A St. Louis Guide to Orcharding: How, Why, & What it Takes to Grow Your Own
Fruit in History:
History, when looked at like a tree, is loaded with juicy fruit. Treasure fleets of 15th century China lined their top-most decks with citrus trees for extended oversea expeditions. They realized that something locked within (vitamin C, in this case) prevented the onset of a sailor’s worst enemy, scurvy. Bananas forged an entire republic. George Washington, emboldened by a lust for nature, cut down his father’s favorite cherry tree. And how could we forget our favorite fellow Johnny Chapman who sowed apple seeds across the American frontier? Luckily, here at Gateway Greening, we’re in the business of growing things, including fruit trees. When grown properly, they can supply a family for a lifetime. So dig out your shovels and dust off your garden hast–we’ve got history to make.
The Science of Orcharding, Briefly:
Before breaking ground, let’s talk science. St. Louis is located in zone 6a, which means hot humid summers and chilly winters. That also means no citrus trees. (We’ll leave that to the gator states). Fruit trees are broken down into types and varieties. Some types: peach, plum, cherry–you get the idea. The variety is a specific version of that plant bred by humans for desired traits, like Granny Smith apples or Navel oranges. Choose varieties based around climatic adaptability, fruit quality, disease resistance, size/shape, and purpose. Stick with apples, peaches, sour cherries, plums, pears, and persimmons. All of these we grow successfully throughout our community gardens and City Seeds Urban Farm.
When selecting fruit trees for planting, it’s also important to consider the size and location of the tree. Some fruit trees can grow quite large and require ample space, while others are suitable for smaller yards or even container gardens. Additionally, certain fruit trees may be more susceptible to pests or diseases in certain areas, so it’s important to choose varieties that are well-suited to the local climate and soil conditions. Professional tree mover services like Houston Treemover can provide valuable guidance on selecting and planting fruit trees, ensuring that they have the best chance of thriving and producing healthy, delicious fruit for years to come.
Your Best Local Varieties: Apples, Pears, Peaches, Cherries, Plums & Figs:
When selecting apples or pears choose fireblight resistant varieties. Fireblight is a nasty bacterial disease that kills blossoms, shoots, and branches of young trees, quickly erasing all your hard work. Apples are susceptible to scab, rust, and mildew. It’s best to have a second cultivar on hand with both apples and pears in order to secure successful cross-pollination for fruit production. Liberty, Arkansas Black, and Granny Smith apples fit the bill well. Seckel or Harrow Delight make for sweet, productive pears. When choosing a peach tree, select based off of cold hardiness, season of ripening, and disease resistance. Spring frosts and severe winters can destroy blooms causing cankers to form. Redhaven is a fantastic peach cultivar with streaked red fruit and fuzzless skin that blooms later in the spring, ultimately decreasing your chances of cold damage. Sour cherries are self-pollinating trees that require relatively well-drained soil to prevent brown rot from developing. Montmorency is a fast growing, heavy bearing variety with bright red fruit. Choose European over Japanese plums for more reliable yields. Japanese trees require cross-pollination and are more susceptible to spring frost. Earliblue or Damson plum varieties grow best around here. Stay away from nectarines, apricots, sweet cherries, and citrus. It is possible to grow figs if you’re prepared to protect in winter conditions. Brown Turkey is a popular St. Louis “The Hill” variety, just make sure to plant them with northern exposure to delay spring blooms.
The Ecological Value of Growing Fruit:
It is important to distinguish from the beginning a purpose as to why you are planting a fruit tree. The above varieties are all fantastic options to choose from for human consumption, but provide limited ecological value. American persimmons (Diospyros virginiana) taste great, fruit in six years, and set seedless fruit without pollination. They provide a nutritious food source for browsing deer, waxwings, robins, turkeys, woodpeckers, and a plethora of other critters. Black cherries, pin cherries, and choke cherries act as host plants for over 200 species of butterfly and moths and over 50 species of birds. Red Mulberry (Morus rubra), not to be confused with the invasive white, serves as a larval host for mourning cloak butterflies. Hawthorne trees produce edible berries during the wintertime, as well as safe shelter for nesting birds and pollinators. Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) boasts a beautiful, wispy branching pattern with delicate pink and white flowers that bloom early for pollinators coming out of hibernation. In also grows great in shady sights.
Get to Work:
How we doing? Pick out your tree yet? Select a sight that meets sun and soil needs, and keep in mind that it does not end there. Proper care, love, and maintenance must be upheld for seasons to come–that means watering in the summer, and pruning in the winter. Plant things that want to live, grow along with your garden, and enjoy the fruits of labor together. Now get to work!
– Tony Boudreau
Horticulture Instructor, Gateway Greening
About Gateway Greening
Gateway Greening educates and empowers people to strengthen their communities through gardening and urban agriculture. Learn more about the organization here.