Fruit trees on the Front Range

The biggest challenge with growing fruit trees on the Front Range is winter and spring “roller-coaster” temperatures. Fruit trees must tick off chill units to complete winter rest. Each variety has unique number of chill units. Warm temperatures above 55 degrees F will subtract from accumulated chill units delaying spring growth. Sound like this past winter? Once the rest requirement is satisfied, chill units are ignored until fall when they are reset by the next winter dormancy.

Following rest satisfaction, plants begin accumulating heat units for growth until full bloom. Again, each variety has a unique number of heat units (called growing degree hours or days). If this number of heat units is small and the tree is in full bloom when temperatures drop, blossoms freeze and the fruit crop is lost.

Finding fruit trees “programmed” with the right chill units and heat units for the Front Range is hard due to the unpredictability of our winter and spring temperatures (the “roller coaster”). While some trees may fruit one year, the crop is lost the next. With many types of fruit, realizing a crop one or two years out of five is typical. This is why there is no substantial commercial fruit industry here and instead it is found on the West Slope where temperatures are moderated.

What are the most reliable fruit tree varieties for the Front Range? Of course some that will grow here have other problems such as how susceptible apple and pear varieties are to fireblight disease. This is the time for readers to step up and tell us their experience. What type of tree fruit do you grow (apple, peach, cherry, plum etc.), what is the variety, what is your crop record (estimated number of crops in the last 5 years), and tell us your Front Range city?

Click comment below and let us know.

[Bowl of apples photo credit Carl Wilson]