By REBECCA SLOAN

By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Bite into an apple from the grocer's shelf and it's just an ordinary apple, but sink your teeth into an apple from your very own backyard tree and you've tasted a rare and splendid miracle, a sweet and delicious triumph.
What makes one apple so much better than another?
Philip Steiner, of Mellinger's in North Lima, thinks the homegrown sweetness lies in the challenge and satisfaction of the cultivating your own fruit.
"People are intrigued by the idea of growing their own fruit trees. Whether they just want one or two fruit trees or a small orchard, they want the satisfaction of growing their own fruit and they want it to look as good as the fruit in the grocery store," Steiner said.
But can backyard fruit trees really produce fruit that looks and tastes as good as the fruit in the grocery store?
Yes and no.
"If you take good care of your trees and faithfully spray them for pests and prune them every spring and plant them in good soil, you will get fruit that looks and tastes as good as what they sell in a fruit market, but if you don't, you'll get wormy or misshaped fruit or no fruit at all," Steiner said.
Green thumb tips
If you're thinking of planting some fruit trees, here are some tips on how to avoid the latter:
*Give trees adequate space by planting them about 15 feet apart.
*To control pests, spray trees once every two weeks throughout the growing season and don't stop spraying until harvest. Bob Hanlon, of Lowes garden center in Boardman, recommended Sevin Dust or an insecticide soap. "Soaps are gentler to the environment," Hanlon said.
*During winter, spray fruit trees with an oil spray to control insects and insect larvae that are "wintering over" on the tree. "Since insects breathe through their skin, an oil spray will suffocate them," Hanlon explained. Choose a mild day when the temperature is warmer than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Hanlon recommended a product called Volck Oil.
*Prune trees every spring. Ideal pruning patterns will vary depending on what type of fruit tree you have, but pruning is crucial, so if you don't know how to prune, get a book or talk to a gardening professional. If you don't prune trees aggressively enough, trees will produce fruit only every two years or not at all.
*Control leaf rot with a mixture of sulfur and water.
*Buy quality fruit trees and know whether you have purchased a semi-dwarf tree or a standard-sized fruit tree.
"Semi-dwarf trees are the type we recommend. They will produce fruit two to three years after they have been planted whereas a standard tree will take five to eight years after it has been planted to produce any fruit," Steiner said.
Semi-dwarf trees grow to a height of about 15 feet while a standard-sized fruit tree can grow as tall as 30 feet.
"Semi-dwarf trees have been around for a while. They cost more than standard-sized trees, but they are better for the back yard," Steiner said.
If you have no clue what fruit trees cost, Steiner said a 4-to-6-foot, semi-dwarf apple tree will ring in at about $17 and a 4-to-6-foot semi-dwarf cherry tree will cost about $23.
Climate controlled
So now that you know the basics, what kind of fruit trees should you plant?
A wide variety of fruit trees will thrive in our area, Steiner said, but apples and pears are hardiest.
Sweet or sour cherries and plums also do well in our climate, but peaches, nectarines and apricots are more sensitive to the cold.
"It's nice to plant a variety of fruit trees so you can be harvesting different kinds of fruit throughout the season," Steiner said.
For example, cherries ripen during late June, plums and peaches ripen during July and apples and pears ripen in early fall.
Golden and red delicious and Granny Smith apples grow especially well in our area, Steiner said.
If you do plant a variety of fruit trees, don't worry about planting them next to one another, Steiner said your trees won't cross-pollinate and give you hybrid fruit varieties.
However, do some research on the type of tree you want to buy because you might need a "male" and "female" tree to get any fruit at all.
"Certain kinds of pear and apple trees are like this," Hanlon said. "You need two of them if you want them to produce any fruit."