26 AMATEURGARDENING 24 AUGUST 2019

Small fruit tr

Youdon’tneedbigspacestogrowa feastof flavoursomefruits.AnneSwithinbank

showsyouhoweasyit canbetocultivateyourownminiaturetreesforpotsandpatios

S

HOULDI needtounwind,I will

wanderthroughoursmallorchard

ofapple,plumandpeartrees,full

ofblossomandbeesin spring

andnowladenwithfruit.I amluckyto

havethespace– butanyonewitha

smalloutdoorarea,orthosewhoare

nolongerphysicallyabletomanagea

largegarden,canstillenjoyanorchard

ofminiaturetrees,withblossom,insects

andfruitona smallerscale.

Dwarftreesgrowingnotallerthan

5-6ft(1½-1.8m)offerotheradvantages.

Youcanreachtoprune,thinoutand

pickfruitand,in thecaseof cherries

andplums,protectthecropfrombirds.

Mostvarietiessoldforpotsandpatios

0areself-fertile,sotheydon’thaveto

relyonnearbypollinatingpartners.

Toanextent,graftingvarietiesonto

dwarfingrootstockscontrolsthesizeof

fruittrees,yetcultivarsalsovarygreatly

in vigour.I havethreeapplesgrowingas

uprightcordonsonidenticalrootstocks,

but‘RedWindsor’is morecompactthan

itsneighboursandrequiresfarless

summerpruning.Mostso-calledpatio

varietieshavebeenselectedfortheir

naturallydiminutivehabit.Plantingin

containersfurther restricts growth, but

canalsocause problems when trees

becomeroot-bound. I would always

opttoplantin the ground if possible.

Smallis beautiful

Bothdiminishing plot sizes and the need

fora moremobile garden have inspired

a wealthof compact trees. The pink

blossomof Apple ‘Appletini’ is followed

byanabundant crop of sweet miniature

fruitsfromAugust. Plum ‘Black Amber’

is well-named, delivering dark-skinned

fruitswithcreamy yellow flesh from August

toSeptember. Cherry ‘Sylvia’ brings spring

How to grow...

Peachesusuallycome

truefromseed,andthis

neat,fruitingplantis a

secondgenerationfrom

ouroriginal‘Bonanza’

The tempting fragrant bounty of hardy Cydonia oblonga

‘Leskovac’ is well within your grasp, even in a small garden

All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited

Pot on containerised fruit trees

every other year in late winter,

topdressing in between. Old,

tired trees in final pots are best

rejuvenated by root-pruning

while dormant, before

potting back into their

original pots.

The dainty white fl owers of Prunus avium ‘Stella’,

a compact cherry tree that will reward you with

delicious scarlet fruits and autumn leaf colour

blossom,deliciousfruitsandautumnleaf

colours.Thereis evena dwarfquince,

‘Leskovac’,withroundedsilveryleaves

thatactasa backdroptogreen-pink

blossomand,fromOctober,aromatic

fruitsthatareperfectforjamsandjellies.

Apple ‘Red Spur’: take care planting in

containers as trees can get root-bound