What are the Best Dwarf Fruit Trees to Grow in Kentucky?
Finding the best dwarf fruit trees to grow in Kentucky was not as easy as I thought. Some require extensive care, others are prone to pests, and lots are just not simple & quick enough to grow.
That’s why I created a list of the 10 Best Dwarf Fruit Trees to Grow in Kentucky!
This ultimate guide will give you the best dwarf fruit trees to grow, why you should grow them, and even how to grow them.
Read THIS Before Growing Dwarf Fruit Trees in Kentucky
Knowing what hardiness zone you live in is critical to understanding the best fruits that can be grown.
It can be the difference between your fruit orchard thriving and providing a bountiful yield or producing nothing and maybe even dying.
Below, you can find the hardiness zone you live in.
10 Best Dwarf Fruit Trees to Grow in Kentucky
#1. Apple Tree
Popular Varieties: Honeycrisp, Red Delicious, Granny
Why Grow Dwarf Apple Trees in Kentucky?
Cold Hardy:
- Apple Trees thrive in cold spring and cooler fall months. Unlike other fruits, flowers and fruit can grow even when there is snow or frost late into the spring.
Easy to Grow:
- Apple trees may be the easiest fruit to grow. You do not need to fertilize it, don’t need to water it, can be planted in any soil, and needs very little pruning if any.
Perfect for ANY Yard:
- Apple Trees are perfect for any gardener’s yard. If you have a lot of space you can plant numerous apple trees. If you have a little space you can plant your apple trees in Kentucky. And regardless of the climate or soil, you can plant them just about anywhere in your yard.
Heavy Harvest:
- Out of all the fruit trees on this list, apple trees have one of the heaviest harvests. Between late August through November, you can pick more apples than you’ll be able to eat.
THESE Could Harm Your Apple Trees
Pests:
- Deer, Rabbits, & Squirrels LOVE Lettuce. If left unprotected these pests will eat your fruit before it can even fully grow.
Insects:
- Out of all the fruit trees on this list, insects are most likely to attack apple trees. Whether it’s Japanese Beetles or Aphids, you will constantly have to spray and care for your apple tree to prevent insect infestation
Disease:
- Again, out of all the fruit trees on this list, Apple Trees are the most prone to disease. Blight & mold are just two of the diseases that can attack, harm, and sometimes kill your fruit trees in the spring or summer.
Additional Resources
Learn How To Grow Apple Trees in Kentucky HERE
#2. Pear Tree
Popular Varieties: Barlett, Kieffer, Anjou, Bosc
Why Grow Dwarf Pear Trees in Kentucky?
Cold Hardy:
- Pear Trees is another hardy fruit when it comes to cold. Pears are a perfect compliment to apple trees, blooming earlier and bearing fruit earlier in the summer.
Heat-Resistant:
- Pear Trees is not only a great tree that is cold-hardy but also does amazing in droughts, high heat, and humidity. This makes it perfect to plant anywhere in your yard, regardless of the amount of sunlight it receives.
Perfect in Pots:
- If there is any fruit that can be grown in gardening pots, it’s Pear Trees. This is one of the most adaptive fruits, making it perfect for beginner gardeners.
THESE Could Harm Your Pear Trees
Insects
- Like many other fruits, insects like aphids will attack and infest your pear trees. Unlike Apple Trees which can recover quickly, Pear Trees typically won’t.
Wet Conditions
- While pear trees do great in heat and cold, they can struggle with wet conditions. If the ground becomes too wet over winter and spring then there is a chance that root rot will happen, harming or killing your tree.
Additional Resources
Learn How To Grow Pear Trees HERE
#3. Plum Tree
Popular Varieties: Damson, Fench, Friar, Japanese
Why Grow Dwarf Plum Trees in Kentucky?
Thrives in the heat:
- While most fruit trees tolerate heat, plum trees thrive in it. This early summer fruit-producing tree will grow quickly with more plums when it has a warmer winter and spring.
Insect & Disease Proof:
- Plums are extremely hardy. Unlike every other fruit tree on this list, plum trees are resistant to almost all insects and every disease, making them the perfect fruit tree to grow.
Perfect for Small Spaces:
- Apple, Pear, & Cherry Trees grow quite large. If you don’t have a big backyard this can pose a problem. But you don’t have to worry about this with plum trees, as they won’t grow more than 8 to 10 feet high and 6-8 feet wide.
