 |
| Lemon tree on the left, fig in the center, kumquat on right |
Sunday, October 25, 2026
There are many options for growing your own fruit in small spaces today and more come on the market every year. You grow them in pots, as part of the landscape or garden bed. I wanted fruit that can be grown organically that produce enough to preserve for year round enjoyment.
We are growing apples, goji berries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, tamarillos, huckleberries, blueberries, mulberries, husk cherries, aronia berries and lemons. The potted lemon tree is in the house during the winter and taken outside each spring. Tamarillo trees are related to tomatoes and can either be overwintered indoors or started each spring. I do have a native serviceberry tree that we planted a couple of years ago but it is not producing berries yet. This summer I started watering it during the drought. I hope next year it will take off in growth and the following year provide berries.
I have also grown fig trees. You either have to bring fig trees in every winter or be sure to get one hardy for your zone. Ones recommended for Zone 7 are Chicago Hardy, Brown Turkey or Celeste. There are likely others available that are hardy. If they are at your local big box store or nursery, they should be hardy for your zone.
I don't grow conventional plums, peaches, apricots, cherries or big apple trees because of the spraying required to keep pests and disease at bay. However, there are other options. There is a native American plum that has smaller fruits than its European counterpart and does not require spraying. I plan on getting one of these next year.
Apples Modern apple trees require a lot of spraying to keep the bugs and worms away. If you have your heart set on apples, look for old fashioned varieties. One that a friend grows and said produces well and they never spray is Arkansas Black. There are farms that specialize in antique apple trees that likely are the same pest resistance as they have been around since before all the chemicals came into use.
Aronia bush Also known as black chokeberry for its tart dark purple berries. Aronia melanocarpa is a native bush that has clusters of white flowers in May, followed by dark purple clusters of berries. I put the berries in my yogurt. You can also use to make pies, jellies and jams. It grows 3-6' feet tall. Mine is about 5' tall at 3 years old. There is also a red chokeberry bush that grows 6-12' tall, Aronia arbutifolia.
Blackberry and Raspberry Both are natives. The ones we buy are cultivars derived from the natives. For raspberry lovers, the “Shortcake” variety is a thornless dwarf that grows to a 2-3 foot mound. It can easily be grown in a pot and is self fertile so only one plant is needed to bear fruit. It is hardy in Zones 5-9 and fruits in mid-summer. Both raspberries and blackberries prefer full sun.
“Doyle’s” thornless blackberry plant can be grown in a pot and supposedly can produce enormous harvests of fruit. In the ground it can reach heights of 7 feet. It is hardy in Zones 3-10 and bears fruit in the spring to early summer. Another small option is the dwarf red blackberry which grows to 1.5 feet in height.
My raspberry and blackberry bushes are on their second summer in the ground. The blackberries produced enough to put away 5-10 quarts. I have a thornless and a thorny variety. The thorny variety produced way more than the thornless and it is much larger. It has produced a few more berries in the last week. For some blackberry varieties they produce a fall harvest, too. The ones that do are called ever bearing blackberries. The raspberry canes have only produced a few quarts so far and are still producing a few. My raspberry is an everbearing variety called Joan J.
I just bought supports for both my raspberry and blackberry bushes as the types I have grow along the ground making it hard to see the fruit and painful picking up the thorny blackberry branches. I bought supports that should keep the branches a couple feet off the ground. You can install a trellis system if you have your bushes in a row that you tie the branches to but mine are spaced around the perimeter of an oblong garden bed.
 |
| Bed with squash, raspberry and blackberry bushes |
Blueberries Is also a native with many available cultivars. There are a couple of blueberries that are compact and acceptable for small landscapes and pots, “Draper” and “Tophat.” Draper is a bush that grows to 3-4 feet. Tophat is a nice little bush that can easily be grown in a pot. It grows to a mere 16-24” high. Blueberries require an acidic soil, a pH of 4-4.5. Blueberries are self pollinating, but you will get a lot more fruit if you plant two bushes. You get fruit in early to mid summer. If you have any extra, you can easily freeze or dry. I am growing a few in pots. They don't produce enough in pots to have extras for freezing. In our area, southern high bush are large and prolific. We have Tifblu and Brightwell growing at our local demonstration garden and they produce enough for several families for year round eating on just those 2 bushes. To have enough for freezing, they need to be planted in the ground and a few years to get established.
