Cold Hardy Fruit Trees – What Fruit Trees Grow In Zone 4 Gardens

zone 4 fruit tree
zone 4 fruit tree
(Image credit: OliverChilds)
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Cold climates have their charm, but gardeners moving to a zone 4 location may fear that their fruit-growing days are over. Not so. If you choose carefully, you’ll find lots of fruit trees for zone 4. For more information about what fruit trees grow in zone 4, keep on reading.

About Cold Hardy Fruit Trees

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a system dividing the country into plant hardiness zones based on coldest annual temperatures. Zone 1 is the coldest, but regions labeled zone 4 are also chilly, getting down to negative 30 degrees F. (-34 C.). That’s pretty cold weather for a fruit tree, you may think. You would be right. Lots of fruit trees are not happy and productive in zone 4. Yet, surprise: lots of fruit trees are! The trick to fruit tree growing in cold climates is to buy and plant only cold hardy fruit trees. Look for zone information on the label or ask at the garden store. If the label says, “fruit trees for zone 4,” you are good to go.

What Fruit Trees Grow in Zone 4?

Commercial fruit growers generally only set up their orchards in zone 5 and above. However, fruit tree growing in cold climates is far from impossible. You’ll find dozens of zone 4 fruit trees of many different kinds available. Apples Apple trees are among the hardiest of cold hardy fruit trees. Look for the hardy cultivars, all of which make perfect zone 4 fruit trees. The hardiest of these, even thriving in zone 3, include:

You can also plant:

If you want an heirloom cultivar, go for Gravenstein or Yellow Transparent. Plums If you are looking for a fruit tree growing in cold climates that isn’t an apple tree, try an American plum tree cultivar. European plum cultivars only survive to zone 5, but some of the American varieties thrive in zone 4. These include the cultivars:

  • Alderman
  • Superior
  • Waneta

Cherries It’s hard to find sweet cherry cultivars that like the chill of being zone 4 fruit trees, although Rainier does well in this zone. However, sour cherries, delightful in pies and jams, do best as fruit trees for zone 4. Look for:

  • Meteor
  • North Star
  • Surefire
  • Sweet Cherry Pie

Pears Pears are iffier when it comes to being zone 4 fruit trees. If you want to plant a pear tree, try one of the hardiest European pears like:

Teo Spengler
Teo Spengler
Writer

Teo Spengler is a master gardener and a docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, where she hosts public tours. She has studied horticulture and written about nature, trees, plants, and gardening for more than two decades. Her extended family includes some 30 houseplants and hundreds of outdoor plants, including 250 trees, which are her main passion. Spengler currently splits her life between San Francisco and the French Basque Country, though she was raised in Alaska, giving her experience of gardening in a range of climates.