Two Ways to Have Tree Fruits on a Small Place
(Page 3 of 5)
Dwarf Fruit Trees
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Now, after many years of experimental work really good
dwarf fruit trees are available. The two exciting things
about dwarf fruit trees is that they take very little space
and they bear fruit a year or two after you plant them
whereas with standard trees you have to wait four to eight
years!
Take a look at the comparison chart on the next page. It
will help you decide which type of trees to plant.
Dwarf trees have many advantages, and a few disadvantages,
when a detailed comparison is made with standard trees.
Let's look at the advantages:
Dwarf trees take less space. In the space required
by 4 standard apple trees, 80 x 80 feet, you can plant as
many as 64 dwarf apple trees! Even the ordinary suburban
"house and lot" has space for a few dwarfs.
Dwarf trees are easier to spray or dust. All fruit
trees must be sprayed or dusted. Dwarf trees, particularly
the "little" dwarf or "semi-dwarf" can be sprayed or dusted
with an efficient garden sprayer or duster. This is most
desirable because the expensive, bulky spraying equipment
for standard trees is not needed. Spraying is much easier,
and consequently it gets done.
Dwarf trees bear fruit sooner. A "standard" apple
tree usually does not produce fruit for 5-10 years after it
has been planted. A dwarf tree will often bear fruit in two
years!
Dwarf trees are easier to prune. Obviously a tree
5 to 10 feet tall is much easier to prune than a tree 25 to
30 feet tall.
Dwarf trees grow large fruit. Fruit buds, like
turnips for instance, need to be thinned if the biggest
fruit is to be grown. Dwarf trees, where the tiny fruit can
be thinned easily, often produce bigger fruit.
Dwarf trees make possible more variety. Naturally
if you can plant 10 to 15 dwarfs in the space required by a
single standard tree, you can have 10 or more various kinds
or varieties of fruit, instead of one. This has another
advantage: you can have early, mid-season and late fruit by
selecting varieties that ripen at different times.
Dwarf trees are easier to harvest. Fruit from the
smaller dwarfs may be picked from the ground without the
bother and danger of climbing a ladder.
Dwarf trees mean, less damaged fruit. Fruit
dropping from the small dwarfs, particularly when the
ground under the trees is mulched with straw, hay or
sawdust, is often undamaged.
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