Over the past few years, demand for and interest in home-grown fruit has increased greatly. This may be due to concern over the use of chemicals and treatments by commercial growers; the awareness of the benefits and importance of fresh fruit in our diets; or simply the appeal and satisfaction of the improved flavour of freshly gathered fruit, including cultivars that may not be available in the shops.

A fruit garden can not only be productive, but attractive as well, with many plants producing striking blossom and eye-catching fruit. Fruit may be grown in any amount of space; whilst only large gardens might be able to accommodate an extensive orchard, even the smallest garden or patio could have room to grow a wall-trained apple or pear tree.

There is nothing better than fruit ripened naturally, hand picked and freshly eaten. In this section, we aim to help you to design and plan your own fruit garden, with tips on choosing the right fruit, step-by-step pruning and training guides and ideas on how to harvest, store and preserve the final product.