Iris Care

Ginkgo trees (Ginkgo biloba) are survivors from prehistoric times, making them one of the most unique tree species available. These deciduous trees could be considered a 'living fossil' since the earliest Ginkgo leaf fossils date back 270 million years ago! You’ll find several types of Ginkgo trees right here at Nature Hills Nursery, allowing you to own one of these exceptional beauties! No other plants are genetically similar to the Ginkgo tree, although their beautiful leaves resemble Maidenhair Fern. As a vibrant tree with fan-shaped leaves, their foliage stays bright green in summer, then turns a brilliant shade of gold in the fall. Ginkgo leaves are designed to catch the wind. Long petioles help the fan-shaped leaves lift and sway in breezy weather. You'll have a spectacular fall color show each year. It's even more jaw-dropping because the romantic golden foliage falls to the ground all at once, as if in concert. Imagine a shade tree that is that easy to clean up, and only getting out the rake once a year. Now that's a convenient shade tree! There is rhyme to the syncopated rhythm of the Ginkgo tree's dramatic leaf drop. Each year, all the petioles develop their annual scar in response to cold weather. Plan a party to celebrate this special event, or consider taking annual photos of your family under the Ginkgo tree on the fallen carpet of delectable color.  Different Types of Ginkgo Trees Design Ideas for Glamorous Ginkgo Trees Planting and Care Tips for Ginkgo Biloba Trees Planting Your New Ginkgo! A Legacy For Generations! Different Types of Ginkgo Trees Ginkgo trees are long-lived, strong and hardy enough to handle the forces of nature. The trees are dioecious, meaning some trees produce exclusively male flowers while others show only female flowers and like other gymnosperms, Ginkgo trees are wind-pollinated.  Ginkgo trees can withstand strong winds and grow in various soil types (including compacted soils). Full-grown Ginkgo trees are drought tolerant when fully established. Rugged Ginkgo also does well in urban environments. Native to China, Ginkgo trees have been found that are over 1800 years old. They put up with wind, air pollution, tough sites, full sun, and a wide range of hot, dry climates. Ginkgo biloba trees are grown from seed and tend to produce more female trees than male. Modern grafted cultivars produce whichever gender is desired. The fruitless male Ginkgo tree has some of the most spectacular fall color. It's also a snap to grow! For a fuss-free variety, buy the remarkably low-maintenance male cultivar. This means there are no fruit or seeds. As you can imagine, male cultivars like the Princeton Sentry Ginkgo or the Autumn Gold Ginkgo are among the most sought-after Ginkgo varieties for use as shade trees. The Ginkgo tree has a long reproduction cycle, and the Ginkgo flowers may not appear on a female plant for 20 to 25 years. So unless you purchase a male clone, it can be 10 years or more before you know if your Ginkgo biloba is male or female. You'll never worry about the deep tree roots of these magnificent urban-tolerant trees, as they will not lift pavement. City planners love using the Ginkgo as street trees. If you find the golden-yellow Ginkgo leaf appealing, just wait! they are urban tolerant, somewhat salt tolerant, and have good resistance to disease and insect problems! Design Ideas for Glamorous Ginkgo Trees You'll leave a legacy for future generations, no matter which of the Ginkgo varieties you choose. Grace your neighborhood with its attractive foliage and robust nature. The Sky Tower is a strongly columnar Ginkgo that turns into a glowing exclamation point in the fall. Use this charming narrow tree in tight spaces, where the large Ginkgo biloba won't fit. Sky Tower is another male clone that displays a vertical growth habit. Keep it as a lawn specimen in a mulched bed, or march a proud row of them along your front sidewalk. Smaller male Troll Ginkgo trees make a very fun statement. Try them in a courtyard, or grow them in a large outdoor container for many years on your balcony. Large Ginkgo trees for sale can be used to accent a corner of your property. Create a destination spot near a fire pit. You'll be hard-pressed to determine which is brighter: the fire or the glowing Ginkgo leaf. In some years, the leaves grow to six inches long for a memorable landscape feature. The fallen leaves have been said to make a great tea and the nuts inside the, albeit stinky, female Ginkgo fruit can be carefully removed with gloves, cleaned, roasted, and eaten as an occasional treat! Planting and Care Tips for Ginkgo Biloba Trees Please read the Plant Highlights on every product page. You'll learn which USDA growing zones work best for different Ginkgo varieties, along with sun exposure and soil type requirements. Ginkgo cultivars can be grown across the United States from chilly USDA growing zones 3 to the mild winters of hardiness zone 9.  Nature Hills Nursery is excited to offer several Ginkgo biloba varieties to continue the tradition of these impeccable classics that fit beautifully into modern life! Ginkgo trees thrive in full sun to partial shade Blissfully easy to maintain For the most part, Ginkgo trees flourish in almost any type of well-drained soil Ginkgo prefers a soil pH of 5 to 5.5 Regular moisture while establishing, then are quite drought-tolerant Appreciate mulched beds of arborist bark chips Planting Your New Ginkgo! Taking the time and these key steps during planting makes all the difference to young trees and ensures your tree will last for generations in your landscape! Once you’ve received your new Ginkgo tree, unpack it and get it some fresh air in a shady location or your garage.  