Guides
In-depth, cited explanations of how fruit trees work and how to choose them.
- Chill hours explained: what they are and why your fruit tree needs them
What chill hours are, how they're counted, how many your fruit trees need, and how to find your local total — explained with university-extension sources.
- How to plant a bare-root fruit tree
When to plant, how to choose a site, prepare the hole, set planting depth and the graft union, water, stake, and care for a bare-root fruit tree through its first year — with university-extension sources.
- USDA & Canadian hardiness zones explained
What plant hardiness zones mean, how the USDA and Canadian (NRCan) systems differ, how microclimates shift your local zone, and how a zone relates to but differs from chill hours — with government and university sources.
- Frost dates and your fruit trees
What last-spring and first-fall frost dates mean, why spring frost during bloom threatens the crop, how frost forms, and how site selection and cold-air drainage affect frost risk — an informational guide with university-extension sources.
- Rootstocks and mature tree size
What a rootstock is and does, how dwarf, semi-dwarf, and standard fruit trees differ in size, spacing, years to bearing, and support needs, and how to choose the right rootstock for your space — with university-extension sources.
- How to choose fruit tree varieties for your climate
A five-part decision framework for picking fruit trees that will actually thrive and fruit where you live: chill hours, hardiness zone, pollination, space, and disease resistance — with university-extension sources.
- Pollination groups explained: why your fruit tree needs a partner
Which fruit trees are self-fertile, which need a partner, how bloom overlap and pollination groups work, why triploid apples are a special case, and how close trees must be — with university-extension sources.
- Low-chill fruit varieties for the South
What low-chill means, why mild-winter gardeners need it, and the best-documented low-chill apples, peaches, pears, figs, and cold-hardy citrus for the South — with university-extension sources.
- Cold-hardy fruit trees for zones 3-4
How fruit trees survive deep cold, why spring frost is the real enemy, and the hardiest apples, plums, cherries, and pears for USDA zones 3-4 — including University of Minnesota releases, with extension sources.
- Growing apples in the home garden
How to grow apples at home: choosing a site, matching varieties and pollination partners, planting, a season-by-season care rhythm, and harvesting and storing the crop — with university-extension sources.
- Growing peaches, plums & cherries
A home grower's guide to stone fruit: what peaches, plums, and cherries have in common, how chill hours and early bloom shape variety choice, which types need a pollen partner, how to thin, and when to pick each one — with university-extension sources.
- When to prune fruit trees
The timing of fruit-tree pruning, by species: why apples and pears are pruned dormant, why apricots and cherries are pruned in dry summer weather to avoid disease, and how dormant versus summer pruning changes the way a tree grows — with university-extension sources.