Temperate Fruit Trees Like it Colder and Moist

Q. I was in Moab, Utah, when I ran across this apricot tree. It’s doing very well. I'm guessing the reason they are doing so well is because of the high organic levels in the soil and cooler temperatures?

Temperate fruit trees like apricot, peach, nectarine, plum and apple prefer cooler weather that elevation provides, organics in the soil, and watering like any other mesic tree.

A. You're right. Fruit trees prefer to grow in soils with higher organics than most desert soils unless those desert soils were “farmed” and extra water was needed for farming.

Fruit trees also prefer to grow in cooler temperatures than provided by hot deserts. At about 4000 feet of elevation, the Moab area is higher in elevation, so it has cooler temperatures than our 2000 to 3000 foot elevations.

Growing of citrus though, in either location, is borderline. Moab is still worse than our 2000 feet of elevation. Neither place is like Yuma or Riverside for citrus.