Ssubmitted by Watters Garden Center
Fruit cocktail trees are trending as a must-have plant for 2026 gardens. These innovative trees offer a variety of fruits on one tree, making them perfect for small spaces.
Also known as fruit salad trees, they are a great way to get the most out of your garden and try exciting new fruits.
Fruit cocktail tree varieties available at Watters Garden Center for 2026 include:
- Apple trees with three varieties featuring Gala, Honeycrisp and Fuji varieties
- Pear trees with four varieties featuring Bartlett, Comice, D’Anjou and Red D’Anjou
- Plum trees with three varieties:
Santa Rosa, Burgundy and Satsuma - Cherry trees with four varieties featuring Rainier, Stella and Montmorency pie cherry
“We are proud to offer these unique and innovative trees to local gardeners,” says Ken Lain of Watters Garden Center in Prescott. “They are becoming Watters’ most popular addition to gardens across Yavapai County.”
Lain says cocktail fruit trees are low-maintenance and yield a bountiful harvest. They also add beauty to any garden, and they’re great for smaller properties. Various fruits are grafted onto the trunk of a mother fruit tree and nurtured for up to 10 years to integrate with that tree. They are mature enough to produce fruit this season in local gardens.
Besides trees that support multiple varieties of apples, there are other trees that offer multiple kinds of fruit on the same plant. Stone fruit trees can sprout apricots, peaches, plums, prunes, cherries and nectarines. Some grafted trees produce seven different fruits or varieties of fruit, but three or four appear to be more common, especially if you’re seeking a more compact specimen.
Growing tips
According to a December 2025 post from Better Homes & Gardens, the best time to plant fruit cocktail and other deciduous fruit trees is late summer to early spring, while the trees are dormant, to reduce transplant shock. Allow for plenty of airflow around the crown at its expected full growth size.
These and most other fruit trees should be planted in full sun to encourage more robust growth. Careful pruning is particularly important on a fruit cocktail tree to prevent a faster-growing branch from overpowering the others and reducing the number and variety of fruits it’s able to produce.
Be prepared for at least annual pruning, and do it more frequently if it ever starts to appear unbalanced. Fertilizer needs vary with tree species, but most will do well with one application in spring as buds begin to develop and another toward the end of summer. Don’t plant in the fall or winter — it’s likely a waste of resources.
