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Fruit Tree Planting  - Is It Better To Plant Large Fruit Trees?

By Susan Poizner

Most homeowners who are keen to plant fruit trees are in a bit of a rush. They love the idea of a fruit tree in their yard, but they are even more excited about enjoying a big harvest of delicious organic fruit.

So many think they’ll be saving time by investing in a large fruit tree, perhaps a potted tree that is three to five years old. They assume the older tree will produce fruit quicker and that the extra investment in buying a larger tree is worth it.

But, there are pros and cons when it comes to planting a large fruit tree. In this blog I’ll explore them and give you information to help yourself – and your clients - take care of the fruit trees, large or small. Now lets dig in!

Buying a Tree – Small? Or Large?

When you go to a garden centre to buy a fruit tree, you don’t have much choice. There will be a small selection of few fruit tree cultivars for you to choose from and all of them will be potted trees, ready to plant in your yard at any time during the growing season.

When you order fruit trees from a specialist fruit tree nursery, it’s a different experience as they offer a wider selection of cultivars to choose from. The advantage is that you can research and select a tree that will thrive in your unique conditions.

When you order a tree from a specialist fruit tree nursery, they will ship it to you in the early spring or late fall when the tree is dormant. This bare root tree will need to be planted right away when you receive it so it doesn’t get emerge from dormancy before planting.

The question is…do you want to order your bare root fruit tree as a whip – a year old tree that looks like a tiny twig with roots? Or your specialist fruit tree nursery may also sell larger, two or three-year-old trees.

Your choice of tree will affect your fruit tree growing experience. In general bare root trees always, if planted correctly, adapt better to their new environment than potted trees from your garden center.

The advantage of ordering a whip is that you’ll have more control over creating the structure of your tree using correct annual fruit tree pruning. The advantage of the larger tree is that it will look a little better in the landscape right away. Both trees will grow quickly if they are properly pruned each year.

But more about pruning in the next section.

Controlling tree size with correct annual pruning

There are many reasons to keep your fruit tree small. Here are a few of them: 

  • Fruit trees can grow to be very tall! We’ve all seen cherry trees that are taller than two-story houses. Cherry trees are vigorous growers but even apple and pear trees can grow huge. When you have such a large tree, much of the fruit on the upper part of the tree is wasted, as it is difficult to harvest. 
  • Big trees get messy, as ladder-fearing homeowners wait until the fruit falls to the ground. By that time the fruit is soft, half-rotten, and unappealing. Who wants to use mushy, bird-pecked or wormy apples in their pie? 
  • Big trees are also hard to care for. Even if you are growing your fruit trees organically, you do have to spray them from time to time with organic sprays. It’s hard to spray a huge tree. 
  • All fruit trees need specialist annual fruit tree pruning to ensure good air circulation and to give all the branches have equal access to light. Pruning is much more difficult if you have a really big tree. 
  • If you’re interested in large, sweet fruit rather than smaller fruit that’s as hard as a rock, you will need to hand thin some of the baby fruit on your trees, plucking off some of the fruitlets early in the season so that the remaining fruit has room to grow to full size. Who is going to hand thin the fruit on the upper branches? 

I could go on and on, but by now you get the picture. Smaller trees are better and if you keep your tree small – anywhere from ten to 14-feet tall - you’ll have room for other plants in your garden too. You might even have room for a couple more fruit trees.

Options for Keeping Fruit Trees Small and Productive 

So…what’s the secret? How do you keep a fruit tree small?  Here are two options:

  • Control the size of the tree by selecting and planting a tree that has been grafted onto dwarfing rootstock. The problem here is that trees grown on dwarfing rootstock are often weak and need staking. But they still can be planted successfully and enjoyed by the owner. 
  • Learn fruit tree pruning skills. My favorite approach is Central Leader style pruning, which allows all the branches to have access to the sun, and ensures good air circulation. 

For optimal control of tree size, you want to start by pruning your fruit tree on the very first day that you plant your bare root tree. That first cut is called a “whip cut”, slicing off the top third of the tree to spur vigorous growth and encourage the tree to focus its energy on its root system.

Then, each year after that, you will shape your tree with your hand pruners or loppers. You can prune young trees in the early spring while they are dormant to encourage vigorous growth.

Once the tree has reached an appropriate size, you may opt instead for summer pruning. That way you can reduce the size of the tree or the length of the branches without spurring tons of new growth during the growing season.

Your fruit tree will still grow. But just not as much. Which is good if you want to keep it small.

But what if you already have a huge tree?

If you already have a tree that’s been allowed to grow too large, you can still bring its size down, but that has to happen slowly, over a number of years. Each year you can safely remove up to 20 percent of the branches. If you take off more you will stress the tree and possibly kill it. 

Developing a relationship 

Fruit tree pruning is very different from pruning native or ornamental trees and there are some skills you will need to learn. But once you know the theory behind correct fruit tree pruning it is easy. 

What I love is that over the years, I have developed relationships with my trees. I see how the tree responds to the previous years cuts. I find my trees teach me how they want to be shaped and cared for. 

For me that is the most magical, challenging and enjoyable part of fruit tree care. I hope you will learn to enjoy it too!

  

Susan Poizner trains arborists, master gardeners and home growers fruit tree pruning and other fruit tree care skills in her online course at http://www.orchardpeople.com/ISA. ISA Certified Arborists receive up to 8 CEUS for completing Susan’s online course. Susan is also the author author of the award-winning fruit tree care book “Growing Urban Orchards” and the host of The Urban Foresty Radio Show and Podcast at www.orchardpeople.com/podcast.

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