Edible garden: Dwarf trees

Dwarf fruit trees can provide a defining shape to your edible garden. Plant one in each corner, or use them to screen off the compost area or the tool shed.

Dwarf trees rarely need pruning. They produce full-sized fruit but grow to less than 2m tall, making it easy to pick their fruit. The trees will also not throw too much of the garden into shade.

The ballerina columnar apple tree is no more than 50cm wide, so it grows like a pillar - ideal for a tiny space, in a pot by the front door, or as the central focus in a potager.

Agrigold is a self-fertilising dwarf apricot. The dwarf garden delight nectarine has stone-free fruit, or if you'd like a dwarf pear, try the belle de jumet.

Try a grafted fig - like Mrs Williams - in a pot too. Restricting the root growth of a fig, pictured, by planting it in a pot will keep the tree's size manageable. The diameter of the pot should equal a third to half the height of the tree. A half barrel is good. The heavier the pot, the less likely it is to be blown over. If you live on the coast, remember that Chilean guava, feijoa, and olives all cope with salt spray.

Winter is the time to plant fruit trees, so garden centres are well stocked with them at present.