10 Fast-Growing Fruits that Are Easy to Care for, Too

Blueberry

If they have acidic soil and a sunny spot, blueberry plants can thrive in almost any garden and are among the fastest fruits to grow. These perennial bushes do tolerate some shade but won't produce nearly as much fruit as they would in full sun. Most blueberries need another variety near them to bear lots of fruit, so it's best to plant at least two cultivars of the same type in your yard to ensure good harvests. Blueberry plants can even be grown in containers. The berries from these fast-growing fruit plants are ready to pick two to four months after flowering and will produce fruit a year or two after being planted.

Peach

Pick the right peach and the right place, and give the tree the right care, and you'll be picking ripe fruit in just a year or two. Among the most popular fast-growing fruit trees, peaches are vigorous producers of plump, delicious fruits. Peach trees do best in full sun—at least 6 hours per day—and good airflow. If you are starting the tree in the ground, be sure to surround the trunk with a ring of thick mulch to keep the soil moist and protect the tree from lawn mower damage. Peach trees can be grown in containers, but only if you are using a dwarf variety. These easy-to-grow fruits ripen in midsummer to mid-fall, depending on the cultivar and Zone.

Raspberry

Raspberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow in the home garden. Once you know how to grow and care for raspberries, you'll be providing the neighborhood with summer fruit. The first step in growing raspberries is choosing the right type for you. Raspberries come in two categories: summer bearing and fall bearing. Raspberries are vigorous growers and will produce runners that fill up a bed. If you want to keep your raspberry brambles to a smaller scale, grow them in containers. Various ripening times and colors make it possible to enjoy harvest from raspberry bushes from midsummer through fall. Raspberries grow best where they receive long, cold winters and a long, cool spring. Well-drained soil is also a must.

Apple

Apple is the most widely adapted of all temperate-zone, easy-to-grow fruit trees. If planted in full sun and well-drained soil, an apple tree will mature to supply several families with bushels of fruit. Expect to wait three to five years after planting for your first full harvest, although you can get sporadic fruit before then. Apples are some of the best fruit trees that can grow in pots—as long as you choose dwarf varieties, which won't become too large for the containers.

Passion Fruit

Passion fruit comes from the flowering vine passionflower. This tropical-looking flower comes in many colors. Most varieties of this fast-growing fruit vine are perennial in the tropics, and they're wonderful annuals or houseplants in cold-winter climates. Grow passionflower in a sunny spot with well-drained soil. Most grow better if they're too dry rather than too wet. Passion fruit is among the best fruits for pots and can be grown indoors. Expect to wait just a year to a year-and-a-half to see a full harvest of fruit.

Strawberry

Strawberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow, as long as you can keep the deer and rabbits away. These easy fruit plants do best in full sun and like moist, well-drained soil. The first year of your strawberry bed, you must be brave and remove all flowers from the plants so they can establish a good root system. Begin harvesting strawberries the year after planting. The highest yield will come from the youngest plants.

Lemon

Lemons are one of the most recognizable and widely used citrus fruits. Standard trees can reach more than 20 feet high. They are among the few citrus trees that should be regularly pruned to make sure the fruit is within reach. 'Meyer' lemons are especially fast-producing fruit trees, and they do well in containers. You'll always know when the trees are blooming thanks to the intense fragrance of the flowers; a single tree in bloom can perfume an entire landscape. Lemons grow best in western states where there is less humidity and the growing season is long and warm. Plan to prune the trees regularly to maintain a small size for easy harvest.

Mulberry

Mulberries come from deciduous trees with delicate white blooms. The fruits on this tree look a lot like blackberries but come in shade variations from red to dark purple. The trees prefer full sun and rich soil but will tolerate part shade. Mulberry trees are also easy to transplant, making them a good indoor fruit tree that can later be planted in the ground.

Apricot

Apricot trees are easy fruit trees to grow in a home garden, especially because they are self-fruiting—you can plant a single tree and still get fruit. These easy fruit trees prefer full sun but do well in cooler temperatures. Dwarf varieties are available and can be grown in containers. For the best planting results, buy a one-year-old tree with a well-developed root system. Apricot trees do not produce fruit in their first year after planting.

Fig

Figs thrive in long, hot, dry summers, but they are easy to grow in the landscape or pots and will often regenerate if they freeze to the ground. Figs are the easiest fruit to grow in containers because they adapt well to constrained conditions—they actually like being root-bound. The fruits must ripen on the tree before they are picked; they won't ripen when picked immature.

• Learn how to pot a fruit tree here.