To get them fully hydrated, soak your new Ginkgo tree root system under water until the air bubbles stop coming to the surface While your tree is soaking, dig your planting hole twice as wide as the roots, but no deeper We highly encourage using Nature Hills Root Booster for lifelong symbiotic root support Decide which direction the tree will face your home before you remove it from the container Tap your Ginkgo tree out of its nursery container, and settle it in the planting hole Firmly backfill soil around your tree to eliminate air pockets at the root zone Then saturate the ground around your new tree Mulch over the root zone to a depth of 3 feet. Spread the mulch out to 3 feet outside the canopy, then pull it back away from the main trunk.  Maintain consistent soil moisture for the tree's first year in its new location. Fertilize your Ginkgo tree with a good slow-release fertilizer. Please follow the application rates on the package. A bit of patience is required when growing Ginkgo trees as they are a bit slow to get started. Pruning is generally not required. Remove broken limbs as needed in late winter or early spring. A Legacy For Generations! Go ahead and make a tremendous visual impact on your landscape today with the formidable Ginkgo tree from NatureHills.com! For your home’s curb appeal, shade your yard, and add a gilded touch to your autumn, the Ginkgo is the tree for all landscaping uses! Ginkgo biloba is also a fantastic gift plant to celebrate a new beginning, a new home, a new baby, or as, a Unity Tree Ceremony at your wedding, to remember the life of a loved one, or to commemorate the life and legacy of something or someone special! The Ginkgo is a solemn and lasting memorial. Review the types of Ginkgo trees we have available, and then pick the one that works best for you. Count on the beauty and durability of ancient Ginkgo trees, expertly grown by Nature Hills Nursery. Place your order today! Happy Planting!

  We love those verdant mounding flowering perennials and their clumps of green foliage. Gush over all those gorgeous blooms throughout the spring or summer. But they don’t quite look so lush and healthy by late summer and fall. It’s this time of year, right after a frost, that Nature Hills gets flooded with upset and frantic calls from worried customers and novice gardeners. “Help! My perennials are dead!” Nature Hills Nursery is here to calm your worries and fears and assure you that those Perennials live up to their name and will return once again in the spring! Bigger and better than before! All About Tender and Herbaceous Perennials Perennials in the Fall Getting Perennials ready for winter Getting Perennials ready in hot climates Bigger & Better Every Year Tender and Herbaceous Perennial Plants All tender perennial plants, early-blooming perennials, and spring bulbs go dormant as soon as the winter's chill seeps into the air and into the ground. Even sending trees, and shrubs into dormancy as well, however, some perennial foliage does it with far less colorful fanfare. Their leaves are instead lush and green one moment, then dead-looking after that overnight frost. Tender and herbaceous perennials have high water content in their stems and leaves, and very little to no lignin - which enhances plant cell wall rigidity and makes stems woody and more durable as is how it is in shrubs and trees. That fleshy foliage means that after one frost, your Astilbe are yellowing or already dried and tan, Hostas look limp like the lettuce you forgot about in the back of the fridge, Daylilies are sprawled out all over the ground like cooked spinach, and your Bleeding Hearts and Columbines may have been MIA since that August heat wave. It’s a completely natural process and happens every year, give or take a few weeks because of Ma Natures' fickle temperament. Many varieties of Perennials and spring ephemerals planted in cooler and hot growing zones alike almost melt with the onset of warmer weather. They enter a summer dormancy period during the intense heat, only to return when things cool off again. Unfortunately, there are few evergreen perennial plants available unless you live in a frost-free warm winter climate. All we can hope for is an early snowfall to cover the entire garden crime scene up for the winter! Since fall is a great time to plant trees, shrubs, spring-flowering bulbs, and perennials alike, and if temperatures allow, Nature Hills is still shipping plants throughout the country. But even these perennials, like Bleeding Hearts, that ship out of our colder region nurseries are arriving having already had their fall haircuts and their fleshy, tender foliage ‘missing’. But fear not, there’s still a healthy, thriving, albeit sleeping root system alive and well in that pot of dirt that just arrived at your doorstep. Rest assured, your herbaceous Perennials are going to come back with the spring's warmth to start over again! Your plants have been growing and blooming all growing season and deserve a much-needed rest and vacation after all their hard work! For now, all we can do is give them the support they need to sleep safely and erupt into spring bigger and better than ever before! Putting Your