Did you know that starting a home orchard isn’t as hard as you might think?

Today, I’m going to encourage you by giving you my step-by-step process for planting your own fruitful oasis that could one day be a legacy you leave. I’m telling you: you won’t regret it!

Tips for Starting Your Home Orchard

1. Start Brainstorming: what type of fruit Would you like to Eat, Sell, or Give Away from your home orchard?

It all starts with a dream! What kind of fruit would you like to grow? I’m sure you and others in your family have an idea! Jot down a list to get the creative juices flowing.

2. start thinking about where you would put the trees and how many you have room for and time to care for.

Check out how much space you have considering that each new tree needs a lot of sunlight and will grow approximately to the following sizes:

Dwarf: 8-10 feet wide | Semi-dwarf: 12-15 feet wide | Standard: 18-20 feet wide

Also, there will be maintenance required (pruning + watering Once you have a general idea of how many trees you can support, continue onward, my friend!

2. Compare Your Brainstorming List to What Grows Well in Your Area.

Now, it’s time to find out which growing zone you’re in, if you don’t already know. You can find that by entering your zip code HERE on the USDA website. For example, I’m in growing zone 8b. Where are you?

pro tip

Just because the garden center sells it, does not mean that it can live outside in your growing zone. For example, I once bought a lime tree from Home Depot, only to realize it isn’t frost hardy (rookie mistake). So it had to live in my kitchen during winter until we built our greenhouse.

Now, take your dream fruit tree list and honestly, start googling. There’s not one single source (that I could find) that will tell you every fruit tree and which growing zones they do best in. Other sources of good information will be staff at your local nursery as well as your local extension office! Once you know if the trees you want to plant will do well in your area, it’s time for the most exciting part of the process: choosing your varieties.

3. Research + Choose your Varieties for your home orchard.

This is where things can get complicated, but you can do it. So stick with me. Each type of fruit tree has a whole ton of varieties. Read about them.

What will be the purpose of the fruit? Think about what you want to use the fruit for. For example, if I’m planning to bake a lot of apple pies, I may get a Granny Smith apple tree, but if I’m looking for fresh eating off the tree, then a Honey crisp is probably a better option.
Size matters. When choosing fruit trees, as I mentioned briefly before, many are available in dwarf (small), semi-dwarf (medium), or standard (large) size? When we made our final selections, we went mostly with semi-dwarf because, let’s be honest, I’m not too entirely interested in harvesting atop a giant ladder someday. Consider how much space you have in your yard. Maybe you could only fit 2 standard trees, but if you went with dwarf, you could plant 5! Something to consider.
Consider the harvest time for each variety: For the types of fruit you want to grow, you may look at early, mid, or late season maturing varieties. For example, we planted 6 peach trees and I chose 2 early ripening varieties, 2 mid-season ripening varieties, and 2 late season ripening varieties to ensure we get the longest harvest time possible.
Pests and diseases: Some fruit trees are more susceptible to pests and diseases than others – sometimes you can find varieties that work well in your area and are resistant to the common pests and diseases that may be a problem in your growing zone. I was able to find information about some of these online and at my local nursery.
Make sure you have a pollinator: This is a critical step: DO NOT SKIP IT. Remember that many fruit trees HAVE TO HAVE a pollinator. And, the pollinator has to be compatible with the variety you’re growing which means it needs to flower at the same time.

we had our first decent apple harvest this year – year 3 – (about 50 apples!)

in my experience…

Choosing varieties was where I spent the most time during my planning process. Take your time and double-check you final selections to make sure they work well in your growing zone and have a pollinator if needed.

With careful planning, you can choose fruit tree varieties that will provide you with decades of delicious fruit. It’s worth taking the time to do it right when you’re starting!

(*some of these links may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase by clicking them, I may earn some coffee money, at no added cost to you! Thank you so much for supporting my work here, friend!)

4. Plan Where You Want To Put Them.

When choosing where to plant fruit trees, you should consider the following factors:

Sunlight: Fruit trees will be happiest with a lot of sunlight. Some only require partial sunlight. For us, we have one part of our orchard that gets shade from a giant fir tree, so I planted my partial shade fruit trees in that area.
Soil: Fruit trees need well-draining soil. It’s not a bad idea to test your soil (you can send it to your local extension office (usually for free) to see if it needs amending before planting.
Space: Fruit trees need plenty of space to grow, but you can prune them to the shape you would like! There are many different opinions on pruning fruit trees. Some growers like to keep them really small, like the author of this book I have: “Grow a Little Fruit Tree.”
Pollination: We’ve talked about the importance of pollination. When planning where to plant, you want make sure that the trees that pollinate each other are close enough together. I had to change a planned planting for this reason to get my apple trees a little closer together instead of all the way across our designated orchard area.
The arrangement: I have to tell you, that once you plant these trees, you are NOT going to want to move them. So pick a spot. A really good one. For me, Tim and I ran lines of string from one end of the field where we were planting to the other and planted PRECISELY along the line, because we wanted the orchard to look neat and intentional.

Once you have considered these factors, you can choose a precise location in your yard that is suitable for planting your trees. I like to do this before you get the trees, because once you have them, especially bare root trees, you’ll need to move quickly to get them in the ground.

5. buy Your Trees

As a general rule, the more mature the trees that you are buying are, the more expensive they will be. I have bought from many places and the trees that are doing the best so far were the most mature, but they cost over $100 each, and with the 25 trees we planned to plant, mature trees all the way around was just not in the budget. Bare root trees are a great option if you’re trying to not break the bank, so don’t be afraid to go that route. Over half of our trees were purchased bare root (costing between $40-70 each).

