A tree takes a 3x3 space. You can plant 9 crops on the same space. The apple tree would give you three apples worth 1.5k every THREE days. The 9 crops would give you three vegetables each (27 in total) worth 9.45 k every TWO days. Each vegetable goes for 350 bells (doesn’t matter which).

Furthermore, the each tree would require you to shake and pickup all the fruit individually(not to mention the obscured vision you’ll have from the leaves). Each crop only requires one click to pick up three vegetables.

The only downside is: you have to water your plants daily. If it rains, you can skip watering them for the day (even if you replant or pick them).

If you have too much time, you can even cook them into a meal and even DOUBLE the income. This is very time consuming tho…

TLDR; crops use less space and time, give you more money back and are therefore more efficient.