Harko Nectarine Care: How To Grow A Harko Nectarine Tree

harko
harko
(Image credit: igorr1)

The Harko nectarine is a Canadian variety that scores high on taste. The nectarine ‘Harko’ tree grows well in cold regions. Like other nectarines, the fruit is a close relative of the peach, genetically identical except that it lacks the gene for peach fuzz. If you want to grow this nectarine tree, it’s important to have some facts at your fingertips. Read on for information about growing Harko nectarines and tips about Harko nectarine care.

About Harko Nectarine Fruit

Most people who invite a Harko nectarine tree into their orchard do so with the intention of enjoying its fruit. Harko fruit is both beautiful and delicious, with solid red skin and sweet yellow flesh. But those growing Harko nectarines also rave about the ornamental value of this tree. It is a vigorous variety, filled with huge, showy pink blossoms in springtime that develop into freestone fruit in late summer.

How to Grow a Harko Nectarine

If you want to start growing Harko nectarines, be sure you are living in an appropriate climate. These trees do best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 8 or sometimes 9. Another consideration is the size of the tree. A standard nectarine ‘Harko’ tree grows to some 25 feet (7.6 m.) tall, but it can be kept shorter by regular pruning. In fact, the tree tends to overproduce fruit, so early thinning helps the tree to produce larger fruit. Plant it in a location that gets good sun. A minimum of six hours of direct sun a day is recommended. The tree does best in well-draining soil.

Harko Nectarine Care

Harco nectarine care is easier than you might think. This variety of fruit tree is cold hardy and also disease resistant. It is very adaptable to soil, as long as it drains well. The tree is also self-fruitful. This means that those growing Harko nectarines do not have to plant a second tree of a different variety nearby to ensure pollination. These trees also happen to be tolerant of both brown rot and bacterial spot. That makes Harko nectarine care even simpler.

Teo Spengler
Writer

Teo Spengler has been gardening for 30 years. She is a docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Her passion is trees, 250 of which she has planted on her land in France.