Growing Fruit Trees
Fruit trees need suitable climates, well-drained soil, proper planting, and maintenance throughout the season. It takes some planning and work to get them established, but once you do it's a joy to pick fruit fresh from the garden. Here's how to create your very own home orchard.
Site considerations
There are many things to consider when deciding which fruit trees are a good match for your garden, including:
• Careful evaluation of your microclimate
• Chill hours available (see below)
• Soil quality
• Access to water
• Space
• Protecting fruit from wildlife
Choosing a fruit tree
The best way to assure success is to choose fruit trees that work in your microclimate, and to grow them in the conditions they need. One important consideration is the number of chill hours required. Fruit trees (except citrus) need a specific number of cumulative hours of chilling (temperatures between 32°F and 45°F) to break winter dormancy. This varies by variety.
Preparation and planting
All edible plants require proper preparation and planting, and fruit trees are no exception. Fruit trees need proper spacing to avoid crowding and other problems. To get them off to a good start, make sure you follow guidelines for proper planting and handling.
Growing instructions
Cick on the individual trees below to learn how to grow healthy trees for sweet, delicious fruit for years to come.
> Apple
> Apricot
> Cherry
> Citrus
> Fig
> Olive
> Peach
> Pear
> Persimmon
> Plum
Pruning instructions
Pruning is different for every type of fruit tree. Most fruit trees benefit from summer and winter pruning. Refer to our full Pruning Library or click on the individual trees below for detailed tips, techniques, and timing.
Benefits of pruning fruit trees
• Controls size for easier harvesting and care
• Increases strength so weight of the fruit doesn't break branches.
• Distributes sunlight evenly throughout tree
• Regulates fruit bearing by removing excess fruitwood
• Renews fruitwood to continue strong buds and flowers
• Removes undesirable wood such as dead, broken, diseased, and crossing branches.
> HOW TO PRUNE COMMON FRUIT TREES
Maintenance
Use this maintenance schedule, which provides fruit tree care by type of tree and time of year.
Irrigation
Generally speaking, fruit trees need a large volume of water -- but not every day. The correct amount of water for a given fruit tree depends primarily on the size of the tree and the heat of the day. Here's detailed irrigation advice and guidelines, including examples of how long to water using different watering methods such as drip or sprinklers.
Pollination
Without pollination, flowers may bloom abundantly but will not bear fruit. To avoid this frustration, learn your fruit tree's pollination requirement. This will vary depending on your tree, climate, and regional conditions.
Fertilizing
Specialized fruit tree fertilizers can be purchased at nurseries. Be sure to follow all instructions. Do not add more fertilizer to help your tree “grow faster.” Excess fertilizer could damage your tree or get washed away in storm drains.
Fruit thinning
Fruit trees often produce more fruit than the branches can hold when young, and more fruit than the tree can support as it matures. Thinning fruit or removing extra fruit when the fruit is small is key to harvesting good-sized fruit. The amount of fruit to thin depends on the species and the overall fruit load on the tree.
Stone fruits produce one fruit per bud:
• Apricots and plums are fairly small, so they should be thinned to 2 to 4 inches apart on the branch.
• Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 3 to 5 inches.
• If excessive fruit have been set, more thinning may be required.
• If the fruit load is light, but one or two branches have a large amount of fruit, less thinning is required.
Pome fruits (apples and pears) produce a cluster of flowers and fruit from each bud:
• Thin to no more than one to two fruit per cluster, depending on the total fruit set and growing conditions.
• Retain the largest fruit whenever possible.
• When the crop is heavy, fruit should be spaced no less than 6 to 8 inches apart.
Propagation
If you eat a delicious peach and decide to plant the seed, you will be disappointed. Fruit trees require propagation by budding and grafting, which assures quality fruit plus disease resistance and other traits. Budded and grafted fruit trees are available bareroot in winter.
Pests and Diseases
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) encourages natural predators to control pests in your garden or orchard. Nature provides a balance between plant pests and the beneficial insects that control these pests. The less we do to tamper with that balance, the more likely it is to work successfully. How does it differ from organic gardening? Proponents of IPM are not opposed to the use of chemical controls, but use them only when necessary and only in amounts and with proper timing to minimize a negative effect on the beneficial bugs in the garden.
Learn more about common pests and diseases of individual fruit trees.
Harvest and storage
Ripening, harvesting, and storage requirements vary by the type of fruit. Taste and texture will be at their best if you use proper strategies. Here are guidelines for storage.
Fruit Tree Care Cards to Print & Keep!
Use Master Gardener and master pruner Susan Pearson's pruning and growing cards for specific fruit trees common in Marin. Print them out and keep them for easy reference.