Perennials Down For Winter Naps The key to ensuring your Perennial's survivability over the winter is to first have selected hardy plants rated for your USDA Hardiness Zone. Hopefully, you have watered them religiously during their first growing season so they didn’t dry out and now have a sizeable root system beneath the ground. Lastly, you’ve ensured your Perennials enjoyed a midsummer application of fertilizer. Once fall arrives all you have left to do is give them a little TLC in their convalescence. Getting Perennials Ready for Winter Prune back dead above-ground leaves and branching for most types of tender perennials. This prevents heavy snow from packing leaf matter down over the crown, which is sitting just below the soil's surface, from being choked out or smothered. Some perennials are excellent candidates for being left intact for winter interest and their seeds feed birds and wildlife in the landscape. Perennials like Sedums or Black-Eyed Susans are fantastic sturdy plants to catch and sculpt the snow. Leaving some perennials in place also offer protection and a place to overwinter for beneficial insects, especially in your pollinator garden! Leaving perennials up for the winter also catches snow to insulate and add moisture to the soil. Other perennials that may have suffered some issues during the growing season (like botrytis on Peonies, mildew on Bee Balm, or insects in Iris) and should be cut down and removed before winter. Removing diseased plant debris will prevent the problem from overwintering and help to break the cycle. So when in doubt, if your plant was mildew laden or diseased you should consider cutting it down and removing the debris from your landscape.  Avoid fertilizing your perennial plants in the fall, as their final application of fertilizer should have been in mid-summer. However, autumn is a good time to work in a few inches of compost around your garden beds. As the compost and mulch slowly break down, they release nutrients into the soil while improving the soil structure. Many Perennials and Ornamental Grasses may benefit from being divided to keep the clump smaller and increase vigorous; preventing them from dying out in the center. Some spread faster than others but take a look at your plants, and every third year or so they may need to be reduced. (Free plants for your garden or your neighbors!) Water your perennials in well so their roots don’t go through winter dry. Right up until the ground freezes solid, water weekly if there hasn’t been significant rainfall or snow cover. Lastly, give them a winter's blanket of arborist bark chips. Being sure not to pile it up against their stems, layer a 3-4 inch thick bed of mulch to hold in moisture and add insulation to the roots. The best time to mulch is after you’ve had a couple of good frosts or a hard freeze. So, if your mulch layer is getting light, fall is a great time for a refresh! Kick back inside your warm home and plan for next spring. Ma Nature will take care of the rest. Gardeners in hot climates will notice their Bleeding Hearts and other tender early-blooming Perennials, as well as spring ephemerals, all take a break once the summer sun reaches its peak. Dying back during summer dormancy to escape the hot sun and the stress of drought and temperatures. Again, completely normal, especially during a drought. Trim away and remove the yellowed or dead foliage as noticed. Water your perennials regularly, and our Horticulturist recommends using the Finger Test Method to ensure you are not over or under-watering. Perennials may benefit from early spring fertilization if you notice your plants have reduced vigor or bloom. Many extension offices offer soil testing to know if your soil is lacking in nutrients.  Top off the area with 3-4 inches of arborist mulch if you haven’t already to retain soil moisture, prevent erosion and keep the soil from being exposed to the worst of the elements. Hot climate Perennials and Ornamental Grasses also benefit from division every few years to keep the clump smaller and more vigorous. Also to stop the centers from being choked out. Garden Markers Since most herbaceous Perennials like Bleeding Hearts, die back completely to the ground, it can be difficult to know where they are in the garden, so many folks mark their perennials with flags, painted stones, a plant name tag or other types of garden marker, even using colorful glass pebbles glued onto golf tee placed strategically by your perennial roots. For plants to leave some stems behind, you can trim these back to a few inches and let their buzz cut show you where they are in the landscape. That way when the snows finally pass and you still have a bare spot in the garden, you don’t get ahead of yourself and accidentally dig up your late-emerging perennial to replace it! Fear Not - They Shall Return! For gardeners like myself, the end of the growing season can be a sad time of year but we can be bolstered by the knowledge that spring will come again with bigger, brighter blooms! Knowing that our Perennial plants are enjoying a much-deserved vacation - helps with the heartbreak. Nature Hills Nursery is here to ensure you receive the biggest, healthiest root systems and therefore highest quality plants so that you can enjoy year after year of beauty in your landscape as a result of all your hard work! Check out all the Perennial garden plants we offer and place your spring garden order today! Happy Planting!

