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

First, a word about what you will NOT learn in this book. You will NOT learn anything about espalier. This is in spite of the fact that this book appears 2nd in the list of books when you search that term. It has one page of text about espalier and that doesn't have as much information as the Wikipedia article on the subject.You will learn two things from this book. First, you will find that the author has an aversion bordering on a mania to "semi-dwarf rootstock". Secondly, you will learn the ONE thing this book has to impart -- that pruning trees near the summer solstice keeps them small. There -- I have saved you the expense of buying this book and worse, the wasted time of reading it.She writes in a very chatty style but fails to impart any real knowledge. For instance, different types of trees must be pruned differently in order to bear fruit. This is not even mentioned in the book. If you want to know how to prune your apple trees versus your peach trees, you have to go somewhere else. All this book is about is growing small trees. Bearing fruit on these small trees does not seem to be something that is of any interest to the author at all.Botton line: Give this book a miss and use your money elsewhere.

I am a master gardener and found this book to be invaluable! Don't let the title fool you. This book is about growing fruit in your back yard and being able to maintain and manage reasonably size fruit trees. I moved to a yard with what people think are beautiful large fruit trees. I have found they are totally unmanageable. Too large for the space and I get way too much fruit. I have struggled for 4 years. With her advice on what and when to prune I hope to take control of my existing trees and plant new ones that will be a lot less work and give me a good variety of fruit. She discusses when to prune for certain results, what to do with newly planted trees and how to manage older trees. A must read for anyone wishing to grow their own fruit.

Great book. It teaches you all about fruit trees and how to keep them manageable. I have limited space for growing, but I like variety. Using this book, I now have a mini orchard that includes: 4 sweet cherry trees; 3 nectarine trees and 2 peach trees. They are all growing in an area of about 10 feet by 40 feet. My soil is dense, so I learned to plant some in raised beds, others are in natural high spots. It is a very good book and introduced me to many topics I had not even considered.I have recommended this book to friends. Another helpful site has been Dave Wilson Orchard's, Backyard Orchard Culture. They have a great website and helpful youtube videos. Their videos go well with this book.

Pretty good introduction to basic home orchard skills. This little book is an easy read, has some nice pictures and inspiring ideas.It won't make you a master gardener, but it will certainly help give you some practical methods of planting and caring for your own orchard, even if you have space constraints.On the negative side, I felt like some of the book felt basic and repetitive. I wish there had been a bit more detailed information about maintenance and care of your fruit trees after they've been in the ground for a couple of years. I also would have enjoyed FAR more pictures demonstrating the small tree pruning techniques and its results. I feel this would have given me some more inspiration and knowledge to plan and tackle good summer pruning of my own little trees.

The author shares a lot of important information in an easy to digest discussion and does a good job convincing the reader it is ok to prune more harshly than most novices would be comfortable with for the long term good of the trees. She also does a nice job explaining, with pictures, the types of cuts, when to use them and the impact of pruning timing on growth. I would also like to mention that the author is most familiar with semi-arid California fruit tree species so if you live in a similar region, it will be especially helpful but if you live in a very different region, like New England, there are still many good pieces of information but the more specific species info is not as useful. Though I found this to be a minor footnote and overall found the book a nice pruning resource that I will definitely refer to over and over.

I just love this book. I just moved into a new house and as I always do, I am planting fruit trees. BUT...... this book has given me such great information. It is a bit scary. I went out and chopped all my poor trees practically down to nubs. Believe me it was hard to do. But it makes so much sense. Some of the trees I have planted in the past have gotten out of control and fruit at the top just rots. I can't wait until spring to see what happens now. I am somewhat worried about a few of the trees that were in their second winter and I am hoping I wasn't too late to make the changes. As I look at the bare trunks I think I did a pretty good job. I am also excited to start fertilizing and taking care of my "Little Trees" by the book.

There are many reviews on this book, Grow a Little Fruit Tree: Simple Pruning Techniques for Small-Spaces. I want to emphasize that it is good for larger trees and larger areas also. It has the added advantage of knowing "when" to prune. The author had to persist in her findings, her style of pruning, for years before the "experts" could begin to see the value of what she was teaching. I bought this book also for gifts, it seemed that useful to me. It is also very viewable, in a good size and good quality paper. I thought it quite worthwhile.

A very interesting book with clear instructions and lovely photographs. The idea is to grow trees to your own head or shoulder height so that they are easy to reach for pruning and picking and produce beautiful healthy fruit. I bought it two years ago and have planted and pruned trees by this method since then and it is working out well. It has meant that I can grow many more trees in a small space than I would have ever thought possible and therefore I can have more variety as well. The pruning method is not difficult at all and you can use trees grown on any rootstock, not necessarily the dwarfing ones, in face it can be better to use those with a more vigorous root.It is an excellent book that I heartily recommend.

This is a great little book on the potential to keep fruit trees small and therefore suitable for modern smaller gardens and to care for and pick all the fruit. Knowledgable and with good examples. Slightly repetitive as many American books can be but still well worth the money and time to read.

Arrived on time and in good condition. Lots of interesting ideas in the book so you can have a variety of fruit trees in a small space.Author is American but her ideas - if not all apple varieties - apply totreeshere

IT is an American book so a lot is not relevant to UK gardens.

Very simply and clearly written - good information and makes me feel confident about tackling this task.