cherries should be planted 35-40 feet apart and dwarfs 5-10 feet apart. Sour standards should be planted 20-25 feet apart and dwarfs 8-19 feet apart. Cherries enjoy moist soil so applying mulch around the base of the tree will help encourage a moist environment. Netting may be required when fruit appears to keep area birds from feasting on the fruit. Fertilize trees in the spring until fruit appears then only do so after each harvest. Prune trees in late winter right before spring arrives.

Incorporating fruit trees into your garden is a great way to produce beauty as well as a bountiful harvest of fresh and juicy fruit. Consider starting with these low-maintenance fruit trees that don’t require aggressive watering and enjoy minimal fertilizer applications. Plum trees are a good option for smaller gardens while cherry trees will quickly fill out a space in providing shade and bounty of fruit. Peaches and pears are other low-maintenance tree varieties that will produce many years of quality fruit. Starting with any of these low-maintenance fruit trees is a great way to produce the best fruit for your garden.

Rachel Baihn is a landscape and gardening writer. She can often be found exploring the ever-so scenic Austin Greenbelt or enjoying the company of neighborhood dogs. 

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Top 5 Easy-To-Grow Fruit Trees for Beginners

Growing a fruit tree in one’s own yard can seem intimidating to people who have never considered it before. Fruit trees need constant attention and care, don’t they? The truth is that a lot of fruit trees are relatively easy to maintain and harvest from. However, many people fall into the trap of buying a tree of their favorite fruit right away without first understanding the demands the tree might have in order to flower and fruit properly.

Nothing is quite like picking fresh fruit right from the tree in your own yard. That’s why we want as many people as possible to be able to experience that joy. For those of you who have never cared for a fruit tree before, we made this guide on the top five easy-to-grow fruit trees for beginners to give you some ideas on good places to start. Once you have a little more experience under your belt, you can move on to other trees that may need more vigilance. To start, though, these trees are better than the rest for many different reasons.

First, we’ll go into the qualities that make a tree good for a beginner so that you can see the different factors you should consider before buying.

What Makes a Fruit Tree Good for Beginners?

What it really comes down to is how much attention you need to give your tree as it grows. The less you need to constantly check in on your tree’s health, the better of an option it makes for a beginner tree owner. Here are some of the qualities that make a fruit tree more ideal for an amateur.

Low Maintenance

Obviously, a tree that will require your full attention on most days isn’t going to be a great place to start. A fruit tree that needs very frequent pruning and trimming or more water than average will take more of your time and therefore be more difficult to tend to. Unless you plan on making tree-tending your next and biggest hobby, your best bet is to stick to a fruit tree that doesn’t require your attention every single day.

Resistance to Disease and Pests

No tree of any kind is fully immune to diseases or pest infestations. However, a number of fruit trees are far more susceptible to plant diseases or attract more pests that harm them. If you’re just starting out, you’ll want a fruit tree that can stand up to the diseases it might run into in your area. Fixing a tree that already has a disease or a pest infestation isn’t always a simple process, and it can be an expensive one, too. Search for a hardier fruit tree that won’t start to rot at the first sign of disease.

Favorable Climate

Some fruits simply grow better in warmer or colder climates than others. It might be incredible to have something such as your own mango or pineapple tree in your backyard, but if you live in a colder climate or a place with harsh winters, that simply won’t be a reality. Learning about your local climate is one of the first steps of deciding on a good fruit tree for your property.

Easiest Trees To Grow for Beginners

Now that you have a better idea about what makes a fruit tree good for an amateur, we can take a look at our top five easy-to-grow fruit trees for beginners. These are generally some of the easiest fruit trees to grow yourself.

Pear Trees

Many people consider pear trees to be the easiest fruit tree to grow on your own. Specifically, Asian pear tree varieties are well-known as the perfect fruit trees for beginners because of how simple they are to take care of and how much fruit they produce with little extra effort. For the most part, pear trees are also very resistant to a lot of diseases with which other fruit trees struggle. Fire blight is still a concern, but protecting a pear tree from it doesn’t take much effort. A few pear varieties are even self fertile, meaning you don’t need more than one tree for it to pollinate and bear fruit.