If you’re like us then you’re jumping -with a bowl full of jelly- for the nearing holiday season! Instead of being bogged down with the stress of picking out the perfect present, check out our favorites that they are sure to love too! We have gifts for plant enthusiasts, foodies, and novice growers alike. These selections are sure to satisfy the wishes of everyone on your gifting list! Our 8 Favorite Holiday Gifts 1. Deluxe PopUp Garden Easily accessible and fit for the smallest of spaces, the Deluxe PopUp Garden is excellent for just about any location you’d like- small balcony, grillside, or indoors! Edible gardening is in reach. The Deluxe PopUp Garden is assembled, adjustable, and configured just for your liking. Trade hours of assembling on Christmas Day for set up in just minutes! Give the gift that keeps on growing this holiday season! 2. The Entertainer Meat & Cheese Gift Box A gift that not only they will enjoy but others can too! Locally sourced with a delicious variety of snacks, this gift box is sure to be a hit. Perfect for placing on a charcuterie board when entertaining guests or for pairing with a glass of wine on a stay-at-home Saturday night. Whether you’re gifting to someone with sweet or savory taste, the Entertainer Meat & Cheese Gift Box has it all! 3. Terrarium Kits Next up, one of our personal favorites, Terrarium Kits! The perfect blend of a sleek and modern structure with an eclectic, greenhouse interior. Made out of reclaimed glass and wood from deconstructed homes in Detroit, MI, these kits are eco-friendly and a great example of reusing and recycling locally sourced materials. If you know someone who may need to add a pop of color to their desk, bedroom or living space, gift a Terrarium Kit and watch it transform the space! 4. Le Peppe Wood Fired Pizza Oven Okay, who doesn’t love pizza? The Le Peppe Wood Fired Pizza Oven is a great gift for the beginner chef or pizza connoisseur on your list. Better yet, it’s portable! Get fresh, delicious, home cooked pizza anywhere you’d like. Spice it up with home grown vegetables, herbs or even fruit found at NatureHills.com. Enjoy family time with a fun, interactive cooking environment! The most important gifts are the ones that bring people together, especially when it’s for pizza! 5. Kokedamas With so many fun, quirky options to choose from, how could you go wrong with a Kokedama! Even better, the plant has its roots and soil bundled in a ball of moss and wrapped in twine or string, so there’s no need for a pot or container. Kokedamas are forgiving and easy-going plants that are long-lasting and low-maintenance. Head on over to NatureHills.com for more Kokedama care tips and information! With a rich history, the Kokedama is the perfect conversation starter! If you know someone whose office space could use a refresh and is always on the go, give the gift of a Kokedama this year.  6. E-Gift Certificate Need a last minute gift that is equally as exciting? Give the gift of nature with a NatureHills.com E-Gift Certificate! That way, the plant enthusiast in your life can choose from our wide selection of items and (an added bonus) you won’t have to worry about the hassle of returns. While every one of our items is amazing (at least in our opinion), they’ll be able to pick something especially to their liking! You’re able to choose amounts of $25, $50, $100 or $250. When tempted with plant money, we could spend IT ALL and they are sure to as well!   7. Outdoor/Indoor Fireplaces  Bring warmth into an indoor/outdoor setting with our wide selection of high quality fireplaces. Designed especially for those seeking a modern style for their home or landscape. Our selection uses clean-burning bio-ethanol fuel, unlike any contemporary or gas fireplace. These fireplaces are low maintenance and you’ll never have to worry about safety. Any time is a good time to snuggle up with your loved ones (especially the Christmas season) next to a roaring fire. Any of our fireplaces are sure to keep you warm & bring tidings of comfort and joy for years to come! 8. Fashion Amaryllis  Tucked in with cozy, festive packaging, the Fashion Amaryllis will surely impress with its soon-to-emerge blooms. Also, it comes in three different styles: Santa Clause, Reindeer, and Snowman! Amaryllis blossoms in winter and can be enjoyed for weeks. Don’t be fooled by their initial appearance, these amaryllis bulbs will form flowers nearly 2 feet tall! Be sure to purchase a few weeks before you plan to gift so the recipient can enjoy glorious blooms from day one! Enjoy The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Now that you’ve found something for everyone on your gifting list, you can sit back and enjoy the Christmas season! And when it comes time, you will be able to see their faces light up after receiving your wonderful, thoughtful gifts found exclusively at NatureHills.com! Happy Shopping!

