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| If you're going to plant trees in your garden, why not some fruit trees? Beauty and yummy fruit in one package! |
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 Pears |
PEAR Pears are very tolerant trees, can grow in a variety of soil types and once they are established, don't need any feeding. It can take 8-10 years before they begin bearing fruit--but the tree is fairly long-lived and may live and produce fruit for over 100 years. Pear tree branches tend to grow upright and must be trained to a more horizontal position. Most varieties require cross-pollination by a different variety of pear. So plant more than one kind in your home orchard. |
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| A good way to determine when the pears on your tree are ready for picking is to check the small pores in the fruit's skin. When the pores change from white to brown, the pear can be picked and ripened off the tree. To pick the pear give it a slight upward twist to one side. A pear is a pome fruit--which means it has a fleshy body enclosing a core of seeds. If you have limited space in your garden, consider bush fruits, such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries! |
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STRAWBERRY Almost everyone loves strawberries. Here's a fruit that's easy to grow, tasty, has attractive foliage and doesn't take up a lot of room.  Strawberries make nice edging plants in your flower beds. You can even grow them in hanging baskets. Full sun is best, along with a light well-drained soil and lots of organic matter. Since they grow low to the ground, you may want to plant them in a raised bed--for ease of cultivation and picking! |
 Strawberries |
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| There are two main types of strawberries--those that bear all their fruit at once--sometimes called June-bearers, and ever-bearing plants, which produce a large initial harvest and then continue to set fruit over the rest of the season. | |||||
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