Planting Distance

• Cross-pollination occurs when honeybees visit the blossoms of one tree, then visit a neighboring tree and transfer the first tree's pollen into its blossoms. Because bees carry out fruit tree pollination, two varieties must be close enough that area honeybees will likely visit both trees in the course of their travels. Trees used for cross-pollination should be no farther than 100 feet from each other.
  
  

Tree Size

• If you have planted smaller trees, however, you should allow less distance between trees. A semi-dwarf tree, for example, should reside 50 feet or closer to a pollinating variety. You should locate two different varieties of dwarf trees within 20 feet of each other for pollination purposes.
  
  

Pollination in the Orchard

• In larger-scale settings than the backyard or home garden orchard, fruit growers must scatter compatible pollinating tree varieties among the main variety of trees found in the orchard. In commercial orchards, growers place pollinating varieties every 60 to 120 feet in each row. To decrease the distance between main crop trees and their pollinators, growers offset the placement of pollinating varieties in each row.
  
  

Other Pollination Options

• For the homeowner with limited space who nonetheless wants to enjoy fresh, homegrown apples, pears and cherries, alternative means of pollinating fruit trees exist. You can purchase trees with multiple varieties grafted onto a single root system. A single tree, therefore, can not only provide for its own pollination needs but also produce at least two different varieties of fruit. With older trees, you can graft a second variety onto one of the main limbs.
  
  For a quick fix if you lack a pollinator for your fruit trees, cut a bouquet of blossoms from a different variety of tree. Hang a bucket filled with water from a limb of your tree and place the bouquet in the water. Bees will visit the bouquet as well as the fresh blossoms, transferring pollen from the bouquet into your tree.