The Benefits of Planting Fruit Bearing Trees

Welcome to the second post of the What’s in My Garden Blog Series. Last week I talked about Vegetable Container Gardening Tips for Beginners. Today I’ll be talking about the many benefits of planting fruit bearing trees in your yards and landscapes. Not only is it good for you (us) it’s good for the earth and I know we all want a healthier world for ourselves, our children and future generations to be able to enjoy.

Growing up, we lived in this one house that I’ve always adored and lovingly remember. I don’t know why this one house made such an impression on me as a child -maybe it was the good memories that came from living there or maybe I was just at that age when I remembered more. I estimated I must have been age 4-ish to 10-ish years old when my family lived there. To this day, when I talk about this house, you’d think it was The Twelve Oaks mansion from Gone with the Wind. But it reality it wasn’t anything like that mansion.

It was a typical mid-size home, four bedroom, one bathroom built in 1962. But, it had this double staircase that wrapped around the entrance of the basement door (from the 2nd floor). One side of the staircase led to a sitting room or welcoming room (off the front entrance), this room then led into the living room; and the other side of the staircase led to the kitchen (on the direct left) or the dining room (straight ahead). I was always mesmerized by that staircase -still am really.

The other thing that made that house really stand out in my memories of it was the abundance of fruit in the backyard. We had every fruit tree imaginable (to a young child anyway): red apple, pear and cherry. We also had grapevines in the backside of the garage which was like a little orchard (and made for some great hiding places as kids). There were a lot of good memories of playing with my siblings that came from living in that house; and it didn’t hurt we had all that fruit to eat while playing!

These great memories are what led me to want to plant one or more fruit trees in our own backyard. That desire came to be back in 2014-2015 when we came across a sad looking fruit tree (picture below) on clearance at our local Home Depot. It’s a granny smith semi-dwarf apple tree. It didn’t look like anything was wrong to us so we decided to get it, plant it and see how it went. As of today, the tree doesn’t have a perfect form of branches but it’s happy and its’ thriving in its’ location. We couldn’t be happier!

Another benefit of having this apple tree is that I get to see the beauty of my sustainable garden every time I look out my window. Let me outline some of the benefits of planting fruit bearing trees. If you choose to plant one, you really won’t regret it.

01. It’s Good For The Environment

The simple act of planting trees (of any kind) decreases our carbon footprint because the trees absorb nasty CO₂ emissions and converts it into fresh, clean oxygen for our delicate lungs to breathe in. Still not sure? Think about where all that fruit comes from in the grocery store. It’s likely not from local farmer which means it’s shipped across the world.

When we use cargo ships to transport food across our waters we add to the already high amounts of burned fossil fuel needed to ship them; add to that all the packaging and shipping materials which are clogging up our oceans and waterways. If you’ve ever seen a documentary about all the plastics (bags, bottle, shipping material) and more that are floating in the ocean because that garbage was dumped there, you’d cry. All that garbage is killing our oceans and slowly killing our Mother Earth.

02. You Get Free & Healthy Fruit

Well maybe this point should’ve been first; but another benefit to planting fruit bearing trees are (wait for it), FREE, HEALTHY fruit! Why spend all that money at the grocery store for ‘as fresh as you’re gonna get’ fruit that rarely lasts long enough to eat it all.

Besides, if you grow your own fruit it’s healthier for you for two reasons:

• The longer the fruit has been picked the more vitamins and nutrients it will lose before it ends up on your table.
• Your tree (and harvest) will be all natural -no pesticides, chemicals, preservatives or waxes.

One thing is very true: the concept of the farmers market is really big right now. Let’s hope it stays that way. But what better way to channel your inner Joanna Gaines than to practice the yumminess of your own backyard farm to table food and cooking?! Yes, please! Hungry? Take a little stroll in your backyard….pick whatever you’d like. {wink}

03. It Saves Our Wildlife

Trees also feed and protect our local wildlife. This is especially important because as we (humans) continue to take away more and more open land from the wildlife, their numbers will suffer. Help them survive with the simple act of planting fruit trees. Don’t forget about our backyard friends either -or those just passing through. These trees also provide great landing, nesting and resting places for our feathered friends and squirrels.

Okay maybe the ladybug taking a little rest on our apple tree leaf (pictured above) isn’t exactly the “wildlife” I’m referring to but our yard gets all kinds of wildlife through it as they look for food and travel. Seeing this wildlife is an honor and one I share with my daughter every chance I get. It’s their world too.

04. It Saves The Bees

You’ve no doubt heard how bees are a threatened species because of chemical overuse and some butterflies because of habitat loss. But when you plant a fruit tree and you get those Spring to Summer blooms, this draws in the bees and butterflies who help to pollinate the tree, flowers, even vegetable gardens.

We all have a place and part in this world. Don’t forget to give back to the environment while getting the benefit of fresh, healthy (free) fruit! In an upcoming post I’ll be sharing one of my nature journal pages dedicated to the beautiful blooms our granny smith apple tree get each spring to summer.

We’ve added to our gardens almost every year. As I see it, there’s always something that can be done in the garden. Next on our backyard planting radar is a cherry tree.

Now that we finished talking about the benefits of planting fruit bearing trees come back next week when I’ll share with you about turning unused space behind the garage into a garden.

If you are inspired to create your own sustainable garden in your backyard don’t forget to share by tagging me on Instagram and using #btdinspired, I’d love to see your work (and I just might repost your photo)!

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Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I just really love the product(s) I’ve willingly chosen to feature. All opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.