Can't decide which kind of fruit tree to get to grow your own fruit in your garden? The thing is, you may not have to pick just one. Fruit cocktail trees are a thing, and they manage to grow different fruits all on one tree — sort of like a fruit salad tree!
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What is a Fruit Cocktail Tree?
A fruit cocktail tree is a kind of tree that can grow a variety of fruit on a single tree. One of the most popular dwarf fruit cocktail trees grows purple plums, red plums, yellow nectarines, red nectarines, peaches, and apricots all on one plant!
That means you won't need to get several different stone fruit trees to get a combo of fruits growing. Different varieties of plum trees, nectarine trees, and peach trees, in your yard? Not necessary, unless you want them all as a grower, of course. If you're looking for something a little more tropical, you can even grow lemon trees, tangelos, grapefruit, other citrus trees, and even avocado trees together, with varying results.
How Do They Grow All Those Fruits?
These different types of trees are grafted together on one, and thanks to that grafting, the fruits can grow with one another on just one plant. With the right rootstock, mulch, and pollination conditions, you can grow several types of fruit on one tree. It's pretty amazing!
How Should You Care for a Fruit Cocktail Tree?
This dwarf cocktail tree is self-pollinating and doesn't grow very tall if that's at all a concern to you as a gardener.
These trees like full sun, but can adapt to most soil types. By late summer, some of the fruits can be harvested, and all that care will be worth it.
If you want some other fruit, like different varieties of apples, you'll have to look for something like an apple tree that acts as its own "cocktail" yielder. The same goes for cocktail cherry trees and other varieties.
With a fruit cocktail tree with so many delicious choices, do you really need anything else in your yard or garden? What trees will you add to your wishlist?
