Ornamentally trained fruit trees give great value, with their spring blossom, autumn fruit and fine, wintry skeletons. They provide living structure to the smallest garden, and even a balcony can accommodate a row, grown in containers.

Fruit trees — in the form of fans, espaliers and cordons (both single trunks with horizontally trained side branches) — can be grown against walls and fences and also as screens to subdivide areas of the garden. “Stepovers” — short cordons — can form a low fence.

They are easy and rewarding as long as you bear in mind one or two basic points. First, always go to a reputable nursery, even if it means waiting a while for your plants. Once there, you will need to discuss the rootstocks as these will govern the eventual size of your trees. For instance, M27 is the most dwarfing one and generally used for stepovers.

You will also need to make sure that your trees have a suitable pollinator, that is, another variety in the immediate neighbourhood that is in blossom at the same time as yours. This is especially true of pear trees, which are not as widely grown as apples, so it is better to play safe and grow your own. Peaches and nectarines are self-fertile, so only one tree is needed to bear fruit.

It is possible to buy them all as semi-trained trees; these usually start at about £25. A fully trained espalier would cost considerably more. You can buy maidens (one-year old trees) and train them yourself, but you will have to wait about five seasons before they fruit.

Do not be put off by the idea of pruning to keep the plants in shape. Generally speaking, winter pruning promotes growth, while summer pruning promotes flowers and fruit. Remove blossom from all trees in their first year to build up their strength. RHS Pruning and Training by Christopher Brickell and David Joyce (Dorling Kindersley £19.99) is an excellent source of advice.

Pear trees need more warmth than apples and always flower at least a fortnight before, so are more susceptible to the blossom being damaged by frost. If frost threatens, cover them with horticultural fleece or a double layer of netting and move them into a conservatory, shed or garage if they are in containers.

There is a fruit tree for most aspects. Morello cherries, currants and gooseberries are happy in the shade, whereas peaches, apricots, pears and figs demand sunlight. Different varieties of apples lie between the two. Few of them are fussy about soil as long as they have good drainage. Most pip fruits prefer a slightly acid soil, while stone fruits prefer their soil on the alkaline side.

Crab apples, including flowering varieties such as ‘John Downie’, are not only beautiful but useful extra pollinators for other apples. Finally, to tell if your crop is ready, gently twist the fruit, and if it comes away easily with the stalk, it is ripe. And, as anybody who has grown their own will agree, the taste of fruit fresh from your own trees is incomparable.

Blackmoor Plant Centre, 01420 488 822, www.blackmoorplants.co.uk; Deacon’s Nursery, 01983 840 750, www.deaconsnurseryfruits.co.uk; Reads Nursery, 01508 548 395, www.readsnursery.co.uk; Thornhayes Nursery, 01884 266 746, www.thornhayes-nursery.co.uk

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