Fast-growing, scented, and ruffled Climbing Roses set the stage for a romantic backyard getaway or delightful garden soirée with your friends and loved ones! Start setting the stage in your landscape with the huge selection of Climbing Roses for sale at Nature Hills Nursery! Romantic Rose plants have been grown and bred since Ancient Egypt, and Climbing Roses have been a part of the Rosa genus for as long as Roses have been grown! Climbers can be found in all the major Rose types - These include Hybrid Tea Rose Climbers, Floribundas, Ramblers, and Polyantha Climbing Rose plants. Climbing Rose bushes have canes that grow much longer and are more flexible than other Shrub Roses. Some ramblers may have a heavy early bloom and then sporadic blooms the rest of the year, while others bloom throughout the summer. Climbing Roses usually grow from 6 to 20 feet tall but be sure to check the Plant Highlights on every product page for specific details like growing zone, sun and moisture needs too. Climbing Rose Support & Landscape Application Pruning Your Climbing Rose For The Most Blooms! The Sky’s the Limit With Climbing Roses! Climbing Rose Support & Landscape Application Climbing Roses have long, arching canes that do need support to grow best. They do not have holdfasts or tendrils, and they lack the ability to cling to a trellis or support by themselves. When left to their own devices, they are like brambles and simply tumble and grow over themselves into a dense (and wonderfully trespasser-proof) mounding hedge, or spill and cascade down a slope. They need to be tied and trained to grow on their support in an orderly, vertical fashion.  Usually tied in a fan shape up and over an arbor or trellis. But did you know there are many other ways to grow them? Train Climbing Roses into a lovely flowering screen to hide your swimming pool or seating areas from prying eyes. Make a retaining wall or exposed foundation disappear under a mound of fragrant flowers. Create an easy-care focal point wall for your outdoor kitchen or outdoor dining. Shade a garden bench or on a balcony with some strategically placed Climbing Roses! Grow nearly thornless, semi-double, pink flowers with Zephirine Drouhin Climbing Rose bushes in full sun or partial shade. Keep Cupid's Kisses Rose in a pot on your balcony. Allow their petite canes to drape over the railing for an old-world appeal. Add drama with striped smoky orange and cream blooms. Enjoy the spectacular large flowers of Tropical Lightning Rose as a backdrop to your Rose garden or cut flower garden. For a fantastic vertical accent, train your Climbing Rose on a post or mature tree trunk. Spiral the canes at a 45-degree angle around their support using strong, yet flexible plant ties or even old nylon pantyhose.  You'll love the flower power of a Climbing Rose grown up and along the top of a chain-link or split rail fence. Festoon several Climbing Roses along a fence using a secured rope or chain attached to the top for them to climb on.  Train up a series of posts, columns, or spiraling around pillars and post supports of your porch or patio, or even deck stairs. You’ll gain romantic curb appeal that turns heads! Add a trellis system over your front door for a tremendous boost of color. People even install trellises on their roofs for a blooming bower! Consider planting a Clematis vine on the same trellis to intertwine with the Rose for an interesting effect where you can pick contrasting colors or something that is in the same palate. If you don’t wish to encourage upright growth, use Climbing Roses as a groundcover, or on a slope. Letting their canes cascade and scramble over a mound or Rock Garden. They will grow anywhere they get full sun! Pruning Your Climbing Rose For The Most Blooms! Allow the first round of blooms to flower on the oldest canes. Climbing Roses differ in that you will have to maintain some older canes until new shoots come from the ground. Then selectively remove the oldest, fattest stems to the ground after the first round of flowers in June. Prune Roses in spring only to remove damaged canes or dead tips that winter may have nipped back. Climbing Roses generally produce a flush of blooms on last year's wood, along with new growth from this year. Clear away excess dead foliage from the area so you have an uninhibited view of your canes. Check for dead, spindly, or diseased branches and cut them out first. Following the cane back to a fat bud just below the problematic area. Sanitize your snips or pruners after each cut! Select several strong, healthy canes to become the new structural foundation. Structural canes grow thick and have a woody, bark-like appearance versus the fresh green of newer canes. They also have