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Grow a Little Fruit Tree

Simple Pruning Techniques for Small-Space, Easy-Harvest Fruit Trees

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Grow your own apples, figs, plums, cherries, pears, apricots, and peaches in even the smallest backyard!
Ann Ralph shows you how to cultivate small yet abundant fruit trees using a variety of specialized pruning techniques. With dozens of simple and effective strategies for keeping an ordinary fruit tree from growing too large, you’ll keep your gardening duties manageable while at the same time reaping a bountiful harvest. These little fruit trees are easy to maintain and make a lovely addition to any home landscape.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 1, 2014
      In his accessible style, Ralph propagates several new ideas about fruit trees to the backyard gardener. The first is that fruit trees should be small—certainly no taller than the gardener herself. This allows better access to the fruit, and makes managing crop size easier—just enough plums rather than so many that everyone in the household resents anything round and purple. The second is to prune in winter for shape and in summer for size. Winter pruning inspires growth, whereas summer pruning keeps the tree small. The third is to plant bare root trees and make a severe initial prune, the so-called head cut, at knee length. Ralph keeps the rest simple enough. Water infrequently but deeply, mind pests in a live-and-let-live relationship, and pick when ripe—or, in the case of pears, pre-ripe. And she swears by worm castings for a variety of fruit tree ailments. This will be a thrilling read for the backyard farmer wants fruit all year round from a small, sunny space.

    • Booklist

      December 15, 2014
      Most amateur gardeners with a small backyard plot set aside for flowers and vegetables rarely attempt putting a fruit tree in the middle of it all because of the common fear that a tree will quickly overwhelm the space underneath it. Yet, according to Ralph, a veteran tree cultivator and consultant for the Berkeley Horticultural Nursery in California, savvy pruning techniques can allow anyone with even a smidgen of land to a grow a healthy, productive fruit tree less than six feet tall. In this beautifully illustrated, informative guidebook, Ralph provides all the know-how needed to breed a wide variety of deciduous trees, such as apples, cherries, persimmons, and plums, that are both easily managed and harvested. In 11 easy-to-follow chapters, she covers all the pruning and breeding basics, from choosing tree varieties to picking fruit at the right time. Every gardener who has previously felt too intimidated to cultivate his or her own mini orchard will find enough well-seasoned advice and inspiration here to begin planting a fruit tree or two during the next growing season.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

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Languages

  • English

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