THESE Could Harm Your Plums Trees
Pests:
- Deer, Rabbits, & Squirrels come out of winter and become hungry in spring. One of the first plants they eat is plums. Whether protected or unprotected pests pose a risk to growing plums.
Wet Conditions:
- Like pear trees, plum trees don’t do well in wet conditions. It is recommended to plant this type of tree in an area of your yard with well-draining soil and long periods of direct sunlight.
Additional Resources
The biggest tip for having success growing plum trees is to prune them. Plum trees will take 5-6 years to bear fruit, but pruning your tree will promote tree growth and more plums.
#4. Peach Tree
Popular Varieties: Redhaven, Reliance, White, Sunhaven
Why Grow Dwarf Peaches in Kentucky?
Thrives in the heat:
- The hotter, the better. Unlike apple, cherry, pear, and plum trees that tolerate heat, peach trees will actually do better the hotter it gets. That means the hot and humid summers are perfect for peach trees bearing more fruit.
Great for Vertical Gardening:
- Most fruit trees grow high and wide, but very few just grow high. Peach trees are the only type of fruit tree that has varieties that can grow 10 to 15 feet high and only 2 to 3 feet wide.
Quick Growing:
- Out of all the fruit trees on this list, the Peach Tree is the quickest growing fruit tree. Not only this, but most Peach Trees will actually bear fruit within 1 to 2 years after planting.
THESE Could Harm Your Peach Tree
Cold:
- Peach Trees do not tolerate cold weather well. While some varieties can survive cold weather, most will die if the winter temperatures drop consistently below 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Diseases:
- Like many other fruit trees, Peaches are prone to diseases such as blight, mold, etc. Not only will this happen during early spring during wet conditions, but can also continue throughout summer and even fall.
Additional Resources
For best success growing Peach Trees, you should plant them next to other trees in the same family like nectarines and apricots. Keep them in a well-draining and full-sun area of your yard.
#5. Fig
Popular Varieties: Chicago, Turkey, Brown
Why Grow Fig Trees in Kentucky?
Pest-Resistant:
- The fig tree is the only fruit tree on this list that is truly pest-resistant. Deers hate fig trees, rabbits can’t reach the fruit, and squirrels and chipmunks find easier food elsewhere.
Perfect for Indoors & Outdoors:
- No other fruit on this list can be grown indoors and outdoors. Fig Trees can thrive outside, but most gardeners will grow them in a pot where they leave them outside during the summer months and bring them inside after the first frost of the year.
Easy to Grow:
- Once you plant your fig tree there is nothing else you need to do. You don’t have to worry about insects or disease, only need to water it once a week, and you even don’t have to worry about pruning it for figs to grow.
THESE Could Harm Your Figs
Cold:
- While some types of fig trees can survive and do well in winters, most will become stunted and not produce fruit or may even die.
Drought:
- If you keep your fig trees in pots droughts will stunt and kill your tree. This is because fig trees in pots will dry out quicker than in the ground.
Additional Resources
Learn How to Prune Fig Trees HERE.
#6. Cherry
Popular Varieties: Bing, Van, Montmorency
Why Grow Dwarf Cherry Trees in Kentucky?
Thrives in the heat & cold:
- Cucumbers are another hardy fruit. Some varieties can be grown in cold weather and some can be grown in warmer weather.
Lots & Lots of Harvest:
- Cherries produce the largest harvest out of all the fruit trees on this list. While cherry trees don’t grow as tall as other trees they can sometimes yield up to 50 pounds of fruit in a season.
Amazing Cross-Pollinator:
- If you want a fruit tree that acts as a cross-pollinator then look no further than the cherry tree. It does great with crabapples and apple trees to name a few.
THESE Could Harm Your Cherry Trees
Birds:
- These pests will generally not harm your actual cherry tree. What they will do though is immediately eat cherries if you do not protect them with netting.
Cold & Wet Conditions:
- Cherry Trees also will quickly die if conditions are too wet or if the winters get too cold, making this one of the most difficult trees to care for every year.
Additional Resources
To have the most success growing cherry trees you should constantly prune, mulch, spray for disease and insects, and protect them against garden pests.
#7. Nectarine Tree
Popular Varieties: Sungo, Fantasia, Redgold
Why Grow Dwarf Nectarines in Kentucky?
Loves heat:
- Like its cousin the peach tree, Nectarines love the heat. They grow bigger and produce more and tastier nectarines the hotter it is.
