Container Gardening Complete

Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 102 6/5/17 4:22 PM
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 103 5/24/17 11:12 AM

102 chapter 2

Backyard Fruits

Choosing the right fruit varieties is extremely

important because not every backyard fruit

variety can handle the stress of container culture.

Toward the end of this section, you’ll find step-

by-step plans for a containerized berry garden

featuring a combination of blueberries and

strawberries, but there are lots of other options for

backyard container-grown fruits and berries.

Essentially, backyard fruit is grown on five

different types of plants: trees, shrubs, brambles,

vines, and herbaceous plants. Let’s look at each of

them in turn.

Fruit Trees

Fruit trees make a great addition to the container

garden, but not all fruits are a good fit. Most fruit

trees (except for citrus) require a specific number

of chill hours below 45°F to properly grow and

bud. If you live in a warmer climate, be prepared

to do some research to find the specific varieties

that require a lower number of chill hours. For

example, some apples require as little as 100

chill hours while others need well over 500. Up

north, look for varieties with a higher number

of required chill hours to keep the trees from

breaking dormancy too soon.

There are two different types of fruit trees that

work well in containers: dwarf and columnar.

Dwarf Fruit Trees

First and foremost, look for dwarf or mini-dwarf

selections. If you’d like to grow apples, pears,

peaches, and other fruit trees in containers, only

dwarf or mini-dwarf varieties will do. Dwarf fruit

trees are created by grafting the fruiting buds of a

desired variety onto a dwarfing rootstock (or root

system) of another variety.

Apples (Malus pumila). Any apple that’s grafted

onto a dwarfing rootstock is a good candidate

for container culture as long as you have a large

enough container, but apples grafted onto special

rootstocks such as EMLA 27 and G65 are known as

Apple trees need a cross-pollination partner to

produce fruit. That means you’ll need to grow two

dierent trees, each of a separate variety. Or, grow trees

with multiple varieties grafted onto the same tree.

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Designing and Planting Your Containers 103

mini-dwarf apples, and they reach only 4 to 6 ft. in

height but are highly productive. They’re perfect

for small yards and container gardens.

Since apple trees are not self-fertile (meaning

the pollen from one particular variety is not

able to fertilize the flowers of the same variety),

you’ll need at least two different varieties to

ensure ample pollination. The varieties must

be compatible pollination partners, and they

must be in bloom at the same time. Nurseries

specializing in fruit trees often provide lists of

good pollinizer partners.

If you can only grow a single apple tree

due to space restrictions, consider growing a

combination tree. These trees are created by

grafting multiple apple varieties onto the same

tree. The different varieties serve to pollinate

each other, so only one tree is needed. Each

branch bears one of the varieties.

Pears (Pyrus communis). Pears aren’t the best

choice for container gardens, as even dwarf

varieties can grow quite large, but if you’re able

to find a variety that’s grafted onto a specialty

dwarfing rootstock, specifically one named

Pyrodwarf, you’ll have better luck. Trees grafted

onto these specialty rootstocks stay under 15 ft. at

full maturity with one annual pruning. Pears bear

some fruit without a cross-pollination partner

but do far better with a pollinator variety nearby,

which means you’ll need two or more trees, each

of a different variety.

Apple trees (Malus pumila) do quite well in large

containers, but only if they’re dwarf varieties.

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