The Home Orchard

Peaches. Click to enlarge.

Whether you are thinking of planting your first fruit tree, or you have been tending fruit trees for years, here is a collection of resources just for the home gardener from the UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County and other external resources. 

Monthly tips - what to do for your fruit trees each month.

The orchard at the FOHC - a history of the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center (FOHC) orchard.

Master Gardener publications and videos

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• Frost Protection - cold weather can damage citrus and other sensitive plants.
• Growing Citrus in Sacramento (PDF 222KB) (GN 127)
• Citrus Resources (PDF) (GN 135)
• Cherry tree cover - for Spotted Wing Drosophila.
• Peach Leaf Curl Trial - results.
• Codling Moth Management at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center
• Using computerized tools (PDF) - Codling moth management. (EHN 100)
• Reduced Chemical Pest Management (PDF 88KB) - summary. (EHN 81)
• Why Fruit Trees Fail to Bear (PDF 202KB)(EHN 68)
• Orchard Bee Nesting House (PDF 200KB) (GN 102)

Videos

• Netting Fruit Trees: An Easy and Inexpensive Method (5.17 min.) - UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
• Thinning Fruit on your Trees (4:46 min.) - UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
• Summer Pruning for Fruit Trees (4:13 min.) - UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
• Grow Fruit Trees in Limited Space (10;11 min.) - Ed Laivo for Virtual Harvest Day 2020

External resources

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• The Home Orchard: Growing Your Own Deciduous Fruit and Nut Trees - UC ANR book store.
• Citrus Culture and Pests - UC IPM
  
  • Asian Citrus Psyllid and Huanglongbing Disease - invasive pest and the disease it spreads
  • Detecting Asian Citrus Psyllid - video from UC ANR
  • Selected common citrus pests:
    • Citrus leafminer
    • Cottony cushion scale
  • Citrus Picture Guide, leaf and twig - UC IPM citrus diseases and disorders.
  • Citrus Picture Guide, fruit - UC IPM citrus diseases and disorders.
• Citrus Leaf and Twig Problem Diagnosis (PDF) - UC IPM to help diagnose citrus pests, disease and cultural problems
• Citrus Pest Management - UC IPM intended for commercial growers. A comprehensive list on citrus culture and pest management.  Note: many pesticides mentioned are not available to home gardeners.
• Citrus varieties - Four Winds Growers
• Growing citrus - Four Winds Growers
• Budding and Grafting - Citrus and Avocado (PDF 168KB) - UC ANR (ANR 8001)
• Citrus - Tried and True or Something New (PDF) - UC ANR (ANR 8472)
• The Citrus Family Tree (PDF) - National Geograhic magazine. The origin of citrus
• General fruit tree information - California Backyard Orchard website covers the basics and more.
• Maintenance calendars - California Backyard Orchard seasonal care.
• Fruit tree pests - UC IPM. Commonly grown fruit and nut trees.
• Plant problem diagnostic tool - UC IPM gives you the ability to solve plant problems.
• Winter Pest Management - UC ANR. Backyard fruit trees (PDF 5.3 MB) (ANR 8368)
• Fruit tree varieties - Dave Wilson Nursery
• Recommended varieties and taste tests - Dave Wilson Nursery
• Backyard orchard culture - Dave Wilson Nursery. Grow tree-ripe fruit in a small space.
• Planting and Care of Young Trees (PDF 112KB) - UC ANR. (ANR 8048)
• Pruning Overgrown Deciduous Trees (PDF 97KB) - UC ANR. (ANR 8058)
• Training and Pruning Deciduous Trees (PDF 226KB) - UC ANR. (ANR 8057)
• Thinning Young Fruit (PDF 109KB) (ANR 8047)
• Pest management:

Videos

• Detecting Asian Citrus Psyllid (0:30 min.) - UC ANR
• Backyard Fruit Tree Basics (16:50 min.) - Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery.
• Shopping for Bare Root Fruit Trees (6:38 min.) - Ed Laivo of Dave Wilson Nursery.
• Plant a Fruit Tree (6:05 min.) - Ed Laivo of Dave Wilson Nursery.
• Fruit Tree Pruning Demonstration (4:50 min.) – Ed Laivo and Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery.
• Grafting Fruit Trees (9:01 min.) - Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery.
• Pests and Beneficials - UC IPM list of videos on many topics.

ANR = free publication from the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Catalog
PN = free publication from UC Integrated Pest Management
EHN = Environmental Horticulture Notes from the UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
GN = Garden Notes from the UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County

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