Seattle is a wonderful place to grow small fruit trees. Certain fruits, such as cherries, have too sensitive of skin and cannot handle all the rain. But fruits which are harvested later in the year, around the end of summer, and have slightly tougher skin, can grow well in the Seattle area with proper care. Apple trees such as Chehalis, Liberty and Jonagold are good varieties while Bartlett, Orcas and Comice pears grow well. Apricot and nectarines don’t have the best luck on the west side of the state. For those fruits you are better off just driving over the mountains for some Eastern Washington and stocking up each summer.

Most people plant their fruit trees in the spring time, but there is no reason why you can’t plant fruit trees in the fall. Maybe fall is the time you consider planting fruit trees because of lackluster produce in the stores and by spring you always forget! Either way, the most difficult part of planting fruit trees in the fall season is finding baby trees to buy.

To successfully plant a fruit tree, start by digging a hole similar to one for a post. It is not uncommon to use a post hole digger. Next plant the tree securely in the ground and water it well. Many people choose to stake their wobbly baby trees however Seattle doesn’t see too much wind so you might not have to do this in all cases. If you choose to plant your fruit tree in fall don’t expect amazing growth because the tree will be dormant through winter and only begin showing some beautiful color in the spring time.