Small tree wanted - inspiration please!!

[ourarka]

I have a space, near my herb bed which I have recently removed a lemon tree from once I realised I was kidding myself that it could thrive outdoors in our country ... Albeit one of the milder parts near the sea here on the south coast. It is a sunny position, only receiving shade late in the day, and being near the house is reasonably well sheltered from wind and frost (but still receives both). In summer the patio around it is surrounded with my (more successful) potted citrus. I am looking for something to plant there, but it would need to stay fairly small and:

A) Prefereably be edible and interesting!
B) Not be susceptible to peach leaf curl as I can't keep winter rains off
C) Be self-fertile ... Only room for one!
D) Realistically not get more than 2m x 2m.

I had considered a dwarf cherry, which is still my best bet, but worried even these may get too big. Has anyone got any thoughts on what I could put there? I have plenty of apples/pears so not one of those. Soil wise it is raised, so fairly well drained and on the clay side of normal.

Looking forward to your thoughts ......

[veggiechicken]

Grow a peach/apricot/nectarine in a pot and keep it undercover over winter and put it out in spring?

[Grumpy Gardener]

I have blueberry in a large tub ( about 15 years old now ) and the bush is about 1.5m diameter and 1.8m tall. It does have to be netted to keep the blackbirds at bay when the fruit forms though. We get a tremendous amount of fruit from just the one bush.

[Invicta]

What about a quince, they don't grow very big, ornamental in spring followed by scented fruit[grown in UK have to be cooked].A Fig tree could be kept in a large pot to resrict its size and would love that spot. You might be able to get a Loquat to fruit there [ not sure how big they grow]. A greengage on dwarfing plum stock would also work.

[ourarka]

Some great ideas to look in to, thanks. Just to confirm .... I really want something to go in the ground as a) I have enough pots that come in to overwinter and b) There's a patch of ground so would look a bit silly with a pot on it.

I have a fig and loquat already (fig fruits prolifically, loquat fruits too late to ripen) but the other ideas I will look in to.

Still liking the idea of a sweet cherry on Gisella rootstock .... anyone have any experience?

[chrisdb]

I had a Stella cherry on Gisela. It was a weak, weedy thing that always had one problem or another. Even though I got a few cherries I got fed up of it being constantly a problem and ripped it out. And this was quite a lot of coddling.

More than apples, cherries want to be big trees, and I dont think they adapt well to be dwarfed to Gisela 5 size. I'm now trying Celeste, which is claimed to be naturally dwarf, on the more vigorous Colt rootstock. If that doesn't work I plan to give up on the whole idea of dwarf cherries.

[chrisdb]

If you want interesting and edible and don't care too much about yield, you could try:

Saskatoon / Amelanchier varieties bred for fruit, e.g Smokey, Thiessen, Northline

They're supposed to taste a bit like blueberries. The ornamental ones taste more like peas to me - I have Northline, which was bred for fruit, but it's too young to fruit so I can't confirm the flavour improvement

Goumi (elaeagnus multiflora) 'Sweet scarlet'

Nice flavour, a bit like sweetened rhubarb. Small silvery red berries. Sweet scarlet is the only variety bred for fruiting that it's easy to get, and it will fruit readily without a pollinator. Most elaeagnus species have edible berries in theory, but a lot of them seem a bit shy to fruit or produce fruit a bit too sharp - Elaeagnus umbellata is also supposed to be good but is much bigger than Goumi.

Both should be easily restrictable to 2m x 2m

[TrixC]

Apricot or plum are probably better options than cherry if you want a small tree. If your soil is clay you're probably best to avoid the very dwarfing rootstocks. I'm in London and was advised to go with Colt for cherries rather than Gisela as apparently the dwarf rootstocks really need optimal soil to thrive.

Other interesting options might be pineapple guava, medlar, or pomegranate, all of which are quite ornamental even if you don't like the fruit.

[chrisdb]

I doubt you could easily keep a medlar to 2m as a free standing tree on any of the common rootstocks. They don't take well to hard pruning, and mostly have a spreading habit.

[DiggerSean]

Will Sibley's small fruit tree program has produced some good dwarf trees including the quince and medlar. There are also small apricots like Aprigold to try.

[chrisdb]

Will Sibley's small fruit tree program has produced some good dwarf trees including the quince and medlar. There are also small apricots like Aprigold to try.

I do wonder how much of the dwarfing effect is the variety, how much is the pot, and how much is the cultivation advice. These mini trees are usually sold as 'patio trees'... I wonder how much bigger they'd get if you planted them in the ground and left them alone for 10 years.

[Alchemilla]

How about a fig? Maybe a bit bigger than you want, but they don't seem to grow too dense and take pruning well.

If it doesn't have to be a tree, but you like the tree shape - I guess soft fruit bushes trained as standard could also work.

If you are content with jam: crab apple or Rowan 'Edulis' (technically too big for what you want, but they seem to take ages to grow over here and always stay quite slender)? Or a rose for the rosehips? Think roses could look very good with herbs.

Something more unusual - Arbutus unedo?

[4390evans]

I second the stella cherry, I have it and it is stunning and tasty

[yummersetter]

Some people loathe it, but I like my corkscrew hazel, and we get quite a few nuts from it. The leaves aren't the best, but the winter silhouette is lovely.

[Invicta]

Arbutus unedo is a very handsome plant, but never grow it for its edible qualities, the fruit are technically edible but taste awful. It also grows quite big , albeit slowly.