The basics of fruit growing

by Doug
(in his garden)

General thoughts on organic fruit tree production

The first thing that should be understood is that while you can plant fruit trees on poor ground, rocky soils etc. they do best when treated with the same respect as any other plant.

If you’re looking for a good fruit growing experience then in your backyard, we’re talking about watering, feeding, full sunlight planting and maintenance to ensure good growth rates and healthy plants.

Just as we find our gardens thriving under organic soil-management techniques, it is important to provide a similar environment for tree fruits. In other words, you have to apply compost liberally around the drip lines of trees, run hoses out to them because they consume huge amounts of water and water stress will reduce yields, and you have to prune and trim properly. Think of them as simply big perennials. :-)

You also have to site the plants appropriately. Wind protection would be something important if you’re looking for maximum yields. Tossing a somewhat tender variety or plant into the full gale of a northern winter isn’t going to make it very happy.

Example

Particularly if it’s the wrong size for your region or the wrong variety. Let me give you an example. Here in Eastern Ontario Canada, growing dwarf trees has been an exercise in frustration for more than one orchardist. These tender plants are simply wiped out in the cold winters. But when you plant standards or semi-dwarf of the same variety, you’re fine. And then we have variety selection - a popular apple year round in our supermarkets is the 'Granny Smith'. But this is a warm-weather apple and certainly not one for -40F (which is what we regularly see here)

So this means getting the right size and variety for your individual region. Check your state or provincial extension/agricultural offices for details and recommendations for local plants. It is well beyond the ability of a small website to provide this kind of regional information.

To the extent that you don’t provide an optimum experience for the plant is the extent of your harvest. This is true of all tree fruit.

First line of defense against disease

Good air circulation among the trees is critical for performance as is good air circulation within the tree canopy itself.

We’ll talk later about pruning but do understand that after you’ve fed and watered the tree, providing an environment that prevents problems is the next step.

Growing Standard versus Dwarf Trees

Standard trees are cheaper to buy. They yield more but take up more space than a dwarf. They are slower to produce fruit from planting (they have more growing to do than a dwarf tree) You can fit fewer trees into the same space. Harvesting and pruning requires ladders and long telescoping pole pruners so these are simply not as safe as a dwarf or semi-dwarf tree.


Dwarf fruit trees tend to be more expensive and yield less than standards. They are better suited for small gardens and produce in a few short years. More trees can be fit into a small backyard but they are not as hardy in very cold climates. They are also easier to harvest and prune as you can reach the top branches.

Semi-dwarf trees fit right between these two extremes above.

Soils

On commercial orchards, soil preparation is key to a profitable crop. In the backyard orchard, planting is recommended in the same way as any other tree. Do NOT modify the soil inside the planting hole at the time of planting. Leave it be. DO apply compost liberally around the tree drip line (the edge of the leaf canopy where water would drip off the tree as if it were the edge of a roof)

If you’re interested in maximizing yields, you can adjust your soil pH to 6.5 as that’s the soil acidity level preferred by most fruiting plants (with the exception of blueberries)

After planting, ensure no grass is allowed to grow within a yard of the trunk (we need those roots to expand without competition for nutrients and water). Mulch is a good way to do that along with a bit of hand-weed-pulling every now and then. Do NOT allow the mulch to cover or be beside the trunk - leave at least a foot between mulch and the tree trunk. You do not want to provide free access to the trunk by rodents that may decide to hide under the mulch.

Rodent Control

Use some form of rodent control. Period. They love tender fruit bark. So a white plastic covering that encircles the trunk is readily available in garden shops. If you get caught short, wrapping aluminum foil around the trunk for the winter works well.

Simply remove rodent guards such as aluminum foil during the summer months to allow air circulation and prevent insects from hiding under it. Plastic tree guards of the wrap around kind can be left on.

Pests

We’ll cover the basic pests and control methods in a later post but generally speaking you don’t see the same level of problems in a small backyard orchard as you do on commercial scale plantings.

The reason for this is the diversity of insects and predators in the backyard is higher under organic conditions. Insects have other places to hide, plants to attack (compared to mono-culture in an orchard) and predators to feed on them. So many of the commercial issues do not arise in the home backyard orchard.

Bottom Line

Get the growing conditions the same for tree fruits as you would for the rest of your perennial plants. Feed ‘em, water ‘em and love ‘em.

Pick the right variety and the right size for your growing zone.