Fruiting trees
There are a huge range of fruiting trees to chose from, whether it is apple, pear or plum. Many are part of the rose family, despite their different forms and culinary uses such as almonds, crab apples and even strawberries. Fruits are split up to how they are grown or used and what you may be likely to plant with it. For example many gardens with an apple tree in the UK may also have a pear tree rather than almonds, which are nuts.
Apples, crab apples, fig, pear and quinces.
These fruit trees will grow happily in a garden or an orchard. Many varieties are grafted on to small stock to allow for pots and patios to add aesthetics as well as a crop to a garden. There are small and rather large varieties, especially the English apple tree, which can grow up to 10 m (33 ft) tall so do your research before buying.
Buy from garden centres, D.I.Y stores or supermarkets and if putting in the ground plant twice as deep as the pot it comes in. These fruits can grow from seed but it will be years before you are able to get a harvest. these trees can bush out, be trimmed or trained against a wall or fencing buy regular maintenance. Trees will flower from March and produce fruits for early autumn.
There are cold tolerant varieties but quinces and fig trees will need to be kept warm or protected over winter. Quinces are used to make preserves and desserts like the crab apple instead of being eaten fresh. Apples, figs and pears can be eaten in a variety of ways, if you get a glut you can cook or preserve them quite easily.
Citrus and olive trees
Olive and citrus trees like lemons, limes, mandarins, pomelo (including grapefruit) and oranges grow in warm winter climates. Hardiness zones 10 and above are suitable or in a greenhouse or poly tunnel in cooler areas. They do not tolerate frost well so may need to taken inside in any zone below 10, and need the sun and heat to produce fruit. Most people buy from a nursery or a garden centre as citrus trees take 3 years before they fruit. Olives take 5 - 8 years (or up to 80 years for slow growing ones) so it is best to buy as it is a long time to wait.
It is possible to grow from seed, orange and lemon are easier than the others. To do this use a heated propagator and once germinated keep warm and well watered. But remember you will not get fruit for the first 3 years.
These trees are prone to mould if trees do not get good aeration. Trees can flower in spring after producing buds in winter or early spring. Lemons are self-fertile but you can now get other self-fertile varieties. In the right conditions some trees such as lemons can fruit twice per year in spring and later summer. Whereas orange trees can take almost a year to fruit after producing flowers.
Stone fruit
Perfectly suited to gardens, patios and orchards are fruits like apricots, peaches, nectarines, cherries, sloes, plums and my favourite greengages. These trees require direct sunlight to grow and need well drained soil or the trees will have issues. You can do this by adding sand, compost and grit to large pots or the ground where you will plant trees.
It's a good idea to stake trees for the first couple of year to ensure they grow straight and do not suffer wind damage. If you want to prune do so from April - June but this is when trees flower and start to fruit so bare this in mind.
Plant trees from November - February, trees will start to flower from March or April for plums. I've found that apple trees blossom first. Fruit should be ready to harvest from July - late September or October for warmer climates. Damsons, greengages, sloes and mirabelles are types of plums. You may see damsons or sloes in hedgerows or growing wild. All fruits can be eaten fresh, but sloes and mirabelles have a specific time for this, usually when they resemble a plum, please talk to your nursery as these two are often processed in some way to make jams, desserts or alcohol.
Tropical fruit trees
This includes banana, dragon fruit, guava, jackfruit, kiwi, lychee, mango, passion fruit, paw-paw, persimmon, plantain, pomegranate and others require tropical (zones 11 - 13) whether this is outside or in a glasshouse with regulated temperature and moisture levels. However, if you have a heated greenhouse or conservatory why not give it a go? Although avocado and mango doe contain a large seed/stone they are grown and consumed as other tropical fruit.
Some plants from this category can be grown outside, the cocktail kiwi is hardy down to zone 5/4 and avocados can be grown indoors from zone 7 upward without the need for a setup like the Eden Project. It is possible to grow these two from seed, avocado half submerged in water until it sprouts, cocktail kiwi from seed in a heated propagator or sunny windowsill. Trees will flower in spring and by September you should be able to pick your own tropical fruit. Please note that trees will not fruit for the first few years so buying from a nursery of garden centre is advisable for the quickest harvest. They can also provide you with specific advice on a range of tropical plants. Some people do grow banana trees in the UK, however, typically they do not fruit due to the climate and are part of the garden design.
Tropical palms
Coconut, date and oil palm grow in tropical and sub-tropical conditions in zones 11 - 13, but dates can actually grow in zone 8 with the coldest snaps being around -12 degrees Celsius, such as much of the UK (see USDA zones for more info). Palms can add a tropical or aesthetic touch to gardens and many hardy palms.
Palms that can tolerate zone 8 (UK, Ireland, Belgium, north-eastern Spain etc) are dates and non fruiting (edible) palms including lady palm, cabbage palm and saw palmetto. It is worth considering using horticultural fleece, straw etc.
