If one is serious about producing a large quantity of truly organic produce within a small space, then fruit trees are absolutely essential.
The advantages of fruit trees in your backyard farm garden far outweigh the disadvantages. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of fruit trees:
- Fruit trees, contrary to popular belief, require very little maintenance. It’s a tree.
- A mature fruit tree produces a huge quantity of produce! For example, one dwarf or semi dwarf apple tree can easily produce well over 100 pounds of apples per year. You will likely have two trees since most fruit trees need two different varietals in order to pollinate one another. That’s a lot of apples!
- There are lots of different types of fruit trees that grow well in temperate climates. Apples, peaches, plums, dwarf mandarin orange, pears, and cherries can all be grown in Northern Ohio for example (the tiny mandarin inside).
- Fruit trees form an essential part of a permaculture food forest. They can be planted with other plants to form beneficial guilds. See our article on home permaculture zones.
- Each fruit tree produces for years and years.
As with anything, there are disadvantages to having fruit trees in the backyard farm garden. Some of these may include:
- Fruit trees can be pretty expensive to purchase upfront, and likely for the fruit that you want, you will have to buy two of each. For example if you want apples, this means planting 2 separate apple trees (different varieties as well) that will bloom at the same time of year in order to cross pollinate. Tip: Sour Cherry trees don’t require 2 plants.
- Growing from seed is not really an option for a number of reasons, one being that it takes years and years for a seed to grow into a fruit producing tree. Professional fruit tree dealers are the way to go, despite the upfront cost.
- Backyard fruit trees take up much more space than vegetables and cast shade over areas that could be used to produce more vegetables. (although, once established, you will get a lot more food per square inch of land with fruit trees)
- It could be a year or more before your transplanted tree begins to produce. They are a longer term investment.
With regard to space, we use dwarf and semi dwarf trees in our backyard. Additionally, most fruit trees can be pruned to be very small if desired. They can even be espaliered and trained to grow flat against a fence or wall.
We have seen permaculture folks grow huge numbers of fruit trees in average sized yards. Think of how many of these one could plant along a border:
Remember, the ideal time to plant trees is in Spring and Fall. {but we have planted in the middle of Summer with no issues} Give fruit trees a try! Producing one’s own fruit is wildly satisfying.
Fruit trees also make make wonderful, creative gifts!
Thanks for reading, and please share this article if you found it helpful.