Choosing Fruit Trees for Wyoming

There are thousands of varieties that have been developed for a wide range of uses – fresh eating, storage, cooking, cider, sauce, and drying. Some will ripen early in the season and others will ripen late. Choose varieties that will provide the kind of fruit you want and fit your needs. Also consider time of maturity as you may want to select several varieties that mature at different times.

Most apple and pear varieties need another variety for full pollination and fruit set. Effective pollination will depend on the time of flowering for each variety.

Washington State University provides a helpful guide on the complexities of fruit tree pollination and the University of Wyoming has a number of good resources on growing fruit in Wyoming.

Fruit trees are grafted. This means the top part of the tree that bears fruit is grafted at the base to a rootstock selected for size, cold hardiness, and disease resistance. The rootstock will determine the mature height of the tree.

There are over a dozen apple and pear tree varieties suitable for Zone 3 and above. The best sources for cold hardy fruit trees we have found are Wyoming Plant Company, Montana Fruit Trees, and Orange Pippin. We also recommend looking at Stark Bro’s, Raintree Nursery, and Food Forest Nursery.

Additional Resources:

Wyoming Barnyards and Backyards - Fruit Growing

UW Extension - Recommended Trees for Wyoming

Download the full guide below.

DW-fruit-trees.pdf

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