- Why do dwarf fruit trees stay so small?
- Recommended dwarf fruit varieties
- Growing dwarf fruit in your own garden
- Fertilize and care for dwarf fruit
- Harvest dwarf fruit
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Mini fruit trees have conquered their place on the balcony and in small gardens. You can find out what this dwarf fruit is all about here.
The mini fruit trees, or patio trees, are now available in many tree nurseries and garden centers. For many garden owners, but especially city dwellers, the dwarf trees are a real opportunity to grow a wide variety of fruit in a small space. We have put together everything you need to know about patio trees and their cultivation in this article.
Fruit trees come in all sizes - from tall trunks and half-trunks to columns and spindles, our common types of fruit range in height from three to more than ten meters. And now there are the extremely small patio trees. They reach final heights of just 1.2 to 2 meters and are therefore even smaller and more space-saving than spindle trees. Patio trees have the Spanish word "patio" in their name, which can be translated as "courtyard" or "terrace". The naming already indicates the right place for the trees, because in most cases they are kept in pots and thus allow fruit to be grown away from the garden.
Why do dwarf fruit trees stay so small?
There are two reasons why the trees remain so tiny. For one thing, most fruit trees are grafted onto a rootstock, which means that the roots and the lowest part of the trunk come from a different variety, sometimes from a different species. This rootstock brings with it its very special properties and is also largely responsible for the growth of the plant. For spindle trees, for example, weak-growing rootstocks are used that limit the tree to around three to four metres. Even some mini fruit varieties only remain so tiny thanks to the rootstock.
Another reason for this extreme weak growth is the genetics of the trees. A random mutation is responsible for some varieties of patios, which were later bred by clever gardeners. This is exactly how the columnar apple (Malus x domestica) came about. However, the mutation only affects the roots and trunk, the size of the fruit remains unaffected. Therefore suitableThe mini trees are also so good for pot culture and so you can also harvest large apples from trees that are only about the height of a man. Fruit formation also begins earlier than with normal-sized trees. A disadvantage of patio trees, however, is their comparatively short lifespan. While orchard trees can live up to 100 years, their smaller relatives only reach an age of about 15 years.
Recommended dwarf fruit varieties
There is now a wide variety of mini fruit, as is also the case with our normal-sized trees. From apples to pears (Pyrus communis), cherries (Prunus avium & Prunus cerasus) and peach trees ( Prunus persica) to the plum (Prunus domestica) hardly any wish remains unfulfilled.
Note: Some suppliers also have columnar trees under dwarf fruit. These don't get particularly wide, but they can reach up to five meters, for example with apples!
We have therefore put together a selection of small varieties for the balcony and small garden for you below.
Which types of dwarf fruit do you recommend?
- Dwarf apple 'Delgrina': yellow-red aromatic medium-sized fruits; Tree up to 1.8 m tall
- Dwarf Pear 'Helenchen': Yellow-green, sweet, normal-sized pear; up to 1.5 m high
- Mini Sweet Cherry 'Stella Compact': Light red, self-fertile mini version of the well-known variety 'Stella'; up to 2 m high
- Mini sour cherry 'Griotella': fruits from the end of July; we althy up to 2 m tall
- Dwarf Mirabelle: Heights up to 1.6 m; small, sunny yellow, sweet fruits from August
- Dwarf nectarine (Prunus nucipersica): Independent species, tree up to 1.5 m tall with pink flowers and dark red-yellow fruits; Maturity from August
- Dwarf Plum 'Imperial': Violet-blue fruits with deep yellow flesh; up to 1.5 m high
- Dwarf blood plum (Prunus cistena): Dark red, sweet and sour wild plum with dark foliage; about 2 m high; high ornamental value
- Israeli dwarf fig (Ficus carica): Bears fruit from a height of around 20 cm; ideally suited for pot keeping, as the final height is barely 2 m; frost-free wintering necessary
- Dwarf walnut 'Mini Multiflora No. 14': Very slow-growing walnut of 2 - 3 m
Growing dwarf fruit in your own garden
Dwarf fruit trees are not much different thanordinary fruit trees, but a few tricks are necessary to bring in a bounty on the balcony.
Cultivate dwarf fruit in buckets
Dwarf fruit trees are fairly easy to keep. In the case of a pot culture, it is advisable to move the plant to a larger container after purchase. Of course, this is only necessary if the existing pot is already fully grown and the roots are sticking out below. The pot for a mini fruit tree should hold at least 30 liters of soil. Choose a location that is as sunny as possible for the patio tree and provide the tree with sufficient water. However, you should definitely avoid waterlogging, which is why the new planter should have holes in the bottom. Every three to five years it is advisable to move the tree into a larger container. With grafted varieties, it is important that the grafting point, i.e. where the rootstock meets the scion, remains above ground. You can usually recognize the grafting point quite well by a bulging growth on the trunk. If you bury the grafting point with it, there is a high risk that sprouts will emerge from the substrate that you do not want at all. This wound is then less well protected from pathogens.
Growing dwarf fruit outdoors
Of course you can also place the dwarf fruit tree directly in the ground in the garden. However, figs and other sun worshipers do not tolerate the winter and should therefore be kept in a pot and overwintered. However, you can confidently plant out hardy fruit trees such as apples, pears and the like. Here, too, the finishing point must not migrate below the surface of the earth. You can find detailed instructions on how to plant apple trees outdoors, for example, here. Before planting, loosen the soil a little and mix it with some humus. It is best to work an organic fertilizer with an organic long-term effect, such as our Plantura organic tomato fertilizer, into the soil so that the little tree gets the best possible start in life.
Fertilize and care for dwarf fruit
Fruit trees love nutrient-rich, well-drained soil with an adequate water supply. In the pot, fertilization with primarily organic long-term fertilizers is therefore particularly important, since no nutrients are supplied from the environment. Our Plantura organic tomato fertilizer is particularly suitable for this. Two doses of fertilizer granules are sufficient for the tree when repotting and during the summer. You can find out how and when to fertilize fruit trees here.
It is generally warmer and drier on the balcony than insideOutdoors, which is why it has to be watered regularly and well. Fruit trees have a high water requirement, this is the only way they can provide their fruit well. The pruning of the fruit trees must also be taken into account with the dwarf varieties. Extremely slow-growing plants hardly ever need to be cut. Only branches that get in each other's way or grow inwards should be cut off just before a bud and so redirected. However, one should note that cutting too hard, especially with such small trees, will lead to many water shoots and hardly any more flowers and fruits will be formed.
Harvest dwarf fruit
As with their larger relatives, patio trees are harvested from June (cherries) until late autumn (apples, pears and plums), depending on the variety. Each variety has an optimal harvest window, which can also change depending on the weather. The yield of the mini trees is limited, but the quality of the fruit is often better than that of mass carriers. In addition, the patio tree begins to bear fruit much earlier than normal-sized fruit trees. All in all, dwarf fruit trees are a great way to grow a variety of fruit types in a small space and thus bring nature onto the balcony or terrace.
If you not only want to save space but also money when gardening, take a look at our article on 10 tips for inexpensive gardening.