After years of working in gardens across Britain and Italy, I have developed a real appreciation for plants that quietly get on with the job. I think often about the old fruit trees I cared for in Tuscany: gnarled figs growing on dry stone terraces, pomegranates thriving in enormous terracotta pots and persimmons that had seemingly been left to their own devices for decades. Never fussed over, rarely watered and certainly never fertilized .
Of course, no fruit tree is completely maintenance free. All trees in our yards benefit from careful watering during the first few years, while establishing a healthy root system, and the occasional prune or feed will always improve growth and harvests. But some species are naturally resilient and tough, shrugging off drought, poor soils and periods of neglect.