many swollen buds ready to pop. Remove any crossing and rubbing canes, opening the interior for air circulation and sun Remove less-productive canes (keep sanitizing between cuts!) Discard prunings and foliage away from your Roses to prevent the spread of any fungal issues or diseases. Top off the soil around the base of your Rose with a 3-4 inch thick layer of Arborist mulch chips - but don’t allow the bark to pile up against the canes or over the crown. Now is also a great time to secure canes to their support! Horizontal branches produce the most flowers, so tie the secondary canes at 90 to 45-degree angles to their support. Use stretchy landscape ties, strips from old t-shirts, or old pantyhose to loop around the cane and your support. Check them yearly to ensure the stems are not strangling. After Flowering Pruning (Deadheading) Deadhead blooms just above the first full leaflet (one with 5 leaflets) below the spent blooms. Then slant a pruning cut just above that leaf. This will stimulate new blooms Larger Climbing Roses can be sheared to clean up the plant and remove spent blooms With a bit of yearly attention, you will be treated to an ongoing display of ever-blooming Climbing Rose! Renewal Pruning Rejuvenate the structural canes every three years. Because Climbing Roses bloom on last year's canes, you'll want to wait until after the first flush of blooms has finished and then either deadhead or completely remove any of these oldest around June. The Sky’s the Limit With Climbing Roses! Explore the options at Nature Hills Nursery for a wonderful selection of Climbing Roses for sale. We baby our expertly grown Roses for years and often have more mature sizes available to give your landscape a head start! Create the garden of your dreams this year. There is nothing as romantic as an acrobatic Climbing Rose! Happy Planting! Want more information on caring for your Climbing Roses? Check out our #ProPlantTips for care, winterizing Roses, and un-wintering Roses, and about Winter Watering!

"When life gives you lemons…" Have a windfall of fruit or a large harvest? Maybe you had a hail storm this summer that scarred up your harvest. Or many of your fruits just look 'ugly' and no one can bring themselves to eat them - but technically the fruit is still good.  Perhaps you have already made all the preserves, baked goods, and dried snacks possible, and eaten yourself silly of fresh fruit and still have more to use up before it expires! Just Juice It! The Benefits of Turning Your Harvest into Beverages Fruit Trees That Make Great Wine or Juice! Juicing Basics Important Reminders About Fresh Homemade Juice What About The Pulp? Don’t Just Eat Fruit - Juice It! Technically anything can be juiced! Defined as the liquid obtained from a fruit or vegetable, some fruits just have a lot more actual juice in them! While those other less juicy fruits are amazing for lending their pulpy insides to flavoring other beverages, they are thick and not easy to drink on their own. There’s nothing wrong with a thick nectar or a unique tropical punch, but there’s nothing quite as hydrating and refreshing as a tall glass of freshly squeezed and easy-to-drink fruit juice! The Benefits of Turning Your Harvest into Beverages While there are loads of other ways to preserve and use your harvest, one way to utilize a large amount of the fruits of your labor is to turn it into juice, nectar, fruit vinegar, mulled wine and cider. Not to mention all the tasty hard ciders and wine too! Juicing your harvest turns it into liquid goodness! Packed with nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants. And it’s an easy way for kids to get their daily servings of fruit. Homegrown fruit beverages made fresh will always taste better fresh and than anything that’s been bottled and on a shelf for who knows how long! Filled with soluble fiber that supports good bacteria growth and digestive health, fresh juice has been shown to regulate blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol, and slow the transit of food through the digestive system, among many other incredible benefits! While it’s healthier to eat the entire fruit, the health benefits of juice-based beverages that still contain a lot of the fruit's pulp include - containing less sugar, increasing your soluble fiber intake (without all the chewing), and won't spike blood sugar quite as badly.  Plus, homemade juice has none of the chemicals, corn syrup or added sugars, fillers, additives, or artificial coloring that store-bought juices contain.  