Yes, you CAN grow producing fruit trees in containers. I have at least a couple of dozen fruiting trees as bonsai, and usually remove the blossoms of developing trees as they occur, in order to force the tree to direct it's energies to vegetative growth as opposed to blooms/fruit. Your goal is different in that you WANT the fruit, so your strategy would be slightly different than mine.

I'm not sure you can say that my suggestions re growing trees in pots are BASED on bonsai techniques, if only for the fact that the techniques I describe are essential to the long term vitality of any tree grown in a pot. IOW, you'll need to know how to prune the top and how to effectively manage the root system, which includes root-pruning on a regularly every 2 or 3 years, max.

In many cases, trees listed as 'dwarf' varieties aren't true dwarfs. They might only be a given variety grafted onto dwarfing root stock. Bonsai folk tend to choose dwarf varieties that have smaller leaves, and shy away from grafted trees because of the fact that A) the graft union isn't always pretty, and B) the texture and appearance of the bark on the understock compared to that on the scion is usually readily seen.

Al

This is fantastic info, Thanks Al! I'm going to go ahead and get some dwarf rootstock, only because they are known to fruit sooner, but then add some more as space allows and I see how things perform :)

Do you want to grow in container to comply with rules of your community garden? If yes, l’d select something grafted onto Dwarf rootstock.

but the reason you might not hear much about container grown fruit trees in southern Gardens is b/c so much easier to grow Inground, if you have the space.

Except Iike in your case where you have rules to respect, most southeners prefer to have a tree inground that will bear dozens/hundreds of fruit, vs 5-10 fruit you’ll get from a containerized tree. Another reason would be weather. I do grow a couple of container citrus b/c it makes it possible for me to move plant indoors in wintertime. Because moving stuff in/out is kinda of pain, most southeners will select trees weather hardy in their area, to avoid the in/out thing. Again, im talking about southern Gardens.

hey bossyvossy,

Although I've grown indoor plants for 10 years or so, I'm am amateur outdoor gardener, so I have several key benefits that I will get from growing in containers. I absolutely have no way to grow anything permanently in the ground. Even though it would be nice to have land to plant in, I've realized I'm going to learn so much more by growing in containers, so I'm grateful for what I can do. I really don't want hundreds a fruit at once either...because I'm still figuring out how to handle/process the harvest from my current garden so small yields make way more sense right now.

I feel like when I grow a plant in a container, I really develop a clearer understanding of what that plant needs. I have about 400 indoor plants, and I was amazed at how when I got a community garden plot, nature does a lot of the work for you...although it also takes a big bite out of your produce, freezes plants, cooks them, dries them with too much wind, haha!

I wasn’t necessarily evaluating container gardening vs inground gardening but rather trying to explain that perhaps there is less written about containers, in particular fruit trees, b/c in the south we may take for granted space and weather conditions, which as you’ve observed, assigns the majority of chores to Ma Nature.

if you hang around northern gardening, there will be lots more discussion about the various aspects of container fruit trees. as it is more relevant to do so.

there might be interesting discussions re: containerized fruit tree growing in accessible gardening forums, northern or southern. I don’t know of any to recommend but they’re out there.

much success in your project and post pictures

I just wanted to say, in Southern Cal there are these lovely groups that volunteer to come and pick your produce for you. You get a cut, and they distribute the rest, usually to charities. It’s quite common for people to be too busy (or otherwise) to keep up with their fruit trees. (btw Cj, good job having such fine harvests!) And of course, if you ignore the situation it gets even worse. So, people might think about starting such groups, if there is a need. Let the young and spry go around hopping up and down ladders! Let‘s not waste the bounty.

Also, one might look into colonising the parkways, if there are any. There is a woman in SF who grafts fruit tree limbs onto parkway trees. I think she should get a medal. What’s not to like? (Assuming someone stays on top of things.) Food makes friends.

If you were in the back row of the garden, could you have a tree then?

Wow, what great job growing that! Is that really a pear tree? Do you leave it to go dormant outside and how often do you root prune if at all? Wow.

Oh my goodness that's totally gorgeous!