The Backyard Orchardist
by Stella Otto
$14.95

Softcover - 250 pages

A Complete Guide to Growing Fruit Trees in the Home Garden

This book is written for all of you who have thought about including a small planting of fruit trees in your yard or rural acreage, but didn't know where and how to start.

Maybe you think.....

....your yard is too small,
....your climate is too hot or too cold,
....your soil is not suitable,
....you don't have enough time....

Throw all those doubts on the compost heap. You too can be a Backyard Orchardist!!! Growing fruit trees successfully is not really that difficult. Even a neophyte gardener can do it. You can too!

You will learn how to select a spot for your fruit trees, or select the right tree to fit your spot; how to plant it, feed it, prune it, keep it free of insects and diseases, and finally harvest a crop you will be proud to share with your family, friends, and neighbors.

Writing about all of this was easy. What was not so easy was deciding what to leave out (or save for a future book).

Unlike the few other available books on fruit growing, The Backyard Orchardist does not take up a lot of space describing individual varieties. In most cases since many good descriptions can be found in nursery catalogs, the varieties are listed by name only. Instead, space is devoted to information that you might not find elsewhere and to more extensive illustrations. Yes, there is even a list of nurseries, so you can easily get those catalogs.

Topics that are often intimidating to and not immediately needed by the beginning fruit grower have been saved for future works - propagation, training an espalier tree, biological monitoring. So get out that shovel and start working some soil! Before you know it, the tree you plant now will be bearing fruit and you will be an "old pro" ready to learn about these other facets of fruit growing.