Currant Is a native shrub to Kentucky (Ribes americanum) that produces edible black berries. Grows 3-6" tall. Prefers afternoon shade and can be susceptible to powdery mildew. Can also buy cultivars that are more disease resistant. The golden currant is native to states all around Kentucky and produces edible berries.
Elderberry bushes Elderberries are natives. You need 2 different types to get maximum fruit production. The raw berries are inedible but are great used in syrups, jellies, jams, pies and, of course, wine. Grow in a variety of conditions. May need to be cut to the ground every other year to keep manageable.
Figs A fig tree is cool looking and very easy to grow either in the landscape or in a pot. It is native to Mediterranean region. I never had any pest or disease problems with it. We had ours in a pot for 5 years and then put it in the ground. It did well in the bed for 3 years until the voles got to it. We got great fruit from it throughout the summer. About every 5 years it will get cold enough in Zone 7 to kill it to the ground but the tree will remerge in the spring from the ground. It's best to plant in full sun; southern exposure helps its winter hardiness.
 |
| Ripe figs |
If you decide to put your fig in a pot that you want to leave outside year round, this will lower the zone it can survive the winter in by at least one zone. You can always bring the fig in for the winter, either into your home or a garage. We had a “Chicago Hardy” fig that is hardy to Zone 6. It can grow to a height of 25 feet if planted in the ground. You can eat your figs fresh, dry them or make them into preserves. Growing “exotic” figs
Table grapes The Kentucky native grape muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia) can be grown organically. Just be sure to plant where it gets good drainage during wet spring spells. If you want to grow grapes for wine making, Norton is one that is resistant to fungal diseases.
Garden Huckleberries I grew annual garden huckleberries for the first time this year in pots. They are native to Africa. They produced lots of small black berries. I probably won't grow them again. The taste is okay but you have to make sure they are fully ripe or they can cause an upset stomach. Plus the berries are small and break at the attachment point when picked so are messy and time consuming to harvest. There are native huckleberry bushes. The ones native to Kentucky that produce edible barries are called black huckleberry, Gaylussacia baccata. They are perennials and produce sweet, dark purple berries in late summer. Grows 1-5' tall and needs at least 4-6 hours of sun to produce berries.
Honeyberry is another fruiting bush and they bear in late spring/early summer, as early as two weeks prior to strawberries. They are a blue oval type berry and is hardy in Zones 2-8. The “Smokey Blue” reach 3-4 feet in height, making them a good candidate for a pot as well. They are high in antioxidants and taste similar to blueberries. Most require two cross-compatible cultivars for pollination for fruiting. No special soil type is needed, but prefer partial shade. For Zone 7, I would look for a self-fertilizing cultivar that is rated for up to Zone 8 and plant them where they get afternoon shade for them to have the best chance of surviving and producing in our hot, humid summers. They will likely need extra watering in our Zone 7 summers. I have not tried growing these.
 |
Strawberry
Goji berry I grew the red goji berry bush from seed. Goji berries are high in antioxidants and easy to grow. They are self fertile so only one is needed to produce fruit. They are a shrub that can grow 8-10 feet at maturity. If you keep them in a pot, they will remain smaller. They are hardy down to Zone 5. I brought mine in for several years and planted it in the ground a couple of years ago and it is doing great. One watchout for goji bushes as they do get "thorns" so don't plant them where you would brush up against them frequently. There is also a black fruiting goji that I have the seed for and will try to get going for next year.
We have had a red goji berry bush up at the Demonstration Garden for several years. It only grows to 3-4' tall. They seem to spread by horizontal roots after the first year in the ground so it is easy to get more bushes as time goes on. |
Husk cherry I've been growing these for a few years. They are a prolific self seeder. The fruits have a pineapple banana flavor when fully ripe. I grow mine in medium size pots so I don't get a ton of fruit from them but they are fun and tasty so I keep growing them. I let a volunteer grow in the garden bed and it did produce many fruits but wasn't as easy to get to as the potted fruits. I'll do both again next year.
