Potted fruit trees

Growing for roots instead of fruits

A new age of gardeners has brought a swarm of dwarf fruit trees into our tight backyards, courtyards and balconies across Australia our human desire to reconnect with nature has melted into a youthful obsession to grow fruit, no matter the challenge, because the reward will be ever so sweet. With dwarf fruit trees and large pots you can harvest big fruits from the corner of your balcony, but encouraging good root growth is the only way to pick big, delicious fruits. Here are my fruit tree tips that everyone with a potted fruit tree should know.

WHAT'S ABOVE GROUND WILL MATCH WHAT'S BELOW GROUND

While this is one of my fundamental philosophies, it's also the hardest to visualise. Often when we purchase deciduous fruit trees, they're bare-rooted and their roots look tiny compared to the branches! Combine this with big trees in comparatively tiny pots at garden centres and you'll be excused if you're confused. This philosophy stresses the importance of making sure your fruit tree has space for its roots to be 100 per cent productive, and that every year we need to make sure the root system isn't wasting energy on overgrown or half-dead branches.