Fruit Trees & Edible Gardens for Bay Area: The Complete Landscape Design Guide

If I could only recommend one category of fruit trees for Bay Area gardens, it would be citrus. These evergreen beauties provide year-round structure, fragrant spring blooms that perfume entire neighborhoods, and extended harvest seasons that put deciduous fruits to shame. Last spring, I designed a courtyard garden in Los Altos where four strategically placed citrus trees—two Meyer lemons, one Owari Satsuma, and one Persian lime—transformed a bland patio into a sensory experience. The homeowners harvest fresh citrus nine months of the year.

Meyer lemons—sweeter and more cold-hardy

Satsuma mandarins ripen November-January

Moro blood oranges add dramatic color

There's a peach tree in my own garden—a Babcock white peach planted seven years ago—that has become the neighborhood landmark each spring when it explodes in pink blossoms. But the real magic happens in July when those flowers transform into sweet, aromatic fruit with juice that runs down your chin. Stone fruits deliver ornamental value and edible rewards, but success in the Bay Area requires choosing low-chill varieties and managing peach leaf curl disease.

Spring peach blossoms create unforgettable garden moments

Santa Rosa plums—Luther Burbank's Bay Area legacy

Two years ago, I designed a water-wise landscape in Los Altos Hills that included six fruit trees specifically chosen for drought tolerance and minimal maintenance. The clients were busy professionals who wanted edible landscaping without the commitment of high-maintenance stone fruits. We planted figs, pomegranates, and persimmons—Mediterranean climate natives perfectly adapted to Bay Area conditions. Three years later, those trees produce hundreds of pounds of fruit annually with almost no intervention. No spraying, minimal pruning, and watering only during the driest months once established.

Desert King figs thrive even in coastal fog

Pomegranate flowers attract hummingbirds

Fuyu persimmons provide spectacular fall color

Most people assume the Bay Area is too warm for apples and pears, but that's a misconception. Last fall, I harvested crisp Anna apples from my own garden in July, followed by juicy 20th Century Asian pears in August, and finally Bartlett pears in September. The key is choosing low-chill apple varieties and understanding that pears actually love Bay Area's heavy clay soil—one of the few fruit trees that do.

The most successful edible gardens I've designed don't look like orchards—they look like beautiful landscapes that happen to produce food. Last year, I worked with a family in Saratoga who wanted fruit trees but refused to sacrifice their garden's aesthetic appeal. We created a design where espaliered apple trees formed a living fence along their property line, a multi-grafted citrus tree anchored their entertainment patio, and a fig tree provided dappled shade over their dining area. The result was a stunning landscape that produces hundreds of pounds of fruit while looking like a high-end garden design.

Espaliered apples create productive living fences

Citrus trees provide evergreen structure and edible shade

One of my favorite aspects of designing edible gardens is creating harvest succession—selecting varieties that ripen at different times so clients have fresh fruit as much of the year as possible. Last year, I designed a small orchard for a family in Los Altos that delivers fresh fruit ten months of the year through strategic variety selection.

The most common question I hear from clients: "How much work will this be?" The honest answer depends on what you plant. A garden full of stone fruits requiring spray programs, careful pruning, and disease management is genuinely high-maintenance. A garden anchored by citrus, figs, pomegranates, and persimmons requires remarkably little attention once established—similar maintenance levels to the coastal native gardens I design that thrive on benign neglect.