Kiwi vines Another fruit for small spaces is kiwi and they are hardy for Zones 3-9. These are vines that can grow to 10-20 feet. You can use these over an harbor or on a fence. A male and female are required. They prefer a part sun location. The foliage of the Artic Beauty is beautifully variegated with pink, white and green leaves. These vines fruit in September. I keep thinking about growing these.
Mulberry tree Another native fruit tree is the red mulberry tree, Morus rubra. Don't confuse it with a white mulberry tree which is invasive and non-native. Mulberries are similar to blackberries but sweeter and more fragile. This is why we don't see the fruit in grocery stores. Mulberry trees are great for wildlife and produce prolifically. I bought one this year. You can get dwarfs so you can reach all the fruit so it doesn't become messy. You can also cut the central leader when the tree is about 4 feet tall to make a regular tree stay small. I probably only need one to have enough fruit for year round eating.
Passionflower vine “Maypop” is a hardy passion flower vine that survives down to Zone 5 and is a native. It is a very hardy vine so either grow it in a pot or make sure it is blocked off from being able to expand into other areas. They taste a lot like guavas and their flowers are beautiful. I keep trying to grow from seed but have not had good luck. I discovered they are growing wild in our field so I'll dig one this fall to transplant. They are natives to our area.
Pawpaw tree A slow growing fruit tree that reaches a height of 12-15 feet is a native to North America is the pawpaw. It tastes tropical with a banana/mango like flavor. It is also high in protein, vitamins and minerals and hardy to Zone 5. The fruits weigh around a pound each and are ready to pick in late summer/early fall. Two plants are required for the tree to bear fruit like Susquehanna and Sunflower. Foraging for wild edibles
Pear trees Our neighbor has a couple pear trees that he does not spray and they produce very well without pest or disease issues. They are a Bartlett and a Keiffer pear tree. He always has lots to give away so I don't need to grow my own but if I do, these will be the two I plant. You do need 2 different compatible pear varieties for successful fruiting.
Asian-American persimmons This fruiting tree does well in our summers and is hardy for our zone. Grows 20-40' tall bearing fruit in mid-September through November depending on the variety. There are non-astringent types that can be eaten fresh and the astringent types that need to soften considerably to be sweet. Popular varieties are self-fertile while others need 2 to set fruit. There are native persimmons and they are astringent types.
Wild plum (American plum) It can either be a thicket forming shrub or small tree. The trees can grow to 35' and prefer at lease some shade. The native has small red fruits. There are many cultivars that have been developed from the native for improved fruits. The native fruits are eaten fresh and used in jellies and preserves. The tree spreads by sending out root sprouts. It has beautiful white flowers in spring.
Serviceberry tree A native tree that is a great provider of spring nectar for bees as well as tasty purple berries in early summer. It is one of the first trees to flower in spring and grows 15-25' tall and is the recommended replacement for the invasive Bradford pear. When purchasing be sure to look for Amelanchier arborea to make sure you are getting the native tree.
Strawberry Strawberries are another easy to grow perennial fruit. The ones we grow today are hybrids from the native strawberry vines. They prefer full sun and should be planted in the spring. There are two types of strawberries, June bearing or Everbearing. June bearing have one large harvest in early summer whereas the everbearing types produce berries from spring through fall. They enjoy a rich soil so plant with lots of compost and bone meal. If they begin to decline in production after 4 years, plant new plants in a different area of the garden. We have ours in a raised bed. This was their second year and we put up about 10 quarts of berries.Back yard strawberries
I also like to grow Alpine strawberries. They produce spring through fall but their berries are small, but intensely flavored.
Dwarf tamarillo tree I started one of these last year in a pot and overwintered it indoors. You can also start it each year. It produces small orange fuzzy fruits. The taste was better on the one grown in the garden bed than the pot but I will keep my potted one because it is ready to produce so much sooner than growing from seed. I will put it into a larger pot next spring.
