The standard guide to fruit-growing success.

Despite the harsh climate that prevails in the Upper Midwest, even amateur gardeners can successfully grow fruit when armed with some basic information. Focusing on Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota, Growing Fruit in the Upper Midwest is a practical how-to guide to the cultivation of a wide variety of fruit including apples, pears, plums, apricots, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, grapes, currants, gooseberries, and brambles.

To assist readers ranging from home gardeners to small commercial growers, Don Gordon covers site selection, soil types, pruning, fertilization, harvesting, pests, and preventing winter injury as well as describing literally hundreds of excellent species for this region. Many technical aspects of pruning and planting are accompanied with illustrations. Growing Fruit in the Upper Midwest includes maps that indicate the fruit hardiness zones for each state, augmented by an easy-to-use guide to cultivar selection. The introduction is a basic botany lesson, covering plant classifications, growth and development. The section on apple growing, by far the most widely adapted fruit species in this region, will help growers decide which types of trees will thrive on their land. Gordon also provides an overview of interesting and overlooked historic and economic aspects of fruit production across the Upper Midwest. This practical guide is essential reading for home gardeners, small commercial growers, and anyone who has considered this rewarding and fascinating hobby. “The concise information about plant care will assist even the most inexperienced gardener. This book is an excellent reference tool, and I would recommend it highly to anyone growing fruit in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota or South Dakota.” Rochester Post Bulletin

Don Gordon is professor of botany at Mankato State University in Minnesota. He has written a weekly column on horticulture and nature for the Mankato Free Press since 1976.