Fruit hedges can provide privacy along with tasty fruit within the space restrictions of a small garden. If you choose the fruit variety carefully, a hedge can provide blooms and fruit throughout the respective growing and harvest seasons. Tree hedges will usually need to be grown against a fence or along a freestanding trellis used as an espalier.
Types of Trees
The best fruit trees to grow as a hedge are those grafted onto dwarf or super-dwarf rootstocks. Larger trees can be trained to a smaller shape, but they require constant pruning. For apple trees, the M.9 or M.27 rootstocks are good choices to train as hedges. A new dwarf rootstock for sweet cherries, the Krymsk 6, has the good root anchorage required for small trees with heavy fruit. Citrus trees are also popular as hedge trees, but grow best in areas with long periods of high temperatures.
The distance between fruit trees in a hedge depends on the type of training system used. If you want a thicker, dense hedge, then dwarf rootstocks can be planted as close as 2 feet apart. Super-dwarf rootstocks can be planted as close as a foot apart in a hedge if you give them enough fertilizer and irrigation. If you prefer a two-dimensional espalier with wide, horizontal shapes, then room for the shaped branches is required, and the trees should be spaced 4 to 5 feet apart. Espaliers trained more vertically can be planted as close together as the hedge trees.
Training fruit trees to the shape of a hedge will be a continuous pruning project. You should always prune the trees in late winter while they are dormant, but hedges can also be pruned in midsummer -- this can have a dwarfing effect on the trees, allowing them to thrive under the crowded conditions of a hedge. Another option, in addition to pruning, is to tie the branches into a new position using wire or string. This can close holes in the hedge resulting from small trees planted too far apart or train the trees into an artistic shape.
Many fruit trees require pollination from another variety of the same fruit. When planting a hedge, you need to consider the distance from other pollination sources. It may be necessary to mix several varieties of fruit into the same hedge or plant another tree nearby. Pollination partners should be within 100 feet of each other for best results, and their blooming periods need to overlap but do not need to be the exact same length.
- The Best Apples to Buy and Grow; Beth Hanson, editor
- California Rare Fruit Growers: Evergreen Fruit Trees for Hedges, Screens and Espaliers
- Cornell University Department of Horticulture: Apple Tree Rootstocks
- Pacific Northwest Extension: Sweet Cherry Rootstocks
- California Rare Fruit Growers: Citrus Pruning
- NC State University Cooperative Extension Service: Espalier
- Colorado State University Extension: Pollination of Fruit Trees
- Digital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images