Plant Fruit Trees in Your Garden

Planting trees in your garden comes with many benefits. The first one is that
you will save a lot of money on organic fruits expenditure, and it is
good for the environment too. Fruit trees can be productive for about 15
to 20 years with minimum effort on your part while during the peak
season, the plants can produce more than you can consume.

Reasons to plant fruit trees

The first reason why you should plant fruit trees is that you are sure of
your own supply or organic fruits, and you know exactly what you are
eating. This also allows you to have a steady supply of fruit all year
round since you can preserve the surplus in fall, and it allows you to
share the surplus with friends.

The other main benefit is that it
allows you to save on organic fruit expenditure since the cost of
organic of is always high. Lastly, fruit trees filter the air, provide
shade, condition the soil, and attract pollinators to other plants in
the garden.

Choosing the fruit trees

Usually you find them
in three main sizes, which are standard, dwarf, and semi-dwarf. The
dwarf size is best for small spaces, and they can grow within an 8-inch
diameter comfortably. They are also easy to prune and harvest, yet they
take shorter to begin producing compared to their taller counterparts.

The
semi-dwarf sizes require a growing area of about 15 inches in diameter.
They need pruning annually to maintain a good shape and the right
height. Occasionally, these trees take time off and are unproductive for
about one year, more so after a highly productive season.

The
standard fruit trees are apples, plums, pears and others similar trees.
When you choose to plant these fruit trees in your garden, you must have
substantial space, and prepare for intensive pruning. They can grow 25 –
30 inches in diameter, and may take several years to reach maturity
stage when they begin fruiting.

Maintenance

The basic
maintenance tasks after you plant fruit trees include pruning, weeding,
and occasional fertilising. Smaller trees are easier to manage and
spray, while larger trees are more difficult to manage. If you choose
smaller trees, this will allow you to have many of them within a small
space, and at the same time, it will allow you to have a variety of
fruits that last longer seasons.

Choosing the fruits to plant

It
is important for you to consider the garden’s soil type as well as the
local climatic conditions along with the space available. You can
actually ask you local nursery on the varieties that would do well in
your area. The other consideration is matching the plants with the soil
conditions, for instance, plums do best in moist soil, while apples will
do well in drier soil. You must also consider the availability of
pollination, since not all fruit trees are self-pollinating. Lastly
choose plants that offer an extended harvesting season that will offer
maximum return on investment.