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Learn Trees

Fruit trees are easy, right? Pop them in the ground and they grow like magic! It's true, but there is plenty to learn if you want to care for your trees, mitigate diseases and pests, and enjoy years of good crops. We have posted some basics here. Also see fruit tree books and web sites.

FUNDAMENTALS

Grafting Fruit Trees

Grafting is a propagation technique that has been practiced for thousands of years; you can do it, too.

Choosing Fruit Trees

Things to know when planning your orchard, including soil, climate, spacing, pollination, and more.

Growing Fruit Trees

Fitting your fields, planting, pruning, thinning, managing diseases, harvesting, and more.

Ready to Plant?

You've skimmed our "Learn Trees" library, and your trees are on the way. What to do next?!

QUICK GUIDES

Checklists & Tutorials

How to plant, prune, and graft fruit trees – and what to do when you receive your box of Cummins trees.

Fruit Tree Glossary

Brush up on these terms that you might encounter around the web site, with links to more in-depth pages.

POLLINATION

Fruit Tree Pollination – A Primer for Beginners

All trees must be pollinated to bear fruit, so all orchardists need to learn the basics of this complex subject.

Use Our "Pollenizer" Search Tool to Find Partners for Your Trees

Try this search tool to identify trees that you can plant in groups for cross-pollination and better cropping.

DISEASES & PESTS

Fruit Tree Diseases & Pests – An Introduction

If you're going to grow an orchard, you're going to be thinking about the many critters that love fruit trees.

See Our List of Common Fruit Tree Diseases & Pests

Browse our short descriptions of some 35 fruit tree problems that are commonly found in the USA.

MORE TO LEARN

Fruit Tree Books

See some of the how-to and historical titles in our home fruit tree library – plus books for orchard kids.

Fruit Tree Sites & Videos

Browse these resources for further learning about best practices for orchard planning and management.






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