APPLE
FIG
LEMON
PEACH
PEAR
PERSIMMON
PLUM
POMEGRANATE
BACK TO EDIBLES
> What Edible Gardens Need
> Best Choices for Marin
> How to Prepare
> How to Plant
> Edibles in Containers
> Planting Calendar
> Grow & Care Sheets for Vegetables, Herbs & Fruits
> Tips & Techniques
> How to Maintain
> Fruit Trees
> Top 20 Edible Garden Problems
> Cover Crops & Soil Enhancements in the Off-season
> Conserving Water
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Visit our EDIBLE DEMO GARDEN at IVC Organic Farm & Garden
Ergodynamic Hügelkultur at the Edible Demonstration Garden
At the EDG Row 1 and 2 are closest to the hedge that is home to rabbits, squirrels, quail and numerous other creatures that love to devour our crops. Our tried and true methods for protecting our tender seedlings with hardware mesh on the bottom and protective netting on the top have been regularly defeated.
So this spring we installed 4 new raised beds in row 1 & 2. All are 7 feet long by 2 feet wide. Two of them are 15 inches high and two of them are 29 inches high. We are looking forward to planting in these without having to get down on our hands and knees or bed over. 24-36 inches is recommended as the best height for raised beds. And the 2 foot wide width eliminates back issues when reach across the bed.
But a lot of soil is required for the tall beds, specifically 8 cubic feet. We used a modifed form of Hugelkulture and filled the bottom half with sticks and branches that had recently been cut from the orchard on the farm. For the two tall raised beds they each required 4 wheel barrels of native soil, 4 wheel barrels of young compost and 4 wheel barrels of finished compost. Thank you Eric D and Vanessa L for taking the lead.
We may still have to use protective netting to keep the birds out, depending on the crop, but hopefully all the critters that live in the hedge next door won’t be able to easily get access.
Article by Jean Christofferson
January 2025: Natives in the Edible Garden
Native Plants Attract Pollinators and Invite Beneficial Insects
Native plants also invite beneficial insects that are natural enemies of vegetable garden pests. Beneficials such as hoverflies, lady beetles, and lacewings go where they find the herbivorous insects they like to eat. It doesn’t matter to them whether their prey is on an edible plant or a native. The natives keep the beneficial insects nearby, so they are there to control pests when the vegetable crops are planted.
Native Plants Improve Soil Health
Native plants support soil biodiversity by providing habitat for beneficial microorganisms like fungi and bacteria. Some can act as nitrogen-fixers to improve soil fertility. Natives with deep root systems can improve soil structure by creating channels through which water and nutrients can penetrate. When the roots and leaves of the native plants die back, they add organic matter to the soil reducing the need for soil amendments.
Native Plants are Low Maintenance
Natives don’t need fertilizing and require little watering once they are established. While some need deadheading and cutting back, it’s best to minimize the kind of tidying up that’s done in the edible garden. The native plants can offer a refuge for beneficial populations, providing them with undisturbed nesting and overwintering sites. Ideally the native plants attract enough beneficial insects and other natural enemies to maintain a healthy balance so that pests are kept in check.
Native Plants Add Beauty and Interest
Native plants bring unique beauty to the garden. The natives planted in the Edible Demo Garden were initially chosen to provide blooms throughout the year. Some flower early and bring color into the winter garden and others extend their blooming period into late fall. They add contrast to the flowering of the vegetables and fruit trees. Ceanothus ‘Concha’ now masks the compost bins with its copious cobalt blue flowers in early spring. Coast Aster, Aster chilensis, provides bright, daisy-like blossoms throughout summer and fall. Bees and hummingbirds enjoy the showy red tubular blooms of California fuchsia, Epilobium, into late fall. The goal to bring native plants into the Edible Demo Garden to provide year-round beauty has been achieved.
For more information on growing native plants, click here.
December 2024: Giving the Garden a Rest
Planting cover crops
There are many advantages to planting cover crops. Cover crops, sometimes referred to as “green manure”, are an excellent way to protect and improve soil. They increase organic matter, suppress weeds, prevent damage from wind and water erosion, and support beneficial insects and earthworms. Plus, they can look attractive while nurturing the garden.
Two different cover crops were chosen for the Edible Demo Garden. Fava beans were planted in several of the garden beds and in the straw bales used for the summer crops. The latter is an experiment to determine if there is sufficient residual fertility in the straw bales to support another crop. In order to aid in germination and enhance their nitrogen fixing effects, the fava bean seeds were soaked in an inoculant containing rhizobacteria prior to planting. As an alternative cover crop, a green manure mix of bell beans, field peas, and purple/hairy vetch was planted in some of the raised beds. Past experience with crows eating the sprouting seeds necessitated the use of compost, straw, and protective netting to give the cover crop seedlings a fighting chance. The effectiveness of the different cover crops will be tested in spring when it is time to plant again.
Allowing beds to remain fallow
Click here for more information on cover crops and soil enhancement in the off-season.