Climbing fruit plants are an excellent choice for those who have limited garden space, or for those who just love to have fresh fruit nearby! These fruits easily grow on fences and trellises and maximize your growing space.

Read on to learn about five climbing fruit plants that will add a touch of delicious nature to your yard.

Grapes 

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Grape plants are brilliant climbers and can grow on a variety of structures. If you wish to create a shaded area to read or dine outside, growing grapes on an arbor is a perfect organic solution. These plants create beautiful foliage with plentiful clusters of fruit to harvest. You can make your grapes into jelly, juice, or wine or even add them to salads. 

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere grapes are typically ready for harvest from August to October. If you live in a cooler climate, you can even harvest your grapes during the winter, after they've frozen, to create ice wine.

Caring for grapes is simple and rewarding. First, select a variety suited to your particular climate. While watering make sure to water at the base of the plant and avoid getting leaves wet. If you want to increase your fruit yield, it’s important to prune your plant in the winter and spring. Since grapes grow off of new shoots, you'll need to get rid of old foliage to encourage new growth. 

Passion Fruit 

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Passion fruit flowers are dynamic and beautiful -- and the fruit itself is delicious. If you live in a sunny climate, such as the US states of California, Hawaii, or Florida, passion fruit is a wonderful climbing fruit to add to your land. Its seeds and juice can be added to yogurt, beverages, and cheesecake for a sweet and tart flavor. 

Passion fruit vines grow tall towards the sun and thrive on fences. These plants can take anywhere from five to 18 months before they start bearing fruit. To increase the likelihood of your passion fruit plants producing fruits, it’s important to attract pollinators to your yard. However, you may find you need to hand-pollinate your passion fruit. 

Mouse Watermelon 

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Mouse watermelon, also known as cucamelon, are superb climbing fruit plants. These plants produce tiny fruits that look like miniature watermelons, but taste like slightly sour cucumbers. Mouse watermelon is great to grow on fences or trellises because the fruit is not too heavy. These fruits are delicious raw, added to salad, or pickled. 

Mouse watermelons should be planted in early spring after the last frost. These fruits require well-drained soil and 1 inch of water per week. Mouse watermelons grown on a trellis will be less susceptible to pests.

These fruits ripen quickly and can be harvested when they reach approximately one inch in size. Mouse watermelon should be firm to touch and not left on the vine for too long. The longer you leave mouse watermelons on the vine the more bitter they will become. 

Raspberries 

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Growing raspberries is a fulfilling experience that adds beautiful blossoms and berries to your property. If you want your yard to have more privacy, growing raspberry plants can create great coverage. These delicious berries are great in jam, smoothies, popsicles, and desserts. Additionally, picking berries is an entertaining activity for children, and makes for a healthy snack. 

Raspberry canes are best planted in early spring and grow wonderfully on a trellis or fence. If you are planning to grow raspberry plants next to a fence, make sure to leave enough space between the fence and where you plant the cane. You'll need to be able to harvest from both sides of the plant.

Raspberry plants grow rapidly and can easily spread out and take over your yard. If you want to contain your plants, building a root barrier can be helpful. 

Blackberries 

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Nothing beats a perfectly ripe blackberry that has warmed in the sun. These cane plants produce delicious berries and are terrific climbers. Blackberry plants grow well on trellises and are easy to maintain. The fruits are wonderful in cobbler, pies, and other desserts.

Blackberries prefer plentiful sunlight but are not too picky about soil. If your plant does not produce berries in its first season, do not fret. Similar to raspberry plants, blackberry plants only begin to fruit significantly in their second year of cane growth.

You can create a wire trellis with two or three wires to grow your blackberry plants on. Blackberry plants do not grow very tall, so having the top wire at 5 feet above the ground is perfectly suitable. Trellises are simple to make, and you can easily build your own. 

The Berry Best

Growing fruit at home is simple and planting climbing fruit plants can maximize your space. Home-grown fruit is flavorful and watching plants grow is a rewarding practice. 

If you liked this article make sure to share it with your friends and comment below with your experience growing fruit at home.