When facing the problem of designing a garden for a small backyard many people assume that it is necessary to only grow miniature plants such as alpine varieties. However it is often possible to incorporate larger plants such as trees and shrubs but only if the species chosen is suitable and a great deal of thought has gone into the garden design. Increasing in popularity it the compact fruit tree, mainly because you have the added benefit of a crop but also because such friut trees are often highly suitable for growing in containers.

There are a number of fruit trees which are highly suitable for growing in a small backyard. Apples and pears are a firm favorite with "family" fruit trees offering a selection of two or three varieties grafted onto the same root stock. However cherries, plums, cages, damsons, apricots, nectarines and peaches can also be grown in small yards.

Of course, some fruit trees can grow to an incredible size so, when choosing which to grow in your backyard, you will need to do a quick survey to ensure that there are no overhanging wires, cables or even extended roofs, which a large fruit tree may, eventually, encroach upon. To avoid any such problems horticulturists have developed dwarf varieties of most fruit trees. The plants are dwarfed by grafting the main stem onto a dwarf or semi dwarfing rootstock such as M26 or M9. The stock restricts the growth of the tree sufficiently to allow it to be situated in some of the smallest backyards.

The size of a tree can also be restricted in size by clever, educated, annual pruning and training. I can not stress how important it is to ensure that you fully understand how to prune fruit trees correctly. If you do prune a fruit tree incorrectly you can cause serious damage, at the least your crop may fail but, ultimately, you stand the risk of your fruit tree dying.

Some fruit trees such as nectarines, peaches and quinces, can be fan and espalier trees which means that they can grow up against a wall and remain very close to it. It is best to purchase young trees (maidens) as they are the easiest to train to grow in this fashion. However many nurseries and garden centers can supply them ready trained but, obviously, delivery is somewhat problematic and it is rare to find them available online or via mail order.

Apples and Pears can be grown in a number of sizes and shapes such as; bush, half standard, fan-trained, cordon, pyramid, espalier and spindlebush. Apples and pears are available as either cooking (culinary), cooking (dessert) or dessert (another type of apple tree is the cider apple tree). The apple tree is also available as, the already mentioned, family tree and these can look incredible when in full fruit with one stem having green fruit, another with red and yet another with yellowish green fruit. These fruit trees are amongst the most compact available and most folk choose to grow them in large containers so that they can be removed to a more sheltered area of the yard (or in a greenhouse) during the winter.

Finally it is incredibly important that you understand that it is, nearly always, best to grow more than one fruit tree so that one can pollinate the other to ensure a crop. Some varieties are a better pollinator than others and not all are suitable for each other. Of course there are some fine examples of self fertile varieties but it is always best to check with a professional before purchasing unless you fully understand which are best suited.