Fruit trees
Fruit Trees
A fruit tree is a tree bearing fruit the structures formed by the ripened ovary of a flower containing one or more seeds. However, because all trees of flowering plants produce fruit (essentially all trees except tree ferns and gymnosperms), the term in horticultural usage applies to trees providing fruit as human food. Types of fruits are described and defined elsewhere (see Fruit), but would include fruit in a culinary sense as well as some nut bearing trees, like walnuts.
Buying fruit trees:
Here are a few points to bear in mind when deciding on a variety of fruit tree: its hardiness, the type of pollination it requires, its resistance to disease,pests and its overall size at maturity.
Keepers Nursery:
Keepers Nursery: is a leading specialist fruit tree nursery in the UK. With over 600 varieties, we probably offer the largest selection of fruit trees for sale in the world. This includes hundreds of varieties of apple, pear, plum and cherry trees, as well as more unusual fruit trees such as quince, medlar and mulberry. In addition we offer soft fruit plants and nut trees including walnut and cobnut. Our website offers a vast range of online information on hundreds of varieties of fruit trees, useful means of selecting suitable trees, as well as valuable advice on growing fruit trees.
Fruit tree pruning:
Pruning fruit trees is a technique that is employed by gardeners to control growth, remove dead or diseased wood or stimulate the formation of flowers and fruit buds. The most economical pruning is done early in the season, when buds begin to break, and one can pinch off the soft tissue with one's fingers (hence the expression "nipped in the bud"). Many home fruit growers make the mistake of planting a tree, then neglecting it until it begins to bear. But careful attention to pruning and training young trees will ultimately determine their productivity and longevity. Good pruning and training will also prevent later injury from weak crotches that break under snow or fruit load.
Fruit Tree Planting Foundation:
The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation (FTPF) is a unique nonprofit charity dedicated to planting edible, fruitful trees and plants to benefit needy populations and improve the surrounding air, soil, and water. FTPF's goal is straightforward: to collectively plant 18 billion fruit trees for a healthy planet (approximately 3 for every person alive). Fruit trees heal the environment by cleaning the air, improving soil quality, preventing erosion, creating animal habitat, sustaining valuable water sources, and providing healthy nutrition.
GRAFTING AND BUDDING FRUIT TREES:
Fruit trees cannot be reproduced "true" to the original cultivar from seed. They can only be reproduced by grafting. Grafting describes any of a number of techniques in which a section of a stem with leaf buds is inserted into the stock of a tree. Grafting is useful however, for more than reproduction of an original cultivar. It is also used to repair injured fruit trees or for top working an established tree to one or more different cultivars.