Plum Trees

You can find plum trees in a variety of different climates, which is one of the best parts of buying them for yourself. Many common European varieties of plums are self fertile, but you can also choose an American variety. It’ll need cross-pollination, but it will be even hardier than a European variety.

If you plan to buy plum trees online, make sure you transplant them into soil that can easily drain after a heavy rain. The only thing you really need to watch for is that the soil doesn’t get waterlogged.

Cherry Trees

You have a choice when it comes to picking a cherry tree for your own property: sweet cherries or sour cherries. Both are fantastic, but choosing the right one will depend on how you want to eat them. Sweet cherries are for eating right away, and sour cherries are for baking with. Many cherry varieties are self fertile, allowing you to stick with just one tree to start off with, but the fruit yields will be better if you can set up cross-pollination with another cherry tree.

Common Fig Trees

Fig trees are very resistant to disease, and they can also thrive in many different climates—even hot and arid ones. Most common fig trees are self pollinating, which lets you start off small to get a feel for growing them. They also grow very quickly compared to other trees, which is a good thing if you don’t have the patience to wait for a tree that needs to age for a long time before bearing fruit.

Apple Trees

The many different varieties of apples that are available to you give you a lot of options based on where you live and what you want to do with them. A few apple varieties, such as the Golden Delicious, are self fertile, but several other varieties will need cross-pollination. Apple trees tend to grow broader than they do tall, which makes harvesting from them much simpler.

Plant Me Green wants you to get the most out of your fruit trees, whether you’re brand new to owning them or an expert already. Our store has a huge selection of fruit tree varieties, so you’re sure to find the perfect tree for your yard if you check it out.

Tags: Apples Figs Fruit Trees Pear Trees Plums

5 fruit trees that you can easily grow at home from seeds or seeds

Any organism, as you know, constantly needs microelements and minerals that fruit fruits are rich in. In modern supermarkets, you can get almost any fruit, but they will not always be of the desired quality or freshness.

If you're willing to dedicate a little time on a regular basis to tending your own home orchard, our next resource is for you.

1. Tangerines

Mandarin is an evergreen fruit tree that can be grown at home. In height, it reaches no more than 4 meters, but do not be afraid - this is only by the age of 30. For the first 10-15 years, it will easily fit even in a small apartment.

Mandarin begins to bear fruit in 5-7 years. If you are ready to enlist patience, then remember the following simple tips:

2. Lemon

Growing homemade lemons is also quite a feasible task, but more seasonal. The fact is that a sprouting lemon tree needs about 11-14 hours of light per day, while an adult tree needs 8 hours. It is better to start germinating seeds in the spring.

The first lemons should appear on your table in 5 years, if the tree receives proper care.

3. Avocado

Avocado is perhaps the most exotic guest in our selection today, but if you wish, you can easily cope with it. Before planting an avocado in the ground, you will have to prepare seedlings. Cut a ripe fruit and fix it over a container of water, as shown in the picture. The bone itself should be immersed in water by 2-2.5 centimeters.

Place the structure in a warm place away from direct sunlight and wait for sprouts to appear in 2-6 weeks. After that, your plant can be transplanted into a pot.

Your efforts will bear fruit in 5-13 years.

4. Cherry

Cherry culture also adapts quite well to home conditions. To germinate cherry pits, you will need to place them in an airtight plastic container and refrigerate for up to 10 weeks. After sprouts appear, you can transplant them into the ground.

You will have to wait a little longer for your own cherry - from 7 to 10 years.

5. Pear

You need a little more patience to germinate pear seeds. Put them in a plastic container on a layer of moist soil and leave in the refrigerator for 2-3 months until sprouts appear. After that, the germinated seeds should be placed in a container with warm water for two days so that they take root better when planted.

