More gardeners are looking for ways to reduce household costs and grow more of their food.
Fruit trees are productive and bear fruits for years. With dwarf varieties, you can find you don’t need endless acres to grow them.
Besides, with disease-resistant varieties, controlling pests is less of a challenge.
However, don’t make a mistake thinking fruit trees are trouble-free, they are not a “plant and forget type of things and do need your attention
Before you commence digging holes and ordering your fruit trees, you’ll need to plan and find out how far apart should fruit trees be planted, and does tree spacing make a difference if you have dwarf, semi-dwarf or standard-sized full-grown fruit trees?
You may find that your dream of a home orchard is achievable if you plan it right from the beginning. (Read Can You Grow Cherry Trees From Cherry Pits)
How Much Space Do You Need Between Fruit Trees?
Once you start to plan your small fruit tree orchard, you will find requirements different than a commercial grower.
Tree spacing is determined by the type of tree, soil, tree height and canopy of fully-grown trees.
Spacing means the difference between crowding or watching them thrive.
Standard fruit trees grow up to 18-25 feet tall/wide, Peaches and nectarines a bit smaller at 12-15 feet. If grown from seed, they need more space than grafts.
Semi-dwarf sized trees reach 12-15 feet in height and width. Dwarf fruit trees grow 8-10 feet tall and wide.
Fruit tree spacing can be as little as 2-3 feet apart for similar rootstocks and spray requirements. (Read Guide to Growing Lemon Tree from Seed)
Can You Plant Different Fruit Trees Next to Each Other?
Here is how to plant apple trees concerning distance. You will see planting apple tree plants need more space than others. However, how far apart should you plant apple trees in distance drops when you have semi-dwarf and dwarf.
- Standard apple trees need 30-35 feet, while semi-dwarf require 15 feet and dwarf require 10 feet.
- Standard pear trees need 20 feet, while semi-dwarf about 15 feet between trees
- Citrus trees only require 8 feet between them and planted in sunny areas
- Apricots spaced 20 feet apart
- Peaches are to be spaced 20 feet apart.
- Sweet cherries require lots of room and spaced about 30 feet apart
You can mix them up as long as they all grow in the same hardiness zones as each other.
How Close Can You Plant Trees Together?
Looking at the above, you would think it is possible to group all your trees together. However, if you think how far apart should you plant apple trees, you need to think about the maturity.
Fruit tree spacing needs to consider picking fruit and the size a tree grows because not all need to be grown too far apart. (Read How Long Do Cottonwood Trees Live)
Can You Plant Trees to Close Together?
Now you see about apple trees how to plant, you can see there can be issues if trees are too close. Not only this, but it may look crowded and unappealing.
Space is vital, and if you search, you can quickly find some trees bend away from the others to get light. One that doesn’t grow as strong can suffer from wind damage, although the lack of airflow through your trees can lead to mold and other diseases setting in not to mention any harmful insects.
Your search could be over for ways to grow fresh fruit, search which ones grow in your region, and search for which fruits are suitable to grow with each other.
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