Small Space Fruit Crops for Small Yards

How You Can Grow Fruit Despite a Small Yard

Growing fruit in a small back yard is easy to do providing the plants selected are designed specifically for small spaces. Instead of standard fruit trees, a small space gardener can grow dwarf fruit trees in pots or in a small,yet sunny corner of the yard. Bramble type fruits can be trained to grow upwards on trellises, and bush type fruits fit nicely in pots.

Here are some of the more common types of small space fruit crops, one of these may work for your small space garden.

Dwarf fruit tree are fruit trees that have been grafted to a particular variety of dwarfing rootstock. These dwarf trees grow smaller than a standard fruit tree yet will produce full sized fruit in as early as three years. In my own urban orchard, I've had dwarf apple trees that grew no higher than three feet yet still managed to produce about 35 yellow delicious apples per season. Other varieties of dwarf fruit trees can reach heights of 8-12 feet depending on the pruning styles.

Popular dwarf fruit tee fruits include a wide range of apples, plums, pears, peaches, nectarines, cherries, and apricots. While you probably won't grow enough fruit to can sufficient fruit for the winter, these trees will provide a family with plenty of fresh fruit during the summer growing season.

Dwarf fruit trees are best purchased from a reputable, local nursery where gardening professionals can best recommend a variety of dwarf fruit tree suitable for your plant hardiness zone.

Bramble-type berries are those that grow on thorny vines such as blackberries, raspberries, and loganberries. While these berries will sprawl and take over an entire yard if left alone, if pruned regularly, they really don't have to take up much space at all. My blackberries grow on a fence and take up a footprint of less than 18" in width which makes them ideal for running along the side of a yard.

Grapes are fantastic small space fruits that can also be trellised, or allowed to grow along the side of a house or on an arbor. There's many varieties of grapes available; popular picks might include seedless Thompsons for eating, and Concords for jelly making. Grapes only require about a foot of ground to grow in, and can provide a patio with shade in addition to fresh fruit.
 








Fruit varieties that can be grown in small space yards.
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