If you want to try your hand at growing your own fruit and getting a good crop, take a little time to plan
Unless you have a large garden or allotment it makes sense to plan which fruit you want to grow. Gardens are generally too small and there's usually not enough time to grow everything. Instead, grow your favourite fruit and those where freshness is important.
Also take into account the ease of growing and whether any special growing conditions are needed. And be aware that some fruit, such as peaches, need a hot, sunny site to do well. If your garden is in shade, then stick to fruit that will tolerate these conditions.
Don't forget that where room is of a premium, you can grow most fruit in containers. Training fruit into restricted forms, such as fans, espaliers and cordons, or up walls and fences takes up comparatively little room. And always make sure you choose fruit trees grafted onto dwarfing or semi-dwarfing rootstocks, as this ensures trees keep to a reasonable size and are far more manageable than towering full-sized trees.
See our fruit production chart to help you plan which fruit to grow (114 kB pdf)