Perfect for Vertical Gardening:
- Just like peaches Nectarine trees don’t grow wide. This makes it perfect for urban gardeners or anyone who has little space for fruit trees.
Quick Growing:
- Like the peach tree, Nectarines grow incredibly fast. Even within the first year or two, nectarines will grow on planting and potted trees.
THESE Could Harm Your Nectarine Trees
Cold
- Almost every type of Nectarine Tree struggles with the cold. If you live in the Northern part of Nectarine trees will struggle with the winter and if you live in a part where temperatures can dip for weeks at a time below 20 degrees Fahrenheit you will need to wrap your tree in burlap to protect it from the cold.
Diseases
- Nectarines can be prone to diseases in early summer. Expect blight, fungus, and rot to affect your plant early in the season near the time your tree begins to grow flowers.
Additional Resources
One of the easiest ways to ensure success growing Nectarine Trees is to first plant your tree well after the last frost, but before it gets extremely warm. In the winter, you should wrap your tree in burlap. This will give your Nectarine tree the best chance of growing and bearing fruit.
#8. Apricot Tree
Popular Varieties: Royal, Tropic Gold, Blenheim
Why Grow Dwarf Apricot Trees?
Thrives in Droughts:
- Apricot trees are another great type of fruit tree that will thrive in humidity and heat. And for those summers that get little to no rain apricots trees will continue to grow and bear lots of apricots.
Great for Small Yards:
- Apricot trees don’t get very large. Outside of Fig Trees, they are the next smallest tree on this list. This makes them perfect for small yards and spaces, suburban fruit orchards, and urban gardens.
THESE Could Harm Your Apricot Trees
Everything:
- Almost everything can harm apricot trees, making them incredibly difficult, but not impossible to grow. Insects, disease, sometimes wind, wet conditions, and garden pests are just a few of the elements that can negatively affect your fruit tree.
Cold Weather:
- Like most nectarine and peach trees, apricot trees do poorly in the cold. In fact, they have the least likelihood of almost any fruit tree on this list of surviving winter if not wrapped in burlap or another heat retaining material.
Additional Resources
The biggest way to have success planting & growing apricot trees is to consistently care for them. This is not a fruit tree that you can plant and forget about. You should constantly prune, spray, water, and protect against the elements every year.
#9. Lime Tree
Popular Varieties: Persian, Kaffir, Hirt
Why Grow Dwarf Lime Trees in Kentucky?
Thrives in Heat:
- Like other citrus trees on this list, Lime Trees love heat and thrive the warmer it gets. This is because they naturally have grown in warmer weather climates. And best of all is that you need to water or care for them very little to have success.
Great for Pots:
- Lime Trees can grow successfully in pots and in the ground. If you want to provide less maintenance and care for your lime tree then growing it in a pot will allow you to do that!
THESE Could Harm Your Lime Trees
Cold:
- Lime trees are the most sensitive fruit tree on this list to cold weather. If temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit then your tree won’t grow or produce fruit. If temperatures drop below freezing your lime tree will die.
Additional Resources
Learn How to Grow Lime Trees in Kentucky HERE
#10. Lemon Tree
Popular Varieties: Meyer, Lisbon, Ponderosa
Why Grow Dwarf Lemon Tres in Kentucky?
Loves Heat:
- Out of all the fruit trees on this list, lemons will thrive the most with heat. This is because they naturally have been grown in warmer weather climates. And best of all is that you need to water or care for them very little to have success.
Perfect for Pots:
- Lemon Trees can only grow in pots. If you want a fruit tree that can easily be moved from indoors to outdoors, kept indoors all year, or even just as an ornamental tree then look no further.
THESE Could Harm Your Lemon Tree
Cold:
Lemon trees are the most sensitive fruit tree on this list to cold weather. If temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit then your tree won’t grow or produce fruit. If temperatures drop below freezing your lemon tree will die.
Additional Resources
Learn How to Grow Lemon Trees in Kentucky HERE
Common Growing Factors of the BEST Dwarf Fruit Trees
As a reminder, the below factors are common for the Best Dwarf Fruit Trees to Grow in Kentucky:
- Thrives in Heat & Drought
- Thrives in Cold
- Can Grow Anywhere in your yard
- Hardy against Pests & Insects
- Require little maintenance
- Bear heavy fruit
