Home Orchard Management @ Royal Oak Farm Orchard


Home Orchard Management @ Royal Oak Farm Orchard is a blog for the home apple tree grower providing information for the Northern growing regions about apple tree management, apple tree pruning & training and Integrated Pest Management from the IPM Specialist and Certified Nurseryman at Royal Oak Farm Orchard, a 16,000 tree apple orchard and agri-tourism operation located in Harvard, Illinois. 


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By Dennis Norton April 8, 2025
Bonide Discontinues Its Fruit Tree Spray
By Dennis Norton February 4, 2025
Timing for Spraying Dormant Oil
By Dennis Norton January 30, 2025
Fruit Bud Dormancy VS Full Tree Dormancy
By Dennis Norton April 30, 2024
The Different Phases of Fireblight
A bunch of red apples hanging from a tree
By Dennis Norton April 11, 2024
An Apple a Day Is Good for You (In So Many Ways It's Hard to Keep Count)
columnar apple tree
By Dennis Norton April 11, 2024
Spur, Semi-Spur and Tip Bearing Apple Varieties
a fact sheet about critical temperatures for frost damage on fruit trees
By Dennis Norton March 14, 2024
Critical Spring Temperatures for Frost or Freeze Damage
a fact sheet about critical temperatures for frost damage on fruit trees
By Dennis Norton March 14, 2024
Seaweed Digests for Critical Spring Temperatures for Frost or Freeze Damage
Tall Spindle Trained Tree
By Dennis Norton January 19, 2024
The tall spindle is a supported training system that depends on utilizing well-feathered (branched) trees that can produce a crop the year after planting and continue to increase fruiting in the immediate subsequent years.
A bunch of apples covered in snow on a tree branch.
By Dennis Norton October 28, 2023
When Apples Will Freeze on the Tree
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