Here’s a list of the places you can check out when buying your trees:

Nurseries: Nurseries are a great place to buy fruit trees because they have a wide variety of trees to choose from. They also offer expert advice on how to care for your trees.
Garden centers: Garden centers often carry a selection of fruit trees. They may not have as many varieties as nurseries, but they can be a convenient option if you’re looking for a quick purchase.
Online retailers: There are many online retailers that sell fruit trees. This can be a convenient option if you live in an area where there are no local nurseries or garden centers. I have purchased from Stark Brothers and Fast Growing Trees.
Local farmers markets: Local farmers markets often sell fruit trees. This can be a great way to support local businesses and get fresh, quality trees.

Bringing my bare root fruit trees home from the Raintree Nursery (there are 10 trees here!)

6. Plant Your Trees

I’ve got to tell you, I heard TONS of different planting tips when we were planting our trees. In fact, each of the trees we purchased online came with a different set of instructions. We ended up settling on digging holes that were as deep and twice as wide as each root ball. We mixed top soil and soil conditioner and compost together, and added a mycopak fertilizer at the bottom of the holes as suggested by someone at the nursery where we purchased all of our bare root trees. Let’s break down the steps:

Choose the right spot in your yard. The spot should get at least 6 hours of sunlight per day and have well-draining soil.
Prepare the soil by digging a hole that is twice as wide as the root ball of the tree.
Mix in some compost or soil conditioner or manure to the soil.
Place the tree in the hole and backfill with soil, tamping down the soil as you go. Do not plant too deeply! The graft on the tree should be 4 inches above the soil at least.
Water the tree very well, especially in this first planting and first week.
Mulch around the base of the tree to help retain moisture. We used weed barrier with wood chips on top.
Stake the tree to keep it upright (some sources say this isn’t necessary but we did stake ours).

Hooray! Your tree is probably much happier now. But we still need to baby it a bit.

7. Care For Your Trees

One you plant your new tree babies, it is super important that you take care to ensure their health! The main things to focus on are watering and protection.

Watering. Baby fruit trees need to be watered deeply each week. After the first year, this will become less important, but you definitely do not want to skip this. Tim was watering all of our trees for over an hour a week and finally decided to hire help to put in irrigation after a few months, which is something. to consider if you’re not sure you can make the watering thing happen regularly.
Protection from animals + pests. This was the most difficult for us, as we have deer that treat fruit trees like. a gourmet buffet. We started by individually protecting each tree with T-posts and deer netting, but they were still getting through and giving our precious trees deer haircuts. We tried deer repellent spray and that worked well but requires reapplication every week or so. Eventually, we paid to have a fence surrounding our entire home orchard area. You may also want to protect the fragile tree trunks from small animals with a guard like THESE.
Protection from diseases. To guard against diseases, you’ll definitely want to pay close attention to your new trees. I noticed a problem early on with our peach leaves, and after some research found out it was “leaf curl” and would need treatment with a fungicide. I may have lost those trees without action.
Pruning. Pruning is a topic that I have seen covered so. many. different ways. There are differing opinions from growers on the best time to prune and how to prune. I again recommend the book I have “Grow a Little Fruit Tree” if you’d like to keep your trees small and to help learn about different methods. I also watched THIS video from Melissa K Norris which helped me a lot.
Fertilizing. To get the most out of your tree and promote growth, it is a very good idea to add nutrients to the soil around your trees each spring as the buds are forming. You can use a fertilizer recommended at your local nursery or something like THIS should work great.

Here are some additional tips/review for watering fruit trees:

Water deeply, less often. We watered deeply once a week. This will help the tree’s roots grow deep and strong.
Mulch around the tree to help retain moisture. Again, we used weed barrier and wood chips on top.
Inspect your trees regularly for signs of drought stress, such as wilted leaves. Or in our case, our peaches quickly got leaf curl and I had to treat them for that. It was quite obvious. Just be aware.
If you live in an area with hot, dry summers, consider installing an irrigation system to help water your trees. We did eventually do that after many months of Tim watering for an hour a week.
Make sure to water the tree regularly, especially during the first year.

I am SO. GLAD. that we used our time and resources to plant out our home orchard. It’s one of my absolute favorite places to be on the entire property and I can just envision the day when it’s overflowing with delicious fruit for us to enjoy and share. Learn more about how we came upon this unexpected farm life in “The One Where We Bought a Farm.”

I hope you will find these tips to be helpful! Let me know what you’re thinking of planting and if you’d like to see my full list of what we *actually* planted in our orchard!

PS: This year we had our first crop (about 50 apples between our 3 most mature trees! See the REEL I made on if my apple tree could talk HERE. 😂

And as we wrap up, I just wanted to leave a quote I’ve often heard with you:

“They say the best time to plant a fruit tree is 10 years ago. The second best time is today.“

So get planting, my friend! What are you waiting for?

Biggest Hugs and Blessings,

ann marie 🖤

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Hi, there!

I’m Ann Marie, a blogging mama of 3 lil’ gals, a wife to a busy Orthopedic Surgeon, and a firm believer that you can never have too many chickens.

I’m so, so glad you’re here, where we discuss all things modern farmhouse, garden, motherhood, medical marriage, faith, travel, and more. I’m passionate about inspiring you to move forward in your transformative journey. In fact, I happen to be on one of those myself. Let’s do it together. ❤️

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Tips for Starting a Home Orchard (No Experience Needed!)