The Fruit Garden

 

Over the past few years, demand for and interest in home-grown fruit has increased greatly. This may be due to concern over the use of chemicals and treatments by commercial growers; the awareness of the benefits and importance of fresh fruit in our diets; or simply the appeal and satisfaction of the improved flavour of freshly gathered fruit, including cultivars that may not be available in the shops.

A fruit garden can not only be productive, but attractive as well, with many plants producing striking blossom and eye-catching fruit. Fruit may be grown in any amount of space; whilst only large gardens might be able to accommodate an extensive orchard, even the smallest garden or patio could have room to grow a wall-trained apple or pear tree.

There is nothing better than fruit ripened naturally, hand picked and freshly eaten. In this section, we aim to help you to design and plan your own fruit garden, with tips on choosing the right fruit, step-by-step pruning and training guides and ideas on how to harvest, store and preserve the final product.

Planning Your Fruit Garden
Selecting the right fruits, cultivars and tree forms for your fruit garden ...
Site Requirements
Thinking of planting a fruit tree or bush? Find out the type of climate and soil it needs to thrive ...
Preparing the Site
Making sure that the soil structure, pH and drainage is suitable for planting your fruit trees, bushes and vines ...
Planting Fruit
How to plant fruit trees, bushes, canes and vines ...
Training Wall Fruits
A series of step by step guides to show you how to train your fruit trees or bushes into espaliers, fans or cordons ...
Maintenance
Keeping your fruit plants healthy with regular thinning feeding and watering ...
Protecting Fruit Plants
Find out how to prevent your fruit trees and crop from becoming damaged by frost, wind, birds or animals ...
Harvesting Fruit
Tips for picking your crop of fresh fruit ...
Storing Fruit
Extend the life of your fruit by weeks - and even months - by using the right storage or preservation technique ...
The Gardening Year
A schedule of work for planting, pruning and propagating fruit trees, bushes and canes ...