Growing Fruit Plants for the Home Garden

Fruit plants can be a rewarding crop to grow. A small initial investment provides a plethora of fruit for years to come. To be sure, there is some effort involved, but the rewards are great. As a young family or a retired person, there is noting like picking a peach fresh off of the tree.

We have included some information here on several different topics.

Fruit plant pollination. One thing that nature has done that confounds us humans, is “require” that certain plants have a second different variety for cross-pollination.  For example you would need to have two different apples in order for fruiting to happen. Not just two apple trees but two different varieties of apple trees!

Plants that need two different varieties (require “cross pollination”):

• Apples
• Pears (most)
• Plums (most)
• Sweet Cherries (most)
• Blueberries

Plants that you only need one of to fruit (“self fruitful”):

• Peaches
• Sour Cherries
• Grape
• Strawberry
• Raspberry
• Blackberry
• Gooseberry
• Currant

Here is one of the best guides to fruit plant pollination we have found (courtesy of University of Missouri - Columbia.

Fruit Tree Pruning (courtesy of Kansas State University) This covers pruning different types of fruit trees. There is a section on rejuvenating older neglected trees as well.

Fruit plant pruning (courtesy of Utah State University) This covers not only fruit trees, but small fruits as well. Pictures are not as clear as the above but the organization is a little easier to follow. There is a section on rejuvenating older neglected trees as well.

We also have a separate web page on raspberry pruning. Interestingly this is viewed by tons of people around the country.

 UMass has put together a series of You Tube videos on fruit tree subjects. Click on the picture to view one on Peach Tree Pruning. It is about 7 minutes long and is done in real time, showing pruning does not need to be a long arduous process.

The University of New Hampshire has put together a nice summary of spraying recommendations for home fruit trees. It lists the traditional schedule as well as a reduced spray schedule for apples. View it here.

Plum Curculio insect which is a pest of not only plums, but most fruits.

And on Apple Scab which is the most troublesome disease of fruit trees.

If you are looking for more information on other fruit tree problems go to the Cornell Cooperative Extension pages on growing fruit trees. This site is designed for the commercial grower, but the information is just as useful for the home gardener.