Growing Fruits, Nuts, Berries, and Grapes
Five Things You Can Do Now
- Decide what options you have for planting fruit trees or other fruiting plants.
- Get a fruit-tree catalog from a nursery, such as Stark Brothers, and learn about fruit varieties.
- Study a hardiness zone map to learn about your growing season.
- Plant a planter with strawberries.
- Plant a fruit tree.
Cultivating orchards, vineyards, and berries is a long-term investment that offers great benefits and is well worth considering. Even if you do not have a dedicated orchard space, you might be able to squeeze some space for a couple of fruit trees or other small fruits varieties into your landscape. Trees are also useful for windbreaks and shade.
Of the many resources available to help you navigate the challenge of growing your own fruits and vegetables, one of the best is your county’s cooperative extension service. Each county has an extension office that carefully considers local growing conditions. You will find additional resources about how to grow fruits in the resource section.
Tools and Pest Control
To get the most from your trees and vines, you’ll need to learn how to prune them properly, and depending on the trees and vines, you may need pruning shears, lopping shears with long handles, or a pruning saw. For tall trees, you’ll need a sturdy ladder for both pruning and picking.
Pesticides
You should also store any necessary pesticides, particularly for fruit trees; however, the fruit-tree chemicals available to homeowners have decreased over the past twenty years due to government regulations. Some of the insecticides considered safe for home use include carbaryl or Seven, dormant oil spray, malathion, bacillus thuringiensis (BT), permethrin, pyrethrin, and insecticidal soap. Combination fruit-tree sprays are sold in garden centers.
Most pesticides have a two-year manufacturer’s recommended shelf life. Actual shelf life can be longer depending on the storage environment. Label purchase date and store chemicals in a dedicated cabinet, locked if possible, and stay prepared by stockpiling chemicals for at least the next year.
Apple Bagging
A chemical-free but labor-intensive solution to pest control is apple bagging, where you block common fruit-tree pests by covering the fruit with a physical barrier, usually a bag of some sort. You may purchase bags specially made for this purpose or use resealable sandwich bags or stretchy, disposable nylon foot socks.
To minimize the need for chemicals, remove any fruit left on the trees or that has fallen to the ground to help prevent the next generation of insects.
Selecting Varieties
Table 22.1 gives you an idea of the different kinds of fruits you can grow. Select varieties that will do well in your climate or the hardiness zone of your geographic region. Since fruit blossoms are susceptible to frost, you may want to find or create a microclimate on your property that protects the more tender fruit-tree varieties. If you live in a warm area, you need to know the chill hours required for a particular variety to bear fruit.
Many fruit trees need another tree as a pollinator. Consider what is needed for your variety. If you have a small space, look for fruit trees that are self-fertile. You may also want to consider disease-resistant varieties. A good gardening center or nursery, fruit-tree catalog, or online fruit-tree source can help you decide which trees will work best in your situation.
Dwarf trees are a great choice because they grow to only about 8 or 10 feet and will often bear fruit in 2 to 3 years. Semidwarf trees grow to 10 or 15 feet, whereas standard trees grow 20 feet tall or more. Height is a good indicator of how much space the tree will take up. The larger the tree, the larger the potential crop, but big trees are a challenge to prune, harvest, and maintain.
Table 22.1
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Fruit Trees |
Tree Nuts |
Berries |
Grapes |
Miscellaneous |
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Cultivation Considerations
Fruit Trees
Fruits trees grow best in well-drained soil. A few rocks in the soil is not a problem. Fruit trees also need at least eight hours of sunlight during the growing season.
In colder areas, hardier trees like apple, plum, and sour cherry do well in south-facing areas where they receive more warmth. However, trees that have more cold-sensitive blossoms, like peaches, nectarines, and apricots, may blossom too early in a south-facing spot.
Personally Speaking
For over twenty years, Jack and I lived in Alpine, Utah, a small town tucked away in a corner of a Wasatch Mountain valley. Many homes in the town were built on the foothills beneath Lone Peak, but our house was situated on one of the lower elevations near the town’s center, where the cool air would settle. While this was ideal for cooling off our house at night during the summer and we needed seldom needed air-conditioning until midafternoon, we were more apt to get a late spring or early fall frost. Of course, that was hard on gardens and made the delicate blooms on our fruit trees more susceptible, but we compensated by learning how to extend the harvest and plant less-vulnerable fruit-tree varieties.
Currently, we live on the foothills overlooking Cache Valley, Utah. The temperatures in our valley are renowned for being extremely cold, but we chanced it and planted a couple of peach trees anyway. We hoped that by planting them higher on the hillside and in the shelter of our house, they would be protected from late-spring frosts, and surprisingly, the peach trees have thrived in their perfect little microclimate.
Nut Trees
Most nut trees are large and need a big space in the landscape. Nut trees also grow best in well-drained soil and need long days of sunshine to produce a good crop.
Nut varieties have different requirements. For example, almonds and pecans need a long, hot growing season; chestnuts need acidic soil; English walnuts leaf out early and may be damaged by late frosts; and pistachios need a high, desert climate. Probably the easiest nut to grow in most of the United States is the hazelnut.
Berries
Strawberries
There are two main types of strawberries: June-bearing and ever-bearing. June-bearing strawberries are dependent on day length and bear fruit primarily in early summer. Because of their large concentrated crop, this type is ideal for preserving.
Ever-bearing, or day-neutral, strawberries produce a small crop in June and then continue to produce throughout the summer and into the fall. They are best for a continual supply and grow well in large containers or beds. They need attentive watering and supplemental fertilizer.
Raspberries, Blackberries, and other Brambles
Raspberries and blackberries prefer well-drained, slightly acidic soil (pH 5.2–6.2). By carefully selecting several varieties, you can have a berry crop all summer long. Berries do not suffer from late-spring frosts like other fruits.
Blueberries
Blueberries require the most acidic soil of all the berries, with a pH of 4.5 to 5.5. They also like a well-drained and well-composted soil—much like you would find in the wild woodland. If you have the right soil, blueberries are a joy to grow. Be sure to cover them with a net to protect them from birds.
Grapes
Grapes are not hard to grow if you do your homework and find out which are most suitable for your climate and soil. Also, consider what you’ll use your grapes for. They can be grown for table use, and for drying, grape juice, and wine making.
Grapes need well-drained, organic, slightly acidic soil and extensive annual pruning to rejuvenate the vines since grapes grow on the new canes. Plant your grapes from north to south to maximize sunshine. They will also need a trellis or fence to grow on. As with blueberries, use netting to keep the birds from enjoying them before you do.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable used as a fruit in desserts and jams. It prefers cool winters and temperatures below 75° F (24° C) in summer and grows best in fertile, well-drained soil.