Growing fruit trees at home comes down to four decisions: choose fruit that suits your climate (USDA zone and winter chill hours), pick a tree size that fits your space (dwarf, semi-dwarf or standard rootstock), plant it while dormant in sunny, well-drained soil, and learn the pruning and pest timing for that fruit. This guide gathers every Garden Voila fruit article in one place, grouped by fruit, so you can go from choosing a tree to storing the harvest.
Free download: get our printable Year-Round Garden & Preserving Planner with planting dates, blanching times, canning safety numbers and storage charts.
How do you choose the right fruit tree?
| Your situation | Good starting choices | Read first |
|---|---|---|
| Cold winters (zones 3 to 5) | Hardy apples, Superior and Toka plums, sour cherries, Contender peach, pawpaw | Dwarf cherry trees |
| Mild winters, hot summers (zones 8 to 10) | Figs, citrus, low-chill peaches and plums, jujube, pomegranate | Fig tree guide |
| Small yard or patio | Dwarf and columnar trees, container citrus, raspberries in pots | Dwarf apple trees |
| Only room for one tree | Self-fertile varieties: Stella cherry, Santa Rosa plum, most peaches and figs | Self-pollinating apple trees |
| Poor, dry or alkaline soil | Jujube, pomegranate, fig, olive | Best soil for fruit trees |
| Want fruit fast | Peaches, figs, berries, dwarf trees | How long peach trees take to fruit |
Find your zone with the growing zone finder and your frost dates with the frost date tool before you buy.
Planting and soil
Most fruit tree failures start at planting: the wrong season, a soggy site or a buried graft union. Start with timing and soil, then size the hole with the planting hole size calculator.
- When to plant fruit trees: bare-root vs container timing by zone.
- Best soil for fruit trees: drainage, pH and preparing the site.
- Fruit tree fertilizer: what, when and how much to feed.
- How to stake a tree: when young trees need support.
- Cocktail fruit trees: several fruits grafted onto one tree.
Apples and crabapples
Apples grow in more climates than almost any other tree fruit, but most need a pollination partner, and rootstock decides whether you get a 6-foot or 25-foot tree.
- Dwarf apple trees and columnar apple trees for small spaces.
- Self-pollinating apple trees and when to plant apple trees.
- Varieties: heirloom apples, Wolf River, Liberty, Golden Delicious, Kanzi and crabapples.
- Growing and propagation: how long an apple tree takes to grow, growing apples from seed and grafting apple trees.
- Pruning: when to prune apple trees and fixing a badly pruned apple tree.
- Flowers, harvest and storage: apple blossoms, when apples are ready to pick, how to store apples and making hard cider.
Pears and Asian pears
Pears are long-lived and tolerate heavier soils than most fruit, but fire blight is the problem to plan for, and European pears ripen best off the tree.
- Types of pears, Bartlett, Seckel and Moonglow.
- Asian pears: Nashi pears and Hosui.
- How to prune a pear tree, when to pick pears and fire blight on pear trees.
Peaches and nectarines
Peaches bear within 2 to 4 years and most are self-fertile, but you need to match chill hours to your climate and prevent leaf curl with a dormant spray.
- Peach tree care guide, nectarine trees and dwarf peach trees.
- Varieties: Contender, Redhaven, Belle of Georgia, white peaches and freestone peaches.
- Growing: how long peaches take to fruit, growing a peach from seed and when to prune peach trees.
- Problems: peach leaf curl and peach tree leaf problems.
- Harvest: when to pick peaches and how to ripen peaches.
Plums, prunes and plum hybrids
European plums are mostly self-fertile and cold-hardy, Japanese plums are juicier but usually need a partner, and American hybrids handle the coldest winters.
- Types of plum trees and pluots, plumcots and apriums.
- Varieties: Italian prune, Santa Rosa, Burgundy, Toka, Superior, Chickasaw and cherry plum.
