What to Look for When Buying a Fruit Tree

Although the process of growing and caring for a tree is generally challenging and even difficult at times, sometimes one of the hardest parts is choosing which kind you want. You have to choose between the many sizes, fruits, and other attributes. The different sizes include: dwarf, semi-dwarf, and standard. Your choice can affect everything about your growing experience, including the amount of work you have to put in and the amount of rewards (fruit) you will obtain.

Image by vigilant20 via FlickrDwarf trees are ideal if you only have a limited amount of open space in your yard. They take up as little as only an eight-foot diameter plot of land. Although dwarf fruit trees are smaller than the others, their fruit is just the same size and the shortness makes them easier to prune and harvest. Dwarf fruit trees aren’t known for living quite as long as larger fruit trees. They begin to bear fruit after three to five years, so if you are going to buy a dwarf fruit tree from a nursery you should always check and see how old it is.

Semi-dwarf trees are medium sized, and when they are full grown they take up a fifteen-foot diameter. A semi-dwarf fruit tree's height can range from as low as ten feet to as high as sixteen feet. To keep them from getting too large you should prune them at least once a year. Occasionally semi-dwarf fruit trees take a season off and produce little or no fruit, but usually they produce hundreds of fruits every year. Many people enjoy having semi dwarf fruit trees because they produce more fruit than a dwarf tree, and they are generally easier to harvest and maintain than a standard fruit tree.

Standard sized fruit trees take up much more area than the smaller tree varieties, and they are also harder to keep manageable and to harvest all of the fruit. If you do not prune them at least once a year they can grow as large as thirty feet. If you are just looking for a good tree to provide you with plenty of delicious fruit and to keep your yard shady, a standard sized tree would be the perfect tree for you. Standard sized fruit trees take a very long time to reach their full height, but they usually begin to bear fruit after only three to five years.

Image via WikipediaThe best variety of fruit tree to buy would be one that carries fruit and does well in your area, because a local fruit tree takes less work and grows the best. It is also more sustainable, as it requires less care and inputs. Although fruit trees bearing other, more exotic kinds of fruit may seem more exciting, they usually won't grow as well in your area. That’s not to say it’s impossible. You can definitely try to grow a more exotic tree, but it will take much more commitment and time.

Another factor involved in deciding on a type of tree is what kind of soil you have, because some trees do better in damp soil while others are better suited for drier soil. If it rains often in your area you would do well to plant a plum tree. But if you do not get very much rain you would do better to plant a pear tree or an apple tree. Before choosing which type of fruit tree you would like, consult your local nursery or gardening guru to find out which trees would do well in your area.

Other things that you should look for while looking for a fruit tree at the nursery are things like how sturdy it is, if all of the branches are evened out, how straight the tree stands, the condition of the roots that support the tree, the length of the stem, and the height of the fruit from the ground. Making a careful and deliberate decision can mean the difference between having a great supply of delicious home-grown fruit on your kitchen counter, and having the stunted fruit from your lopsided tree being eaten by animals all day long.

Resources for Growing Fruit Trees: