Planting a Home Orchard: The Best Fruit Trees for UK Gardens

Our gardens are places in our homes where we should be able to relax, enjoy ourselves, and welcome nature. There are many ways to do this, and one interesting and highly beneficial option for you and your family is planting fruit trees. Planting fruit trees in your garden will give you lovely-looking blossoms in the spring, attract plenty of wildlife, and give you lots of delicious fruit you can enjoy. Various types of fruit trees are suitable for the UK climate, and you can see some options you can choose for your garden listed below to help you start your mini orchard at home.

Oranges

When you think of oranges, you will often think of warmer locations, even tropical ones, but the UK climate is suitable for some types of orange trees. However, these fruit trees can be susceptible to extreme cold and frost, and if you are in a part of the UK prone to this type of weather, you may want to plant your orange trees in pots rather than the earth. Doing this allows you to move the trees when needed to protect them from the colder times of year. Growing your tree in a pot will reduce the size of the tree and the amount of fruit it produces, but it will mean you can enjoy fresh oranges from your home orchard every year. Good varieties of trees to choose from include Citrus Blood Orange, Citrus Kumquat, and Citrus Calamondin trees.

Apples

No British orchard would be complete without apple trees, and fortunately, they are much hardier than oranges and can survive adequately in the UK climate. There is a wide variety of different apples you can grow in your garden, whether you prefer cooking or eating apples, and some of the options include:

• Worcester Pearman
• Herefordshire Russet
• Golden Delicious
• Bramley
• Egremont Russet
• Howgate Wonder
• Dabinett Cider

There is a suitable type of apple tree for your garden, regardless of the conditions, and it will be visited and enjoyed by many local wildlife species. You and your family can enjoy an abundance of apples each year and enjoy beautiful-looking trees in your garden throughout the year, and the trees only require minimal maintenance.

Pear

Another quintessential British fruit tree for your garden is the pear tree. Various types of pear trees grow easily in the UK climate and can provide you with lots of delicious fruit. However, a pear tree will require more maintenance than other fruit trees, starting after planting, as you must plant them in well-drained soil in a sheltered part of your garden and prune them. Remove weeds from around the pear trees and cover the base with mulch in the spring and spraying them monthly with a seaweed solution can help protect the tree against frost. These trees look beautiful in the spring when they start to flower and will make your garden smell fantastic. You and your family will also be able to enjoy juicy and delicious pears for many years to come.

Plum

To finish off your small orchard, what is better than having some plum trees to provide you and your family with lots of delicious fruit? As with apples, some types are best suited for cooking, while others are ideal for eating directly from the tree; however, some varieties can be used for both purposes. Your plum tree will need a sunny, well-drained location and will also require regular maintenance. They will need to be watered frequently in their first year, especially during dry spells, and applying mulch or manure in the spring will help the tree remain healthy and produce a lot of fruit. You also want to prune your plum trees in the winter to help protect the tree’s shape and maintain its health, as well as the health of the fruit it produces.