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Wondering about the best fruit trees for the backyard? Keep reading to learn more about choosing fruit trees to grow in your back yard at home.
Choosing Fruit Trees For The Backyard
Gardening can be a rewarding and therapeutic hobby, and growing fruit trees in your backyard can bring additional benefits that go beyond the aesthetic appeal. Have you ever wondered about the perks of having your own mini orchard right at your doorstep? If you are new to gardening, this introductory guide will enlighten you on the reasons to consider planting fruit trees.
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Everyone yearns for fresh, organic fruits. When you grow your own, you know exactly what you're eating - no pesticides or artificial ripening agents involved. Imagine stepping into your backyard and picking a juicy apple or a handful of ripe cherries. Not only does this give you an endless supply of fresh fruits, but it also promotes a healthier diet. You'll have easy access to nutritious snacks just a few steps away.
Lastly, fruit trees are key to promoting a healthier ecosystem around your home. They attract a variety of birds and beneficial insects, which in turn help to keep certain pests in check. Plus, they provide shade, reduce soil erosion, and help improve the overall air quality. So, not only are you enhancing your garden's beauty and reaping delicious, healthful fruits, but you're also contributing positively to the environment.
Benefits of a backyard orchard
Being able to set up a backyard orchard is always a lot of fun, and gives the entire family the chance to enjoy fresh fruit during the summer and fall. Growing fruit trees in your backyard is all about choosing the right trees for your backyard habitat and hardiness zone.
Whether you plant just one tree, or an assortment of trees, choosing the trees is a small decision that makes a huge difference to how well the trees do, how much time you need to spend caring for them and how much fruit you will be able to harvest.
What is the easiest fruit tree to keep alive?
The apple tree is often touted as one of the easiest fruit trees to keep alive, particularly for beginners. These trees are quite hardy and adaptable, flourishing in a wide range of climates and soil types. They also bear fruit relatively quickly—within 2-5 years of planting—providing a gratifying reward for the gardener's efforts. Pruning and regular pest control are key to maintaining a healthy apple tree, but these tasks are generally manageable even for novice gardeners.
What fruit tree has the least pests?
The Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba) is often hailed as one of the fruit trees with the least pests. This native North American tree produces custard-like, tropical-tasting fruit and is generally resistant to most common pests. The tree secretes natural insecticides which repel many pest species. That said, no tree is entirely pest-free, and local conditions can impact pest population
Tips to choose fruit trees
Use these tips to help you choose fruit trees that are suitable for growing in your backyard:
Understand the Soil
However you decide to plant your fruit trees in the backyard, whether directly into the soil or in a garden bed, it is important that you know the soil. Trees are super resilient, and great at adapting to the soil they are planted in, but in order for fruit trees to bear fruit, they need to be able to find nutrient rich soil. Well drained, not packed soil that has a balanced pH level is best for fruit. Fertilizer can be added to amend the soil depending on the type of fruit trees you plant.
Sun and Space
The next step to choosing fruit trees for the backyard is to check out the space you have available and the amount of sun those spaces receive. Fruit trees need plenty of sun, its the only way they can get enough energy to be able to grow their fruit. Make sure that you are not planting the trees in the shade or canopy of another tree. Space is another factor that is going to play into the health and growth of your tree choice. While there may be enough clear space on the ground for a tree to be planted, look up and determine how many feet on each side of a planting spot would a canopy have free space to grow.
Choosing a Tree
Choosing the type of fruit tree comes down to two factors, what your yard can support and what type of fruit you want to grow. Whatever you grow, you will have an abundance of, so make sure it is a type of fruit that you love and can eat or process a lot of.
Apple, pear and peach trees produce larger fruit that the average family should be able to harvest and use with ease. Cherry trees produce a huge number of smaller fruits that take a lot more time to collect and might need to be shared. A lemon, limes, grapefruit or orange tree produces a decent amount of fruit. But, with fruit like lemons or limes, you might also need to share because there are only so many lemons that the family can use.
So, whatever tree you choose, make sure that the soil, sun and space are there for the type that you decide on. Look for trees that are young and have not been out of the soil for too long. Fruit trees that have healthy leaves and roots that are loose and not tightly coiled. Trees that already look like they are struggling to survive might not survive through the first season, or take one to two growing seasons to regain their health.
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