- How to prune a plum tree, plum curculio and how to make prunes.
Cherries and apricots
Dwarfing rootstocks such as Gisela 5 have made cherries practical in small gardens, while apricots reward gardeners who can protect their very early blossoms from frost.
- Sweet vs sour cherry trees, dwarf cherry trees, Stella and Rainier.
- When to prune cherry trees and growing cherries from seed.
- Dwarf apricot trees and almond trees, a close relative.
Persimmons, figs, olives and pomegranates
These fruits shrug off pests that plague apples and peaches, tolerate heat and drought, and suit Mediterranean-style gardens.
- Persimmon varieties, Hachiya vs Fuyu, Saijo and chocolate persimmon.
- Fig trees, pruning figs and drying figs.
- Arbequina olive and fruitless olive trees.
- Cold-hardy pomegranates and pomegranate season.
- Jujube trees, a heat-loving “Chinese date”.
Citrus and tropical fruit
Outside frost-free climates, most citrus and tropical fruit are grown in containers and moved indoors for winter. Size pots with the container garden planner.
- Citrus: Meyer lemon in a pot, lime trees, mandarins, kumquats and citrus leaf miner.
- Tropical: Blue Java banana, sapodilla, star fruit, Java apple, strawberry guava and growing lychee from seed.
Native, nut and unusual trees
- Pawpaw, North America’s largest native fruit.
- Hazelnut (filbert) and almond.
- Flowering quince for ornamental flowers and jelly fruit.
Berries, brambles and vines
Berries fruit in a year or two and fit almost any garden, making them the fastest way to homegrown fruit.
- Blueberries: blueberry bush care, best soil for blueberries, when to plant and pink blueberries.
- Raspberries: Heritage raspberry, raspberries in pots and raspberry companion plants.
- Blackberries and hybrids: blackberry trellis ideas and boysenberries.
- Others: gooseberries, bare-root strawberries and grape vine trellises.
Pests, diseases and protecting the crop
Most fruit problems are predictable by season. Identify the problem first with the plant problem identifier or the pest identifier, and treat only when needed.
- Diseases: peach leaf curl, fire blight and copper fungicide for dormant sprays.
- Insects: plum curculio, worms in apples, citrus leaf miner and neem oil spray.
- Birds: bird scare tape and netting, sized with the garden netting calculator.
Pruning and harvest calendar
| Season | Main jobs |
|---|---|
| Late winter | Plant bare-root trees; prune apples, pears and peaches; dormant sprays for leaf curl |
| Spring | Protect blossoms from frost; thin young fruit; watch for curculio and fire blight |
| Summer | Prune cherries and plums after harvest; net berries and cherries; water deeply |
| Fall | Harvest apples, pears, persimmons and pomegranates; plant container trees in mild climates; clean up fallen fruit |
Estimate picking dates with the harvest date calculator and plan feeding with the garden fertilizer calculator. For regional performance and variety trials, your state’s Cooperative Extension service is the best source; for example, Utah State University’s guide to dwarf fruit trees and Penn State’s home orchard site selection guide.
For apple scab, brown rot, cedar-apple rust, spotted wing drosophila and other fruit problems, see the plant pests and diseases library.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest fruit tree to grow?
Figs in warm climates and sour cherries or hardy plums in cold ones are among the easiest, with few pests and self-fertile flowers.
Which fruit trees bear fruit the fastest?
Peaches, figs and trees on dwarfing rootstocks often fruit in 2 to 3 years; berries fruit in 1 to 2.
Do I need two fruit trees for pollination?
For most apples, pears, sweet cherries and Japanese plums, yes; peaches, sour cherries, figs and many European plums fruit alone.
Can fruit trees grow in pots?
Yes. Dwarf and genetic dwarf trees, citrus and figs grow well in containers of 15 to 25 gallons.
When is the best time to plant a fruit tree?
While dormant: late winter to early spring for bare-root trees, and spring or early fall for container trees.