A small garden has room for more fruit than most people expect, as long as the trees are chosen for the space. Dwarf rootstocks keep apples and pears at two to three metres, which is easy to net, prune and pick.
Buy bare-root trees in late autumn or winter while they are dormant. They cost less than potted trees, establish faster, and the roots can be checked before planting.
Dig a hole as deep as the roots and twice as wide, loosen the sides, and plant at the same depth the tree grew in the nursery. Stake it low, water it in well, and keep the grass away from the trunk for the first two summers.
Prune in winter for shape and in summer to keep the tree small. Take out crossing branches and anything growing into the middle, and leave the short fruiting spurs alone.
Water deeply once a week in dry spells during the first years, mulch in spring, and thin the fruit in June so the branches do not snap and the remaining fruit grows large.
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