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Start with the space, not the tree

Most disappointing garden trees are bought in a moment of spring optimism and outgrow their welcome within a decade. Before you look at a single catalogue, walk the plot with a tape measure and a critical eye. Note the width of the border, the distance to the boundary fence, and how close the nearest drain, path or house foundation sits. On heavy clay, keep fruiting trees at least three metres from the house — thirsty roots and shrinking soil are a poor combination.

Then think about shade. A canopy casts roughly its own spread in shadow at midday, so a five-metre tree on the south side of a small garden will darken the patio and the kitchen window. Check the aspect too: most fruiting trees want six hours of direct sun, whilst Japanese maples and cornus prefer dappled light and shelter from drying winds. Write the numbers down. They will save you a great deal of heartache.

Rootstocks: the hidden control on size

For fruit trees, the rootstock matters far more than the variety. The same apple grafted onto different roots can finish anywhere between 1.5 m and 6 m. Choose the rootstock first and the fruit second.

• Apples: M27 is the smallest, typically 1.2–1.8 m, but needs permanent staking and good soil. M9 gives a neat 1.8–2.5 m tree. M26 reaches 2.4–3 m and is a sensible compromise for a larger small garden. Avoid MM106 and M25 unless you have genuine space.
• Pears: Quince C keeps trees to around 2.5–3 m; Quince A is a little more vigorous at 3–4 m.
• Plums and damsons: Pixy is the dwarfing choice, holding trees near 2.5–3 m. St Julien A is larger and only suits roomier plots.
• Cherries: sweet cherries are the trickiest. A dwarfing rootstock such as Gisela 5 will keep a tree to roughly 2.5–3 m, but it still crops best with a pollination partner nearby.

Always ask what the tree is grafted onto. A label that says only "apple" tells you nothing useful.

Compact varieties worth a place

Columnar apples are the obvious starting point for patios: narrow, upright and bearing full-sized fruit on spurs close to the trunk. Cultivars such as 'Bolero' and 'Polka' stay under 3 m and can be grown in a large pot for years. Among ornamentals, Prunus incisa 'Kojo-no-mai' is a gem — a twiggy, slow-growing tree reaching about 2 m, with white-pink blossom in early spring and good autumn colour.

Other reliable small choices include Amelanchier lamarckii, which tolerates most soils and offers blossom, berries and autumn fire, and small crab apples such as 'Evereste' and 'Red Sentinel', which fruit heavily and feed the birds. For a shady corner, Acer palmatum cultivars stay compact if given shelter and neutral-to-acidic soil. Avoid the temptation of ornamental cherries like 'Kanzan' — beautiful, but far too broad for a small plot.

Trees for pots and patios

Container growing works, but only if you respect the roots. Use a pot at least 45–50 cm across and equally deep, and go bigger if you can — a 60 cm pot gives you far more leeway in hot weather. Terracotta looks lovely but dries out quickly; glazed ceramic or good-quality plastic holds moisture better. Stand the pot on feet so water drains freely, and use a soil-based compost such as John Innes No. 3 rather than a light multipurpose mix, which collapses within a season.

• Water thoroughly, then leave it — little and often encourages shallow rooting. In summer, a mature potted tree may need a full watering can daily.
• Feed from late spring with a high-potash liquid feed to encourage fruit and flowers rather than leafy growth.
• Repot every three to four years, teasing out the outer roots and trimming a little of the rootball before replanting into fresh compost.
• Raise pots onto bricks in winter if the site is exposed, and wrap the pot in bubble wrap or hessian to protect roots from freezing.

Training small trees to fit tight corners

A trained tree takes up a fraction of the space of a free-standing one and looks thoroughly at home against a wall or fence. Espaliers are the classic choice: a central stem with three or four tiers of horizontal arms, needing about 1.8 m of wall and 30 cm of depth. Cordons are even leaner — a single stem at 45 degrees, planted 60–75 cm apart, perfect for lining a path or screening a shed. Stepovers, essentially a single tier of horizontal branches, make a productive and attractive edging to a kitchen bed at just 45 cm high.

Prune trained apples and pears in late summer, shortening new growth to three or four leaves to build fruiting spurs. Plums and cherries should be pruned in June or July, never in winter, to reduce the risk of silver leaf and canker.

Planting and the first few years

Bare-root trees, available from November to March, establish better and cost less than pot-grown ones. Dig a hole two to three times the width of the roots but no deeper than the nursery soil line, fork the base, and plant with the graft union a hand's width above soil level. Firm gently, water well, and stake dwarfing rootstocks permanently — they never anchor themselves properly.

Mulch 5–7 cm deep around the trunk, keeping it clear of the bark, and water generously for the first two summers: roughly 10–20 litres a week in dry spells. Protect the trunk from rabbits and deer with a spiral guard. After that, most trees need little more than an annual spring feed, a light tidy, and the pleasure of watching something grow exactly where you meant it to.