Grow a Little Fruit Tree: Simple Pruning Techniques for Small-Space, Easy-Harvest Fruit Trees

"Beautiful and essential. Ann Ralph is your good-natured guide to the sometimes intimidating task of planting bare root fruit trees, thinning fruit, and that nail-biter of them all: pruning."―Novella Carpenter, author of Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer

“This backyard fruit tree owner's manual should come with every fruit tree, or, better yet, get it while you are still deciding what trees to plant.”―Pam Pierce, author of Golden Gate Gardening and Wildly Successful Plants: Northern California

“Ann Ralph argues her case for pruning with such deep knowledge, and wit, and obvious affection for fruit trees, that you cannot help but be converted.  A delightful and useful book!”―Mike Madison, author of Blithe Tomato

Grow your own apples, figs, plums, cherries, pears, apricots, and peaches in even the smallest backyard! Ann Ralph shows you how to cultivate small yet abundant fruit trees using a variety of specialized pruning techniques. With dozens of simple and effective strategies for keeping an ordinary fruit tree from growing too large, you’ll keep your gardening duties manageable while at the same time reaping a bountiful harvest. These little fruit trees are easy to maintain and make a lovely addition to any home landscape.

“Ann Ralph argues her case for pruning with such deep knowledge, and wit, and obvious affection for fruit trees, that you cannot help but be converted.  A delightful and useful book!” -- Mike Madison, author of Blithe Tomato

Smaller Is Better

Imagine a peach tree that's the same height as you. And an apple tree that doesn't require a ladder for reaching the top-most fruit. Following Ann Ralph's timed pruning plan and simple maintenance guidelines, you can keep ordinary fruit trees small and manageable. Your little trees need less garden space, are easier to care for, and offer just the right amount of fruit for most households.

Ann Ralph is a fruit tree specialist with twenty years of nursery experience. She teaches pruning classes in the San Francisco Bay Area and lives in the Sierra foothills near Jackson, California.