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Your Own Home
Orchard
Backyard Orchards
Whether
you have lots of room or just a little room, you can grow fruit
trees in your garden - and the best part, it is not difficult.
Backyard orchard “culture”, is a method of growing fruit trees
differently from commercial orchards, to fit into the small places
and areas people have available in their urban landscape.
Fruit
trees can be espaliered along a fence, multiple trees in one
hole, growing columnar trees in a container, or even growing
combination trees with grafts of several different varieties
of one type of fruit on a single tree. Any of these options,
work perfectly in any size backyard.
The
key to any of these methods is controlling the size of
the trees you decide to plant. Small fruit trees yield manageable size crops and are
much easier to prune, thin and harvest than a larger tree. Keeping
your trees smaller also allows you to grow more varieties of
trees in your space.
Here
are a few tips to ensure the fruit trees you plant in your
backyard orchard don’t get too big:
Select the
right variety
Fruit trees can be grown on “dwarfing root stocks”
The dwarfing rootstocks will help to control the growth rate
and size of a tree, but the best way to control the size and
shape of any fruit tree is by pruning.
Prune during the right season
Winter
is typically the best time to prune your fruit tree, while
it’s dormant. Summer, though, is the most effective time for
general light pruning to control a fruit tree’s size and shape.
Pruning in the summer helps to control the vigor of the tree.
Plus it is a lot easier to make cutting decisions when fruit
is present on the tree.
Select the right site
The optimum site has full sun, good air circulation, and well-drained soil. No matter is your soil is good or poor, always add compost
or a soil amendment when you plant your tree. A good transplant
fertilizer will also help give your tree a great start. If
you have extremely poor-draining soil, consider planting your
tree in a raised bed. Up to 4 dwarf fruit trees can actually
be planted in a 4 ft x 4 ft raised bed that is at least a foot
high. Proper fertilization and watering will also help control
the growth rate of fruit trees. Fruit trees should not be grown
with a lot of nitrogen and water. Watering should only be necessary
a few times a year during our hot stretches once the tree is
established.
Learn more about recommended Fruit Trees. Learn more about resources for Fruit Tree information.
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