Even if you don’t have a huge garden, many fruit trees can be successfully grown as patio plants in pots. A dwarf rootstock is used to ensure that the trees don’t get too big, making them ideal for containers.
During the early years a light tidy up is all that’s required until your fruit tree reaches the required size. After that, pruning a dwarf tree follows the same guidelines as their traditional sized counterparts.
Here’s how to prune your patio fruit trees to ensure they have a long and healthy life...
This mini 'Golden Delicious' apple tree makes great use of space
Copyright: Visions BV, Netherlands
Dwarf apple and pear trees should be pruned between November and early March when they’re dormant:
Prune dwarf apricot trees in late spring
Image: Apricot 'Aprigold'® (patio) from Thompson & Morgan
Stone fruit trees like dwarf plums, cherries, apricots and peaches grown in containers need little pruning. The guiding principle should be to remove dead, diseased or weak growth and ensure that branches are not crossing.
If you do need to cut them back, wait until late spring to prune apricots or peaches, and leave cherries and plums until summer to prevent infections such as silver leaf or canker.
For more advice on growing fruit trees, check out our dedicated fruit tree hub page. For more advice on container gardening, head to our patio hub page.
Banner image: Simona Bottone / Shutterstock