You might not believe it if you grew up in the city, but those of us who have access to tree ripe fruit can tell it from fruit that has been picked only a few hours before. There's nothing like being able to go out to fruit trees and grab a fresh apple, pear, or orange off the branch. When I went back to my grandparents farm where I grew up, I realized that, with all of the luxuries of modern life, we still have not come up with anything as wonderful as a fruit tree. The tree fruit might not be available in all seasons, and might be subject to worms, bugs, droughts, and other pests, but when it is there it is the most delicious, refreshing thing on earth.
The only problem with fruit trees is that if you don't grow up with them, you probably won't get to have them either. Although there are fast growing fruit trees, a lot of species take longer. In order for your fruit tree to bear fruit, it needs to have other ones nearby so that they can cross-pollinate. Otherwise, they will be infertile. If there are problems with the soil, too much or too little water, or if you have the wrong variety, you will not get fruit either. Basically, so many things can go wrong that it is surprising that more people don't give up on growing fruit trees. Nevertheless, when it does work it is worth it!
One of my friends is an expert in grafted fruit trees, and he has been showing me their wonders for the past month or so. Fruit grafting is something that I never experienced growing up. My grandparents were pretty simple and straightforward about planting. They had a few varieties that they liked, and they grew those over and over again. It was definitely good enough for them, but it wasn't good enough for my friend.
He always loves fiddling around and experimenting, and he is no different when he gets his hands on some plants. He has now made an apple tree that can actually produce six different varieties of apple! Talk about luxurious! It is the best solution for someone with limited space who still wants to enjoy a wide variety of different fruits. The “Frankentree”, as I refer to it, is one of the best fruit trees I have ever seen. I don't know how he does it, but he sure does it well!
Summary:
Fruit trees are difficult for most people to grow successfully. It can be done with time and patience. Most fruit trees take years to produce fruit and requires more than one tree to cross pollinate. There are other options such a miniature fruit trees you can try which take less time and effort to work with.
