Early autumn (September into early October) is a great time to plant trees, including fruit trees. Many of the popular fruit trees that can be grown here require a lot of upkeep and are considered high-maintenance plants, often needing multiple pesticide applications yearly (organic or otherwise, although organic products can require even more applications) to protect the quality of the harvest as well as overall tree health.

For gardeners new to growing fruit trees, we recommend you begin with fruit shrubs (berry crops) first and see how successful they are, since they are lower-maintenance, or that you do lots of research before buying and planting so you know what to expect. Fruit trees tend to take (or should take) around 3 years after planting before they start to fruit and produce a harvest, so there will be a lag time between planting and harvesting.

We don't have extensive information on all of the cultivars that can be grown here in Maryland, but do highlight a few in our fruit tree cultivation pages. You can find basic pruning information as well as a list of the common pests and diseases on those pages as well, plus a link to the Virginia Tech resource for home fruit pest and disease control.

• Growing Apple and Pear Trees in a Home Garden
• Growing Stone Fruits in a Home Garden - Cherries, Peaches, Plums

Fire Blight is commonplace in our climate, and some fruit tree cultivars have greater resistance than others. Most fruit trees sold are grafted onto rootstocks that are either dwarfing or semi-dwarf, which will keep the canopy smaller than a standard tree of the same variety. If the tag on a plant you're considering buying doesn't specify if it's dwarf or semi-dwarf, though, you'd need to ask the nursery which it is. (They may have to ask their supplier.) Note that semi-dwarf trees, which mature a bit larger than dwarf trees, would need a correspondingly greater distance between the trees for the canopies to mature without crowding each other. (As a loose example, a pair of dwarf fruit trees might need to be planted at least 10 feet apart, while a pair of semi-dwarf fruit trees might need 15 feet between them. Just something to take into account when choosing what to plant and where it will fit in the yard.)

Peaches do not require cross-pollination; one tree can fruit by itself, although there is no harm in having more than one variety, especially if you want varied fruit traits or a slightly different harvest time to extend the season.

In my experience, Maryland nurseries that sell fruit trees tend to stock the greatest range of inventory (number of pots per variety and number of varieties) in spring, since that's when more people shop, but they might have a decent selection restocked for fall planting as well, in which case they have probably already brought them in. (Labor Day tends to be an unofficial kick-off to the fall planting season, and the wholesalers shipping the trees like to get them into garden centers before fall planting is in full swing.)

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Sorry for the typo...that final "most" by itself isn't meant to be there!

-Miri