Selecting the right site for fruit trees is vital to their lsuccess. Careful consideration should be given to selecting sites that will suit the particular type of fruit or fruit variety.

Generally, give fruit trees the best site you can afford them - they will repay a warmer, more sheltered site many fold.

Consider the nature of the fruit you may wish to grow. For example, you might expect fruit normally grown in sunnier climates to expect similar conditions here to do well. Peaches, nectarines, apricots and figs all like to bask in the warmest locations, sheltered from cold or drying winds. To do really well, dessert fruit  (eating apples, pears and plums) generally demand more sunshine hours per day than the cooking varieties since colour and sweetness are more important for dessert.

Cooking apples tend to be hardier, tougher trees - able to withstand shadier and cooler conditions, overall the less favourable parts of your site.

Wetter areas are best reserved for plums, gages, quinces, medlars and to a degree, pears. Apples do not like their roots in water and need more free-draining conditions - please bear this in mind when choosing where to plant different types of fruit.

For exposed, windy sites, damsons are a good choice - these are traditionally seen in the hedgerows up in the Lake District for example and are very hardy. Again some of the cooking apple varieties will survive too and even a few dessert apples have a notable wind-tolerant nature (ask for details if this is important for you).