Of course, you cannot plant a normal-sized apple tree in a small garden - after a few years it would suffer from a lack of space. Nevertheless, as the owner of a mini-garden, you don't have to do without fresh, self-harvested fruit: there are slow-growing variants of almost all common types and varieties of fruit that can be planted in a small space and bring a rich harvest.
For small gardens there are small fruit tree varieties
Growth forms suitable for small gardens
Small fruit trees can be obtained, for example, by grafting a common variety on a slow-growing rootstock. Suitable rootstocks were bred predominantly in the English town of East Malling and are to this day distinguished from one another by numbers preceded by an "EM" or "M". For smaller gardens, the rootstocks M9 as well as M26 and M27 - the latter is particularly slow-growing - are often used. Furthermore, special dwarf fruit trees have been bred, which over the years develop a very thick trunk but only a small height and a small crown. This form is mainly found in peaches. Also very suitable growth forms for small gardens are:
- fruit tree grown as a bush
- spindle bush
- Column or staff tree
- trellis fruit tree
The best types and varieties of fruit for small gardens
Even if they are planted on a weak rootstock, not all types of fruit are suitable for planting in a small garden. In the following you will find a list of popular apple and pear varieties, which - properly refined and trained - do not take up too much space. By the way, berry bushes, grapes and the Indian banana, which is still little known in this country, are also very suitable for the small garden.
Apple
Many apple varieties in particular are considered to be extremely strong-growing. The following proven and popular apple varieties, on the other hand, can be cultivated for small gardens, and many are also suitable for pot cultivation:
- 'Alkmene': sweet and sour
- 'Klarapfel': can be harvested as early as July, cannot be stored
- 'Braeburn': one of the best varieties for the small garden
- 'Finkenwerder Herbstprinz': naturally short
- 'James Grieve': good pollen donor for other varieties too
pear
Pears can also be trained wonderfully as trellis trees. The following proven varieties can also be kept as small trees in the home garden:
- 'Abate Fetel': needs a sunny, warm spot
- 'Santa Maria': also very suitable for planting in tubs
- 'Uta': new, strikingly small variety
- 'Williams Christ': popular variety, very suitable for trellis formation
tips
Many trees can also be kept small by a suitable pruning. However, if the growth of the tree is too strong, cutting is no longer of any use: the tree defends itself by forming water shoots.