Once juiced, you can then make delicious syrup, create clear jelly or preserves, and use them in your favorite recipes! It also comes with the possibility of fermenting a portion of your harvest for some home-brewed wine, cider, and IPAs! Is your mouth watering yet? Get ready because here are some of the best Fruit Trees for homemade juice and wine! Fruit Trees That Make Great Wine or Juice! These Fruit Trees make the tastiest and healthiest beverages and are the easiest to turn into a wide variety of delicious beverages (both the kid-friendly kind and adult style) that you and your family will love! Apple Trees Apples are a well-known juicing fruit including fermented hard cider and non-alcoholic and unfiltered cider! You can even make apple cider vinegar from these versatile fruits! Just be sure to leave out the seeds which contain cyanide. Reduce diabetes, and constipation, help treat anemia, aid heart and liver health, hydrate, and is good for the skin! Kid-friendly Apple juice is also great to make jelly, wonderful to cook poultry and pork in, reduce into a thick sugar-free sweetener, and bulk up other juice without overshadowing their flavors.  Apricot Trees, Nectarines and Peaches Ripe Stonefruit bruises easily and quickly turn, rarely good for long-term keeping. So they must be eaten, dried, or preserved fast. Rich in iron, lycopene, and beta-carotene; juicing your stonefruit is great means of using up a surplus of this highly perishable harvest!  Make your own Apricot, Peach, or Nectarine juice and nectar, or if you choose to make wine, you will enjoy syrupy delicious, sweet-tart summery fermented beverages to sip around the barbecue and firepit. Cherry Trees Tart Cherries are the best for making an incredibly healthy beverage! Packed with loads of anti-inflammatory components, and helps with sleep and joint pain. Cherry juice is packed full of potassium, B and C vitamins, manganese, copper, magnesium, and vitamin K.  Sweet Cherries can be made into incredible beverages too but are not touted with quite as many of the same benefits - not to say they aren’t healthy! Cherry fruit makes great desserts and preserves too. You can of course also make fantastic sweet-tart wine from this fruit! Cherry wine is a wonderful red that’s sweet-tart and slightly acidic in flavor. Citrus Trees These are the iconic fruit trees for juicing and fermented beverages! Citrus Tree juices are well known for creating wonderful dessert wines and cocktail additions. The sky’s the limit for these pulpy fruits! You are sure to know all about summer-time treats like Lemonade and Limeade, Orange juice in the morning, or a healthy glass of Grapefruit juice! Don’t forget to try making your own Lemoncello from Genoa or Santa Teresa Lemons! Mango Trees You can even juice Mangos! These large fruits can be made into a tropical nectar that’s sweet and tangy! Just place your peeled and chopped fruit in a blender with some ice and water (or other juice!) and whiz up until smooth and creamy. High in fiber and vitamins, it’s considered cleansing and great for digestion! You’ll love the fruity wine you can make from this exotic fruit! Pear Trees Refreshing and lightly sweet, Pear juice is a wonderful clear drink that helps get Vitamin C and hydration into the pickiest kids! Pear juice or nectar mixes into other juices without taking over their flavors, or is amazing in jelly and adds syrupy sweetness without added sugar.  The wine from Pears can be made alone or mixed with other fruit juices, making both a dry or sweet beverage, and is a very easy wine for beginners to make. Pomegranate Trees Once you get through that leathery rind, the jewel-like seeds inside Pomegranates are just begging to be made into delicious and vitamin-packed juices! Scoop out the seeds and run them through a juicer, or go old-school and squish them through a lemon press or through a mesh strainer. There are too many nutritional benefits from this fruit to list, but all are imparted into the clear pink juice that the arils contain. The red wine made from Pomegranates is a festive beverage and is usually spiced for the holidays. Persimmon Trees You can also juice Persimmons! Enjoy a thick, bright orange juice that is loaded with immune-system and metabolism boosters like beta-carotene, phytonutrients, vitamin C, and manganese. Persimmon juice may be effective in reducing heart disease due to its high soluble fiber content. Persimmon Wine has a melon and pear flavor that’s delicate and sweet. Plum Trees Plum juice is known for helping with anxiety, and digestion, reducing blood sugar, lowering inflammation and high blood pressure, reducing risks of stroke and heart disease, and improving bone health because of its antioxidants and soluble fiber!  