You dont need an orchard to grow your own fruit

Many of us have pocket size gardens but would still love to grow your own fruit, then you need to check the quality Dwarf and Miniature trees that will thrive in small garden and even large Pots.

The Cornet Apple Trees

The Cornet Apple Tree  is perfect for any small garden, or Patio.  This miniature apple tree can be grown in a pot or in a bed. these are grown on a Dwarf rootstock and will grow to around the 6' mark.  The habit is small and open, they look just like a small apple tree, and the fruit is regular in size. These can be grown in open ground but they soil has to be rich. The rootstock are slow growing so the roots aren't able to go for large distances and source their own sustenance so if your growing in open ground ensure the local area around the tree (1mx1m0.5m) has been well enriched and is well nourished The coronet apple trees  will fruit in the first year which is very unusual for fruit trees. It is also extremely low maintenance and requires no pruning.

There are three types of Coronets: Solo, Family and Companion. 

The Solo variety is self pollinating and requires no other tree. Red Windsor is a real winner in the Solo range

The family Variety has two varieties on the one tree and therefor requires no other tree . The best varieties are James Grieve on Elstar or Kathy on Elstar

The Companion is one variety and requires another tree to be planted in your garden. Ensure that both tree have the same flowering season to ensure that they will pollinate each other. 

When planting ensure that you have a large pot ( at least 25 litres) or a well prepared bed. We would recommend you use a tree Stake and tree tie, this will prevent the tree tilting in a windy position. Like all fruit trees they prefer a sunny position and need good feeding. The best way to feed your plant is to use a 6 month slow release feed when planting. Then re feed every six months by placing some Multi purpose compost and feed arounfd the base of the tree. The add a new layer of compost over this again to ensure the feed is not exposed to the weather. Another great feed is Seamungus, made from seaweed and fishbones this will ensure that you have the healthiest of plants. Watering is extremely important for all fruit tree especially in pots. The compost should always remain moist but not too wet. You can control this by ensure you have good drainage in  your bed or container.  Then sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Plums: Plums, are a really reliable fruit and reward the gardener with a good harvest of delicious plump fruit for eating straight from the tree or making into jams, pies and crumbles. Nowadays there are varieties available that don’t take up a lot of space so that even the smallest of gardens can have a plum tree.
 Victoria Dwarf Plum
Our Victoria Plum Tree is a popular classic, not just because of the incredibly juicy flavour but because this tree bears a bumper crop year-in/year-out. The divinely flavoured Victoria Plum is quite likely the most famous fruit tree ever raised, certainly for garden growing. Ask anyone to name a Plum tree and it will almost inevitably be a Victoria, brought to mind by that divinely sweet and succulent flavour and the distinctive rosy red over yellow flush. For over a century it has inspired devotion and love amongst gardeners, orchardists and foodies alike. It is self fertile so so you do not need other trees nearby to ensure a good crop.
The Dwarf Victoria plums are Small trees adapted to grow in different container sizes. And if you want, you can also transplant them into the open ground. These rrees are grafted onto the most innovative rootstock, which reduces the vigour of the plant, provides a controlled growth and improves the characteristics of the fruits! Eventual height 1.5-2m.
Top Tip with Plum Trees '
Plum trees can be fairly tolerant but the better the conditions to start with then the better the results will be. Ideally the soil should not have grown plum trees before. Make sure the soil is well drained – no Plum likes poor drainage in the winter – and choose a nice sunny spot to ripen those fruits to perfection in the Summertime. Regular watering is key to success. Little and often – try to water every day if possible, or give a good soaking every other day. Adequate irrigation will be necessary during the growing season, which is from April to September, the key periods for watering being when growth is most active, from May to July. Before and after this you will find the compost does not dry out quite so quickly and tree won’t be using so much.

When you Plant Fruit trees, you need to invite the bees by planting lots of bee friendly plants near it . I think herbs or lavender would work great but any bee friendly plants that flower around the same time would be great.