Best Fruit to Grow in Oklahoma

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This ultimate guide will give you the best fruit to grow in Oklahoma and how to grow them best. You’ll be growing sweet treats in no time even if you are a beginning gardener.

Knowing what hardiness zone Oklahoma is in is critical to understanding what you can grow. Find your hardiness zone here.

Introduction to Growing Fruit in Oklahoma

There are so many fruits that grow well in Oklahoma. We have a very long growing season and lots of warm sunshine. We have mild winters as well. The down side to Oklahoma growing is the weather is unpredictable. Here is a month by month garden guide for when to plant what. It’s great for beginning gardeners and seasoned gardeners as well.

Growing quality fruits in Oklahoma requires careful selection of trees and proper site preparation to ensure the best survival rates. The Oklahoma climate, with its hot summers and variable winters, supports a variety of fruit crops, from apple trees to fig trees and pecan trees.

When planning a home fruit garden, choosing a good planting site with full sun and good drainage is essential. Fruit planting in heavier soils may require soil berms or coarse sands to improve drainage. Home landscape designers and outdoor landscape architects often incorporate fruit trees into tree borders or shade trees, creating both a functional and visually appealing space.

For those in Oklahoma City and other urban areas with smaller planting spaces, compact fruit trees such as red raspberry plants, Japanese plums, and spur strains of apple trees like Red Delicious or Golden Delicious can be a good choice. These trees require little maintenance but still produce high-quality fruits with proper cross-pollination and close attention to their pollination requirements.

Some fruit trees, such as plum trees, benefit from being planted in early spring or late fall to establish strong root systems before the next year’s growing season. In warmer climates, Japanese magnolia trees and nut trees like pecan trees also thrive with supplemental water during periods of summer heat.

Choosing the Right Fruit Trees for Oklahoma

When selecting young trees, consider different cultivars and different strains suited for Oklahoma’s conditions. Seedling rootstocks and standard-size trees offer long-term yields, but smaller planting spaces may require trees with a degree of dwarfing to fit within half-acre gardens or even much smaller areas. Proper care, including protection from perennial weeds and pests, is necessary, though many fruit trees require little care beyond pruning and occasional pesticide sprays.

For those who enjoy homegrown flavors without the reliance on grocery stores, growing a variety of fruit crops can be both rewarding and sustainable. Whether planting white flowers in early spring or watching sour cherries ripen in late summer, Oklahoma gardeners can enjoy a bountiful harvest with considerable care and good luck.

✔Here’s a link to a great vegetable garden planner you can print right out and use at home! So cute!

How to grow fruit trees at home

You can grow fruit trees in Oklahoma, but you can also grow bushes and plants as well. There is a variety of things that grow well. So try your hand at a variety of things and you’ll be surprised how much fruit you can come up with in a backyard Oklahoma garden.

Best Fruit Trees for Oklahoma Gardens

Apple trees are an Oklahoma favorite. They are cold hardy. They are easy to grow. They don’t need fertilizer and once the tree is established, you don’t need to water it. You can prune apple trees or not prune them, depending on your style. They aren’t particular about soil.

Apple trees are pretty and make a nice addition to the landscaping even in the front yard. They put off a lot of fruit.

The downside to planting apple trees is that you have to wait several years for fruit. You also have to watch for pests such as deer and especially squirrels. They steal the unripe fruit and hide it away. Apple trees are also vulnerable to Japanese beetles and aphids.

Apple trees can get blight or black spot which can kill the entire tree, so watch for dark spots and remove them plus a foot more of the branch if you see it starting.

Pear trees are also great for Oklahoma. Just like apple trees, they are cold-hardy, but they bear fruit earlier in the year, so they make a great complement. They handle heat and drought well too.

They have similar pest problems to apples, but pear treats will not recover from aphids as quickly as apples. They also cannot tolerate wet conditions. They are very susceptible to root rot.

Plums are another great choice for growing in Oklahoma. They thrive in the heat, there are even native plums here, called sand plums. Plums are very hardy and resistant to most insects and diseases. They can be grown in small spaces as well. They are vulnerable to the same animal pests as apple trees as well.

Make sure your plums have well-drained soil to grow in as well.

Peaches grow well in Oklahoma. They like it HOT. They also like humidity. Peach trees grow wide instead of high making them easier to pick too. They are the quickest growing fruit tree and will bear fruit within 2 years. They are very vulnerable to cold though. They can get the same diseases as apple trees, so watch for that.

You will have more success with peaches if you grow them next to nectarines or apricots.

Nectarines love heat as well. They grow very slender and tall, so they are perfect for smaller spaces. They grow fast like peaches and you can grow them in a large container. They are very susceptible to the cold, so wrap them in burlap during the coldest days of winter. They are very vulnerable to the same blight, fungus, and rot that some other fruit trees get.

Apricot trees thrive in drought and humidity, so they are a perfect Oklahoma fruit to grow. They are small trees, so they are good for small yards. They get insect damage as well as wind damage easily. And like nectarines, they don’t like the cold. Wrap them in burlap in winter as well. They take a lot of pruning and spraying to be successful.

Mulberry trees are another Oklahoma native. They grow in the fencelines often because birds eat the berries and poop out the seeds everywhere. They quickly bear fruit and they are sweet and delicious. They grow small and kind of compact.

Birds are the biggest problem with mulberries, they will take all your fruit before you can. But they are resistant to most pests and diseases and are acclimated to growing in our climate in Oklahoma.

Is wood ash good for fruit trees?

Check out more information about growing fruit trees and using wood ash with them in this article about using wood ash in the garden.

Perennial fruits

There are many other perennial fruits besides trees, that can be grown in Oklahoma.

Growing figs in the garden are one of my favorites. I love to eat them but the fig bush is STUNNING! It makes a gorgeous addition to your landscaping. Check out how to grow figs here.

For more gorgeous edible landscaping ideas, check this out.

Strawberries and blueberries are two more plants that look awesome among your flower beds. I love growing them for the beauty they provide as well as fruit. Here is a great article on How to Winterize Blueberry Bushes that can help you find success. Blackberries are another yummy fruit that does well in Oklahoma. Check out growing fruit in the garden here for more info on those. You can also grow strawberries in a bucket. And don’t forget raspberries. Here is How to Winterize Raspberry Bushes in Your Garden.

And don’t forget about the elderberry bush, another Oklahoma native. It’s easy to grow and has tons of uses. Check out how to grow elderberries here.

Fastest fruit to grow

If you’re looking for faster fruits to grow, maybe you would like to grow annuals such as watermelon and canteloupe melons. They produce a lot faster than a bush or a tree and they grow great in Oklahoma. And here’s what to do with excess fruit that you grow all at once. It’s a great problem to have!

I can’t wait until you have some sweet fruit to enjoy from your own yard. It’s satisfying and full of nutrition too!