The fastest growing trend in Canadian gardening today is food plants.  Vegetables, herbs, berries and fruit are high on the radar with young mothers who are interested in the quality of the food that they put on the table, senior citizens who want to use small spaces productively and everyone in between.

Fruit trees provide a reliable and fun method of squeezing productivity out of your outdoor spaces.  Even zone 2 and 3 prairie gardeners can grow great apples and pears while gardeners in zone 4,5 and 6 gardeners can grow cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines and more.  All that you need is a minimum of 6 hours of sunshine per day [for all fruit!] and well drained, nutrient rich soil.  

The broadest appeal [pardon the pun!] is with dwarf apples.  One tree only uses about 4 sq meters of yard space.  It is important to provide a 'mate' for apples that flower at the same time as the host tree.  In other words, match up a Cortland with a MacIntosh to maximize fruit production.  If you live in a densely populated urban or suburban environment chances are very good that cross pollination of the apple flowers will occur from a neighbour's garden.  Crabapples will cross pollinate an edible apple, by the way.

Other popular fruiting trees that need 'mates' to maximize fruit production include pears, cherries, plums (Japanese with Japanese and Italian with Italian) and prunes.  The 'self fruitful' fruiting trees include peaches, nectarines and apricots.

For more information go to www.markcullen.com and be sure to ask questions at your local garden retailer before you buy.