If you know how to grow your own fruit trees, you have a lifetime’s supply of fresh organic fruit, without need to buy at the supermarket. Locally grown fruit is seasonal, free and tastes better. If you only have a small garden, you can still grow your own fruit using miniature fruit trees, or pruning to keep fruit trees to a smaller size.
See toxic plants to avoid near pets (also avoid cocoa/pine/rubber mulch near pets, and avoid fresh compost nearby, as it contains mould). Use humane safe slug & snail deterrents and use no-dig garden methods. If you use netting to protect fruit, see safer alternatives to netting for wildlife. Fruit trees & pips are toxic to pets, as are many trees (including oaks with acorns and yew) to horses.
- Grow a Little Fruit Tree is a super guide by Ann Ralph, who shares unique pruning techniques, to keep fruit trees to a fraction of their size. Now anyone can grow apples, plums, cherries and peaches.
- The Fruit Tree Handbook is a clear practical guide to grow apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines. Ben will also show you how to grow less common fruits like mulberries, medlars and figs. Plus you’ll find tips on restoring old orchards.
- The Apple Orchard is the delightful tale of England’s apple-growing orchards. ‘An orchard is not a field. It’s not a forest or a copse. It couldn’t occur naturally; it’s definitely cultivated. But an orchard doesn’t override the natural order.
- Community Orchards Handbook you how to grow an orchard and tackle legal issues regards selling produce. Plus you’ll get tips on ‘apple mapping’, saving local apples, harvesting and examples of community orchards. We have lost 60% of our orchards due to development and neglect, so must preserve the remaining 3000 varieties of apples.
- Tree 2 My Door sells fruit trees in plastic-free packaging. Measure your space (outdoor trees need lots of sunlight and water with well-drained soil). Indoor fruit trees should not be placed near central heating. With help, you can grow blueberries, plums, cherries, apples, pears and even satsumas and citrus fruits (toxic near pets).
- Grow A Little Fruit Tree is a lovely book with gorgeous illustrations, to help you grow miniature fruit trees. The secret is Ann Ralph’s special pruning techniques, which keep full-size fruit trees at a fraction of their normal size. Grow apples, plums, cherries, pears, apricots and peaches. Prune with Foxgloves (vegan).