Now you can plant your future tree in a pot. You can hope for the first fruits in 3 years.

If fruit trees, with proper care, can only benefit you, then some plants at home are better not to plant at all. Especially for you, "Reedus" found out which ones.

What fruit trees can be grown in an apartment?

An excellent place for planting and growing fruit trees could be a personal plot or summer cottage, but not everyone has a plot of land. However, you should not give up and throw this thing into a box of things that you want, but cannot do. Fruit trees can be successfully grown in an ordinary apartment, albeit with some assumptions and limitations. Let's expand our statement on two examples.

Contents:

1. Growing citrus fruits from seed

2. Growing avocados from seed

3. What other fruit trees can be grown at home?

Growing citrus fruits from seeds

When the choice arises which fruits could be grown right on the balcony of your apartment, the first thing that comes to mind is some orange, tangerine or lemon. They smell good, give juicy and tasty fruits and simply delight the eye with green foliage. However, if you just put a lemon seed in a vase, then it is unlikely that it will rise.

To grow a citrus tree, a large (here size plays an important role) stone is taken from the fruit, washed under a tap and left in a damp bandage or gauze for three days. Expert gardeners recommend treating with growth stimulants before planting directly into the ground, but this procedure cannot be called mandatory, just increasing the likelihood that the tree will sprout. The pots where the seeds will be planted must have drainage holes. The soil for citrus fruits is a substrate of earth, sand and humus, it is ready-made for sale in any garden department of supermarkets. The stone is immersed in the substrate no deeper than 3 cm.

Growth of citrus fruits is more active in a greenhouse, so the pots can be covered with a film, but do not forget about the flow of oxygen under it. If everything is done correctly, then in a month and a half a sprout will look out on the surface. From now on, the plant should be fed with mineral fertilizers. You can use ready-made mixes from the store. Pests can overtake a tree even in an apartment, so treating them is an important part of tree care. Plants also need warmth, light and water. Water them every day in season. Once every three years, the tree must be transplanted into a fresh substrate.

Growing an avocado from a seed

The avocado tree is very aesthetically pleasing, so it fits perfectly into any apartment interior. It is evergreen, which means it will not drop leaves for the winter and go into hibernation, flaunting its bare branches. In its natural environment, the height of the "alligator pear" tree reaches 20 meters. An apartment cannot be called a natural environment, so a home tree will not reach such sizes, which is good.

Planting avocados should not be done in ordinary pure black soil: the plant is unlikely to take root in such soil. Her "favorite" environment is slightly different. In a pot prepared for a plant, a soil mixture of peat, river sand and garden soil is laid in equal proportions. The stone is planted to a depth of 3 cm. Like any other plant, the avocado tree needs timely watering. A grown tree should be watered 4 times a week. Along with this, this fruit requires an increased amount of sunlight. The optimal habitat for the tree will be a balcony on the west side, if your apartment has one. In a month or two it will become clear whether the plant has taken root or not, when the surface of the earth breaks through or does not break through the sprout. Those who have already grown avocados at home recommend replanting it every year from the moment the tree reaches 15 cm in height.

Some growers use a non-standard way to germinate avocados. It is as follows. Three indentations are made in the bone, up to 5 mm deep, into each of which a toothpick is inserted. Then it is immersed by a third in a glass of water so that it hangs on its edges on toothpicks. This method should also sprout in a month.

"Biochelate" (specifically for plants) or any other fertilizer is suitable as a fertilizer, the packaging of which indicates the area of ​​application: for decorative flowers. The mineral solution is made in the ratio of 5 ml of the drug per 1 liter of water. They bring in the season 3 times a month, in the fall-winter once a month will be enough.

What other fruit trees can you grow at home?

The techniques described above for growing fruit trees at home, with only a few features, apply to all their other diversity. Here are examples of what else can be grown in an apartment:

Summing up all of the above, we conclude that the absence of a summer cottage is not a reason for refusing to grow fruit trees.

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