DWN Blog
Notes and News - Home Gardens
Latest product and growing information plus what's happening at DWN.
Of the 300+ Dave Wilson Nursery home garden tree fruit varieties, which ones receive the most attention from website users? Two home garden tree fruit Top Varieties lists have been tabulated - the overall Top 50, dominated by low-chill varieties, and the Top 40 of varieties requiring 500 or more chill hours.
Tested as 32MF92, this complex flavored, exceptionally sweet interspecific hybrid (parentage includes Japanese plum and sweet cherry) from Zaiger Genetics wowed the panel at DWN fruit tastings in 2011 and 2014.
In climates that can be highly variable from year to year, experienced fruit growers know the value of crop diversity. To spread the risk of crop failure, home growers can add higher- or lower-chill varieties for their differing adaptabilities and bloom times, disease-resistant varieties, and varieties with different ripening dates. A good place to start might be
At most Northern and Central California locations, accumulated fruit tree chilling from November 1st to February 10th was lower than a year ago in terms of chill hours (hours below 45°F). In terms of chill portions as calculated using the more complex Dynamic Model, however,
Insufficient chilling last winter significantly reduced some California deciduous fruit tree crops, Northern California cherry growers and Southern California home growers being among those affected. This winter, as of January 10th, due to unusually warm temperatures until about Christmas, accumulated fruit tree chilling for most California locations was
The Variety Finder now includes DWN's 34 kinds of multiple-budded fruit trees: combinations from cold hardy to low-chill to "fruit salad". Use the Variety Finder to locate retail nursery sources for each multi-bud combination.
Updated to include the 2013 and 2014 fruit tastings, this edition of the Fruit Tasting Report also features a new best-of-the-best screen: Consistently High-Scoring Varieties. These are the 48 fruit varieties that have made Overall Scores
As deciduous fruit and nut growers know, adequate winter cold for the varieties planted is essential for strong bloom and satisfactory fruit set. This winter...
Recent additions and updates: Home Fruit Growing Questions & Answers (new), Greenhouse Fruit Growing (new), Variety Finder (updated for 2013-2014).
Tom Spellman conducts the first summer pruning of 2013 in the new DWN Backyard Orchard Culture demo planting, showing home growers how to get it done by keeping it simple.
