The Smart Gardener's Guide to Growing Fruits

513 Pages·1997·4.55 MB·English

by  Bob Gough

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Page i
The Smart Gardener's Guide to Growing Fruits
Dr. Bob Gough
Copyright © 1997 by Stackpole Books
Published by
STACKPOLE BOOKS
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions
thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be
addressed to Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055.
Printed in the United States of America
F E
IRST DITION
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover and interior illustrations by Mary Anne Lard
Cover design by Caroline Miller
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gough, Bob.
Smart gardener's guide to growing fruits / Bob Gough.1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-8117-2925-7
1. Fruit-culture. 2. Fruit. I. Title.
SB355.G635 1997
634dc20 96-33618
CIP

Page iii
Contents
1 1
Speaking of Fruit
2 7
Cultural Requirements
3 12
Growth and Development
4 15
Flowers to Fruit
5 28
Plant Propagation
6 46
Choosing the Best Site
7 60
Building Your Soil
8 72
Feeding Plants
9 84
Whipping the Weeds
10 89
Watering
11 92
Planting the Plants
12 100
Winter Protection
13 106
Pruning and Training
14 116
Pest Control
15 133
Harvest
16 139
Tree Fruits and Nuts
17 194
Small Fruits and Grapes
Index 250
Page 1
1
Speaking of Fruit
Just what is a fruit?
Botanically, a fruit is a ripened, seed-bearing ovary and its accessory
parts. Apples, peaches, and gooseberries fit nicely into this definition.
Bananas and seedless grapes don't, because they lack fully formed
seeds, but botanically they're still fruits. So are tomatoes, peppers, and
cucumbers, although gardeners classify them as vegetables.
The popular definition of a fruitas opposed to the botanical
definitionis a perennial or biennial plant with an edible part, which is
usually eaten raw as a snack or dessert, rather than as a main-course
food. The SMART Gardener's Guide to Growing Fruits deals only
with those plants that are commonly considered fruits by the popular
definition, rather than the botanical.
Classification of Fruits
All fruits are given botanical names according to a worldwide
taxonomic system. This system of botanical classification, developed
in the eighteenth century by Carolus Linnaeus, groups plants into ever
more specific categories based upon their common characteristics.
All fruit-bearing plants belong to the plant division Spermatophyta or
seed-bearing plants. They also belong to the plant class
Angiospermae, or plants that bear their seeds in an ovary, or fruit.
Fruit-bearing palms belong to the subclass Monocotyledoneae, plants
that have one seed leaf (monocots). All other fruits belong to the
subclass Dicotyledoneae, or plants that have two seed leaves (dicots).

Page 2
The botanical classification of fruits shows their scientific
relationships. All temperate-zone fruits belong to several
families of the class Dicotyledoneae (dicots). Some common
names refer to more than one botanical name.
Actinidiaceae (Kiwifruit family)
Actinidia arguta Siberian gooseberry
Actinidia chinensis Kiwifruit
Actinidia deliciosa Kiwifruit
Betulaceae (Birch family)
Corylus americana American hazelnut
Corylus avellana European hazelnut
(filbert)
Corylus maxima European hazelnut
Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle
family)
Sambucus canadensis Elderberry
Viburnum trilobum Highbush cranberry
Ebenaceae (Ebony family)
Diospyros virginiana American persimmon
Diospyros kaki Chinese persimmon, kaki
Ericaceae (Heath family)
Vaccinium angustifolium Lowbush blueberry
Vaccinium corymbosum Highbush blueberry
Vaccinium macrocarpon American cranberry
Fagaceae (Beech family)
Castanea mollissima Chinese chestnut
Castanea sativa European chestnut
Castanea dentata American chestnut
Juglandaceae (Walnut family)
Carya glabra Pignut
Carya illinoensis Pecan
Carya ovalis Pignut
Carya ovata Shagbark hickory
Juglans cinera Butternut
Juglans hindsii California black walnut
Juglans nigra Black walnut
Juglans regia English (Persian) walnut
(table continued on next page)