No matter the size of your landscape, it is possible to grow beautiful, productive, and delicious fruit trees if you make a point of choosing varieties that incorporate all the best traits!
Apples and pears, peaches and figs—fruit trees are long-lived, hardy plants that will reward home gardeners with tasty fruit year after year. Though most modern gardeners don’t have a lot of space to dedicate to growing fruit, much less starting a home orchard, there are still some fantastic options for incorporating the beauty and bounty of fruit trees into even the smallest gardens. If you’re a gardener in the city and you want to grow fruit, the best fruit trees will share these traits:
- Highly productive
- Compact or appropriately sized
- Resistant to pests and diseases
- Do not require cross-pollination
Fortunately, our buyers have selected fruit tree varieties for 2025 with the needs of urban gardeners in mind! These apples, pears, stone fruit, and unusual fruit are all plants that produce a lot of fruit in a relatively small space, don’t need to be cross-pollinated, and can withstand common fungal issues in the Pacific Northwest.
If urban homesteading isn’t your gardening style, edible plants and fruit trees still deserve a place in even the most ornamental and well-designed gardens. Need more reasons for why growing your own fruit is a great idea? Check out our blog on the 7 Benefits of Growing Fruit in Your Garden!
Uncommon Fruits to Add to Your Garden
Violette de Bordeaux Fig – Boasting intensely violet skins with pink centers, these small fruits are delicious and sweet, produced prolifically on naturally dwarf, heritage trees. Self-pollinating, suitable for containers, grows to 12–20’ high and is easily pruned.
Black Dwarf Mulberry – Extra-flavorful stacked, berry-like fruits hang en masse from this fast-growing shrubby tree. Self-pollinating, grows 8–10’ tall with pruning.
Arbequina Olive – Flavorful, oil-rich dark purple olives are borne on attractive evergreen trees hardy down to 10°C. Self-pollinating, suitable for containers, grows up to 20’ tall.
Fuyu Jiro Persimmon – Beautiful, amber colored fruits are non-astringent with smooth, even-textured flesh. Self-pollinating, grows to 15–20’ tall.
The Best Apples & Pears for Home Gardens
Six-in-One Espaliered Apple – Espaliered apples are grafted trees with six horizontal arms, each bearing different varieties of apples that pollinate each other. Suitable for screening or spaces along fences and walls, requires regular pruning to maintain size and shape.
Gala Apple – A classic, firm and sweet apple with just the right amount of acidity, Galas are easy to grow, especially when grafted on semi-dwarf rootstocks. Self-pollinating, grows to 12–15’.
Bartlett Pear – Beautiful, aromatic pears are soft green and turn yellow as they ripen and are well-suited to eating fresh or canning. Partially self-pollinating, grows to 12–15’.
20th Century Asian Pear – Firm, mellow fruits have lovely buff yellow skins and a wonderful crunch. Partially self-pollinating, grows 15–20’.
The Best Stone Fruit for Urban Gardens
Stella Cherry – Garnet red cherries are delicious when eaten fresh or in baked goods and are abundantly produced on pretty trees. Self-pollinating, grows to 15–18’.
Frost Peach – Tasty yellow freestone peaches with lovely pink skin are produced on cold-hardy, disease resistant trees. Self-pollinating, grows to 10–12’.
Stark Saturn Donut Peach – Donut-shaped freestone fruits have peachy pink skin and white flesh that is incredibly sweet. Self-pollinating, grows to 14’.
Superior Plum – Bright red plums with sweet, golden flesh are produced abundantly on very cold hardy trees. Self-pollinating, grows to 18–20’.
Basic Fruit Tree Care
- Plant fruit trees in the sunniest spot in your garden to maximize their productivity.
- Fruit tree selection is best in late Winter or early Spring when new shipments arrive, and planting can be done any time as long as the soil isn’t frozen.
- Fall is also a fantastic time for planting fruit trees, though the selection may not be as extensive.
- Stake your fruit tree to prevent root rock during their first year of growth and remove the stakes as the plant matures.
- Mulch the soil every Spring with wood chips or compost to reduce water loss.
- Fertilize with an organic fruit tree fertilizer or flower fertilizer when leaves start to appear in early Spring. By providing plants with lots of phosphorus (the middle number on a fertilizer) you’ll give them all the support they need to produce loads of healthy fruit.
- Prune fruit in the Winter to pare fruit trees back to fruiting buds, removing any long whips that don’t have fruiting spurs. The work you do during Winter will help establish a healthy, strong framework for a productive harvest.
- Spray organic dormant oil when the trees are leafless in late Winter to help keep pests and diseases at bay. Copper spray and dormant oil work by smothering fungal spores and insects before they can attach precious flowers and fruits and ruin your harvest.