Serving Central PA
Home Orchard Planting
We specialize in planting the types and varieties of fruit trees that will be best suited for your local environment.
Trimming & Care
We can assist you with general questions about caring for your fruit trees. We prune fruit trees from December through March.
Our Work
Pruning | Max & Dianne R.
Max and Dianne have enjoyed peaches, pears, apples and cherries from their 16 fruit trees ever since they planted them 12 years ago. Max wanted his son to grow up enjoying fresh apples off the tree, like he did. They never spray their trees, and Max says that while the occasional worm does show up in an apple, they are enjoyed all the same.
Dianne reached out to Home Orchards when she learned we do annual winter pruning. Upon my arrival, I found the trees were quite large! Some of the peach trees were breaking in half from having too many long limbs. Likewise, the apple trees had split branches from bearing too many apples.
I was able to prune the trees down to a good size and correct the long branches. With annual pruning, these old trees will continue to produce fruit for years to come.
Low Spray Solutions | Mitch Z.
For Mitch, food sustainability has been on his mind for some time. He told us about his desire to grow fruit at home, but without the "recommended" 12 cover sprays per year. We discussed organic and low spray options for home fruit growing.
After visiting his backyard, we selected six different fruit trees that would work well with his planting site. By selecting types and varieties of trees suited to his environment, we were able to manage many risks in advance. This will greatly reduce the amount of spraying needed in the future. When unpreventable disease and pest problems do arise, we will guide Mitch forward with organic control solutions.
Old and New | The Wynn's
Audrey Wynn recently purchased a home in Manheim and was working hard at restoring the property. The place came with fig, pawpaw and a old apples trees. Audrey asked us to prune and begin caring for the trees. They were quite neglected, but not beyond help. We began a pruning and care regimen to get the trees producing optimally again.
As a part of the long term plan for the orchard, we recommended putting in some new trees to phase out the old ones. The planting environment was good, so we were able to diversify with more types of fruit trees. In the spring, we planted early, mid and late season peach trees, along with two cherry trees and disease resistant apple trees.
Pollination Problems | Dave & Kathy S.
From broccoli to blueberries, the Schule's love growing food at home.
But six years after planting three apple trees, Dave was still waiting for a good crop. Dave called Home Orchards, and after discussing some of the possible problems, we set up an appointment to look at the trees.
Dave was seeing lots of flowering in the spring, but only a handful of fruits would turn out after petal fall. I judged the trees to be in healthy condition, and after learning the varieties, surmised that the apple trees were not right for cross pollination.
We set about solving this problem by planting three additional apple trees that would compliment the orchard and ensure full pollination. Dave's trees were also suffering from Cedar Apple Rust, so we chose tasty varieties that are highly resistant to this disease.