As summer more and more quickly comes to a close and fall starts to shake its leaves in anticipation, your thoughts may turn to the juiciest and crispest delicacy of all autumn-growing foods: the humble apple. Compact, flavorful, and endlessly useful in the kitchen, apples may seem like the perfect fruit to grow – but if you don't have any experience in fruit trees, you may find yourself a little over your head. So if you want to grow apples but are a little foggy on the actual details surrounding cultivating the fruit, then here are some tips and tricks you may find useful.

Watch Your Climate

Unlike other plants, where it seems like a slightly chilly wind can all but finish them off, apples actually need the colder temperatures in order to thrive. Temperatures of around 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower (down to about 40 below) allow the apple tree to grow flowers and leaves in the next growing season, which is important for producing fruit later in the year. That means that apple trees generally can't be grown very effectively in temperate climates (such as the climate anywhere near the ocean), as they never reach the chilling temperatures they need to thrive.

Notice the Space

As you might expect for a fruit tree, apple trees generally need a lot of space. Full sized trees need around 25 feet of space all to themselves, while smaller dwarf trees still need about 15 feet of unobstructed ground. This is because apple tree roots tend to spread out, which is good for the tree itself (as it can get nutrients from a wider stretch of land, leading to a healthier tree) but bad news for any plants that are too close to the tree itself. If you're unsure on how much space your tree will need, go on the larger end just to be sure; you'd rather waste a foot or two of ground than end up with a choked, undernourished apple tree that can't produce any fruit.

Cross the Streams

Unlike other fruit trees like nectarine and peach, apple trees are not self-pollenating. Thus, leaving a solitary apple tree in your lawn will most likely end with you getting nothing but apple blossoms – and while those flowers are pretty, you can't really make pies or ciders out of them. In order to cross-pollenate, you'll need to plant at least one more tree of a different variety next to your original apple tree. This also requires a little help from your friends – that is, as long as your friends happen to be bees – so don't use too heavy of a hand on your insecticide while your trees are growing, lest you scare off the little black and yellow pals you need in order to grow delicious apples.

For more information or assistance, contact companies like E & R Landscaping & Trees.