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Winnipeg Free Press

Enjoy the fruits of your labour

There are several cold-hardy fruit tree cultivars that have been introduced by prairie growers over the years. Why not choose from the wide number of apple and pear tree varieties that are available at garden centres and grow your own bounty of fresh fruit? You won't be alone — the interest in growing fruit by home and market gardeners is surging. Here are some apple and pear varieties notable for their cold hardiness and delicious flavour. Prairie Gardens Tree Nursery The Carroll apple was introduced by the Morden Research Station in 1961. Carroll apple is making a comeback. Introduced by the Morden Research Station in 1961, the Carroll apple (Zone 3) is a new listing for this year by Jeffries Nurseries, a wholesale grower in Portage la Prairie. This old-fashioned apple produces large fruit (7 to 8 cm) that is delicious for eating fresh and for baking. This old-fashioned apple has two notable parent varieties — Melba apple, which is a McIntosh seedling, and Moscow Pear Apple, a cold hardy variety that was developed in Russia. Carroll apple matures in early September and stores well until mid-December. Kandy Crisp is a new cold-hardy apple developed by Philip Ronald at Jeffries Nurseries. Introduced in 2024, Kandy Crisp apple is a controlled cross between Goodland apple, a Morden Research Station introduction, and Gemini apple, which was developed by Art Coutts of Unity, Sask. Kandy Crisp is hardy to Zone 3. The large (7 to 8 cm) bright red fruit tastes crisp and sweet. Bonus: you don't need a ladder to harvest the fruit when it ripens in September. Kandy Crisp is grown on dwarfing rootstock. Even after 20 years, the tree will be only two to three metres tall. Another bonus is that fruit production on dwarfing rootstock can be up to two years earlier than trees on standard rootstock. Dwarfing rootstock does not affect the size of the fruit. Aubin Nurseries, a wholesale plant nursery in Carman, is supplying Beedle Pear this spring to garden centres. To learn more about this hardy pear's interesting backstory, I talked recently with Dr. Ieuan Evans, a forensic plant pathologist and well-known plant breeder who named the Beedle pear. Evans lives in Spruce Grove, Alta., and is the Evans behind the famed Evans Cherry, a cold-hardy sour cherry tree that is grown in countless backyards across the Prairies. 'John Beedle was a horticulturist and park planner for the city of St. Albert, which is just north of Edmonton,' says Evans. 'He grew thousands of Siberian pear seedlings which were planted around St. Albert on boulevards. A wild pear, the fruit was no bigger than a walnut and more or less inedible. 'But in the early 2000s, he showed me a pear tree that he found growing on one of the boulevards that produced really good tasting, medium-sized pears. A homeowner nearby demanded that the tree be removed because some of the pears were falling on the boulevard near her driveway. The mayor at the time agreed and had the pear tree removed. 'I took budwood from the tree, which I gave to friends to grow. I also gave budwood to DNA Gardens, a U-pick fruit orchard in Elnora, Alta. I propagated it myself by grafting the budwood onto Siberian wild pear seedlings. 'The pear was a genuine wild seedling, a chance seedling just like the McIntosh apple,' says Evans. 'I named it the Beedle pear after John Beedle.' Prairie Gardens Tree Nursery Try growing your own bounty of Canadian-bred apples. Today Evans grows the Beedle pear in his home garden. It is Zone 2 hardy. Garth Aubin of Aubin Nurseries says the Beedle pear is sweet and juicy and lacks the bitter tasting outer skin of other cold-hardy pears. The fruit ripens on the tree in early September and keeps well in cold storage for up to two months. Keep in mind that for apples and pears, two different cultivars must be growing in close proximity for best fruit production. When to prune fruit trees is a common question. 'There is an overgeneralization that fruit trees must be pruned while they are dormant in the winter,' says Joel Kosa, an International Society of Aboriculture-certified arborist and owner of Boreal Tree Care. 'There are many options in terms of when to prune. There are different outcomes that will happen at different times of the year that can be advantageous to fruit trees. It all comes down to the goals you want to achieve through pruning.' Kosa says that if your tree requires large structural cuts which can result in significant wounds, wait until later in winter before pruning to minimize damage and promote healing. 'If your tree is producing way too much fruit, pruning in spring after your tree blooms will generally reduce fruit production,' he says. 'Now, that doesn't mean that you are going to get larger or tastier fruit, but the yield will be less.' Philip Ronald photo Kandy Crisp apple, a new introduction from Jeffries Nurseries, is grown on dwarfing rootstock for a compact height but has large, tasty apples. Kosa says summer is also a good time for minor pruning. 'By summer, a fruit tree has generally used up most of its energy for new growth production. It's also a good time for getting rid of water sprouts (thin shoots that grow vertically from the trunk or branches).' Pruning can also be done in fall, says Kosa, although large structural cuts would not be recommended then because wounds would not have enough time to heal. Apple scab on apple and crab-apple trees was widespread throughout Winnipeg last year. Apple scab is caused by a fungus that infects both fruit and leaves. It is easily identified by leaf spots that turn brown, black and then yellow. Last year, many apple trees (mine included) were severely affected by apple scab and dropped most of their leaves by mid-summer. 'The wet spring we had in 2024 exacerbated apple scab,' says Kosa. 'The snow melt was gradual this spring and so far, it hasn't been excessively wet…. If it continues to be a drier spring, there won't be as many new infections because the fungus won't spread as easily.' If your tree was affected by apple scab last year, strategic pruning to remove a portion of the infected soft tissue, along with a fungicide application, is a great option, says Kosa. If your fruit tree exhibits signs of poor growth, consult an arborist before deciding to apply fertilizer. 'Stunted growth or discoloured, deformed leaves can be related to many things other than the need for fertilizer or applying soil amendments,' says Kosa. He recommends starting small and doing things that are going to be helpful. Colleen Zacharias photo Apple scab can be controlled with strategic pruning and a fungicide application, but be sure to consult an arborist. Monthly What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. An email with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing. 'For example, if your tree is planted in a bed that is covered with rocks, we can remove those rocks so there will be less soil compaction and less pressure around the critical root zone of the tree. The immediate area around the root flare (the region where the trunk transitions into the main roots) should never be covered with rocks. We can do some root flare excavation if required.' A layer of rocks also creates drainage problems, says Kosa, because rocks do not absorb moisture or allow water to percolate slowly into the ground. 'In a perfect world,' says Kosa, 'every fruit tree would have a mulch layer of finely shredded bark or arborist wood chips. Natural mulch breaks down and feeds the roots of trees.' colleenizacharias@ For advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing, sign up for Winnipeg Gardener, a free monthly newsletter I write for the Winnipeg Free Press. Colleen ZachariasGardening columnist Colleen Zacharias writes about many aspects of gardening including trends, plant recommendations, and how-to information that is uniquely relevant to Prairie gardeners. She has written a column for the Free Press since 2010 and pens the monthly newsletter Winnipeg Gardener. Read more about Colleen. Every piece of reporting Colleen produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. 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