Pollination checker
Some fruit trees crop on their own; many need a second, different variety flowering nearby at the same time. Pick a fruit to see which it is.
Needs a pollination partner. Needs a second apple variety in the same or an adjacent bloom group. A single tree, or triploids like 'Jonagold', will not pollinate themselves.
The mainstream group for Zones 5-8. Choose disease-resistant varieties in humid regions; spray or bag fruit for codling moth.
The short version
- Needs a partner: apples, pears, sweet cherries, Japanese plums, most blueberries, hardy kiwi (male + female), pawpaw, hazelnut, almond.
- Fine on its own: peaches, nectarines, sour cherries, European plums, figs, grapes, brambles, currants, gooseberries, most apricots.
- A pollination partner has to be a different variety of the same fruit (a second identical tree does not count) and it has to flower at the same time.
Also check whether your area gets enough winter chill for the fruit — chill hours calculator.
How this is calculated
Pollination habit is given at the fruit-type level — most apples need a partner, most peaches don’t, and so on. Individual cultivars can differ (a handful of self-fertile sweet cherries exist, for example), so still read the plant tag.
Where a partner is needed, it must be a different variety of the same fruit(or a flowering crabapple for apples), and its bloom time has to overlap. Two of the same tree, or a triploid variety like ‘Jonagold’, will not do the job.
Common questions
How do I know if two trees will actually overlap in bloom time?
Check both varieties’ listed bloom season (early, mid or late) on the nursery tag or catalog. Two varieties both marked "mid-season" in your climate are a safe bet; an early and a late bloomer often miss each other.
Can a crabapple pollinate any apple tree?
Most ornamental and edible crabapples work as universal apple pollinators as long as their bloom time overlaps, which is why they're a common space-saving choice in small yards.
What if I only have room for one tree?
Choose a self-fertile variety for that fruit type, or check whether a neighbor within bee-flying range (a few hundred feet) already has a compatible tree - that’s often enough.