Two gorgeous dwarf fig trees in large pots. My neighbors down the street grace their front yard with these two dwarf figs.
A hand-truck could still easily transport these dwarf fruit trees whenever needed.
The Dwarf Fig Tree is one of my all time favorite additions to a patio garden. You’ll easily enjoy this container growm fruit tree.
You can even grow figs as indoor door fruit trees in a sunny too.
The University of New Hampshire extension publishes a nice little 2 pager on Dwarf Apple Trees For The Home Garden…
Now here is the goal. A six footer with every single piece of fruit within lazy arm’s reach.
This gorgeous Dwarf Lemon Tree graces the small garden of a central city yard neighboring my children’s kindergarten.
You can see how fantastic this is for small spaces.
The shade tree behind it is a fruit also - a full grown fig tree. Notice how well a dwarf fruit tree “stacks” with a larger tree.
Spray bottle of compost tea is miracle worker #1 Dwarf Fruit Trees can really respond to treatment with compost tea. (that lovely young tree behind the bottle is an Apricot grown from the pit of an apricot I ate. )
My earlier post by Steve Diver - the recognized world expert - on Compost Tea is here
A gorgeuos Nashi Pear Tree graces the yard of a property a friend recently purchased.
Truly spectacular. Mega.
Note the tall - no very tall - ladder to give you a sense of scale.
What a meal ticket for your full-time gardener … pruning and harvesting it for you…
…my advice is go lazy, go easy, go dwarfy…
Out Of The Box Into The Soil
What to do when you get your Dwarf Fruit Trees home or out of the box in which they were shipped to you:
First steps are preparing the container or hole in the ground into which your tree will go.
Dwarf Fruit Trees like a fairly sandy soil that sheds water nicely and doesn’t hold excess water. Standard practice to insure properly draining soil in your containers is to insure the bottom of the container has at least one hole to release water and then line the bottom with a couple inch layer of rocks. any kind of rocks will do - even right out of your garden as you work the soil there. Rocks are not necessary for planting in the ground as your ground is likely self-draining anywhere that is suitable for placing a fruit tree.
Layer in enough of your mix of new soil into the bottom of the hole or container so that when you place the tree into it the base of the tree will be even with the level of the ground or an inch or so from the top of the container as you prefer.
Top soil mixed with a little bit of compost is ideal for this or potting soil- not too much compost directly in the hole as fruit trees like only a moderately fertilized soil. Too much compost or over heavily commercially fertilized soil can “burn” roots. A modest amount of compost mixed thoroughly in a rich garden soil or potting soil will do nicely. If your soil is heavy you may need to mix in some sand or use a potting soil or top soil from the garden supply.
Next we set about getting the roots and tree and soil out of the plastic pot or plastic bag it was shipped in. if wrapped in burlap, it’s OK to go into ground, but be sure to free the bottom root ball a bit so that they have some space to grow down and out from.
Spread your fingers and thumb out around the base of the trunk to hold as much soil in as you can while tipping the tree on it’s side (not necessary to go completely upright as you’ll lose more soil that way). Gently knead the sides of the plastic pot to break the seal of compacted soil against the wall of the pot.
Once the roots and soil pop out of the shipping pot release any of the “root bind”. Root bound plants have roots that grew too much for the small container of soil they were living in up to the time you got them to your home. Gently free the roots by using your fingertips to gently pull the roots off the outer rim of your soil so that they can spread into the wider environs of your new container or the ground.
Place the tree and its soil and freed (but undamaged!) roots into your hole or pot and pour further soil mix to fill up the remaining space gently packing the soil around the roots — you don’t have to go crazy here on packing the soil because we are going to apply a thorough “watering in” drenching to the soil. Over the course of the first day repeatedly apply a good drenching to the soil of your new tree in order for the water to compress the soil around the roots through it’s own action. This puts soil all around the roots rather than too much airspace from our disturbed planting soil which would starve your roots of nutrients.
You can add a little more soil to compensate for settling at the end of the day if necessary. It’s important not to plant your grafted dwarf fruit tree too deeply - don’t bury the root stock base of the tree up to the graft (also called the scion) because the grafted part of the tree (from the full size fruit tree) could put down it’s own roots and the tree will not remain a dwarf.
Keeping Your Fruit Trees Happy
Add a top mulch layer of compost or manure when you plant. Each year in spring, not too late spring, you’ll add more compost or manure or commercial fertilizer to the tree from the base out to the outer spread of the branches if planted in the ground or covering the container.
Dwarf Fruit Trees are particularly attractive to the amateur and professional grower alike because they are easy to prune. Pruning is on a case by case basis as required to prevent overgrowth or maintain health of the tree. Generally you will always want to prune your deciduous trees in the late winter when they are sure to be fully dormant. Evergreens and some very vigorous growers can be shaped in summer to prevent overgrowth or to trim away damaged branches.
If you are using commercial fertilizer you can fertilize most of your trees every couple of months through the growing season. A generous mulch of fully cured organic compost will release nutrients to the tree all year long if you apply it early each spring.
Watering is best done regularly and deeply after the soil has had the chance to dry out somewhat. This duration is based on the temperature, wind, etc that create drying conditions. One of the reasons for letting the soil dry a bit between watering is that this process allows the soil to naturally breathe. Air is driven out when the soil is watered and as it dries air is drawn back down into the soil supplying air to the micro-flora (beneficial bacteria , fungi etc in the soil) and roots.
Talk to your trees! Let them know they appreciated and how well they are doing. The great Luther Burbank and countless other anecdotal commentaries intimate that the best cared for plants are those that are well loved in spirit as well as tended in root and stalk.
Hazelnuts sproued from nuts from a roadside stand here in NZ!
Planted these in potting soil in the fall, forgot about them, and in late winter had these trees! (where I live in NZ has almost 3 full growing seasons)
I killed one of my hazelnuts by idiotically thinking it needed more sun. In less than a week of full dirct sun despite plenty of water it shrivelled to a crisp. The others are doing great in limited direct sun
This another tree that I will plant in a pot to turn it into a “Dwarf” Blackboy Peach Tree.
This is a volunteer dug up from nearby my neighbors big beautiful Blackboy. It is thriving and is ready to plant in it’s keep me a dwarf container.
Here is a photo of one of the Loquat Trees I have growing from seed…
..ate the fruit - yummy!- off a neighbors tree. Stuck the pit in a liitle pot…
Overwintered…
and this is the result!
Will translocate it to a permanent container to keep it smaller and turn it into a Dwarf loquat Fruit Tree.
A totally free way to have many Yummy Dwarf Fruit Trees
Another tree growing from a piece of fruit that I ate an then planted the pit In a pot.
This will go in a larger container soon an become a dwarf fruit tree too by constraint in the pot.
Another Free dwarf fruit tree
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