Sweet Plum wine is a popular drink in Japan. Usually, Plum wine is a dessert wine that’s syrupy and sweet and served chilled. Papaya Trees Papayas contain antioxidants, vitamins A, C, and E, and may reduce the risk of heart disease. The tropical creamy fruit creates a lovely orange-hued juice when blended. You can even make wine and drinks from these exotic fruits! Tropical Trees in Hot Growing Zones Tropical trees to include if your climate allows are Guava Trees, Barbados Cherry and Jabuticaba. Mix the juice from these exotic fruits with others for punch, add a kick of flavor to your favorite recipes, or make wine full of tropical flavors with any of these juicy gems! Juicing Basics Wash and prep your fruit by removing bad spots and bruises that break the skin. Remove any seeds and peel away thicker skins. Cut into manageable pieces and use as soon as possible, freezing the fruit if you aren’t going to be able to use it immediately. Juicing machines are widely available and are a very easy way to juice about anything  Simmer the fruit in some water and strain - works with high pulp/low moisture content There are even special presses that literally squeeze the fruit juice out  Cut the fresh fruit into cubes and whiz them up in a blender until smooth Run the pulp through a food mill and squeeze out the juice Strain (if desired) through a chinois, or press it through a strainer, or go old-school and squish the fruit through a lemon press or through a mesh strainer, or even wring it out in cheesecloth. After straining, be sure to bottle your juice in a sterile airtight container and refrigerate it straight away. Usually, straight juice without preservatives or sugar lasts a few days in the fridge. Many add lemon juice or other citrus juice to stop any oxidation and browning that may occur after juicing. This oxidation also means you are losing nutrients with time. Smaller batches can be frozen and used as needed. If you have a pressure canner, you can preserve your juices for longer-term storage and make them shelf-stable. Just keep it in a cool, dark location. Always remember to label and date your juice. Important Reminders About Fresh Homemade Juice If you are serving fresh juice to babies and children, it is highly recommended to pasteurize your juice by heating it to about 158°F (70°C). This kills bacteria and possible microorganisms that may be present - especially if you use any fruit that has fallen onto the ground. Pasteurizing the juice also helps prolong shelf life and prevents unwanted clarification. Because most juice is naturally acidic, it readily inhibits the growth of yeast, bacteria and yeast when treated and stored properly. What About The Pulp? Not everyone likes pulp in their orange juice and fewer yet would like to try to drink seeds that get stuck in your teeth. Therefore, most juice is strained to make it easier to go down and more kid-friendly. So it goes without saying that the aftermath of making juice or wine from your harvest is all the pulp and peels that are left over.  Here are a few ideas to eliminate food waste and use every ounce of your harvest! Mix into desserts and recipes for a flavor boost Churn into popsicles, ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and gelato Frozen fruit ice cubes to flavor drinks Make fruit leather and granola bars Mix into jam, and preserves Stir into pancakes, shortbreads and fritters Dog treats! (Avoid Cherries, Grapes, Tomatoes, and Avocados for dogs) Mix into yogurt, stir into oatmeal and hot cereals Freeze in an ice cube tray then whiz up in smoothies Add the peels to vegetable stock Create refreshing and hydrating face masks, sugar scrubs, and other beauty products Mix with bird seed or peanut butter for backyard bird treats Dehydrate and grind up. Then mix into food to add flavor, color, and nutrition Dry and use as garnish and zest Make flavored vinegar or honey infusions Compost it! Don’t Just Eat Fruit - Juice It! Juice up your diet and expand your family's sustainability! Make your own wine, hard cider, and fruit-flavored beer! You'll want to check out some of our quality Hops plants for some home-brewed fruity IPAs! You will, of course, want to include some fruiting bushes and fruiting plants in your orchard to ensure you're getting as many nutrients and antioxidants from a wide range of sources as possible! Include Elderberry bushes, Blackberry and Raspberry bushes, Goji Berries, Aronia berry bushes, Passionfruit Vines, Strawberries, Watermelon, Grapevines, Pineapple plants, Dragon fruit plants, and any of our other fruiting edible landscaping plants! Broaden your family's food access and sustainability. For how to grow these and many more delicious fruiting trees, shrubs, and more - head over to Nature Hills.com and check out everything available for you to deliciously add liquid flavor and nutrition to your diet today! Happy Planting!