Established at the Fruit Experiment Station at Mountain Grove in spring of 2000, the Horticulture Demonstration Area features fruit and other horticultural market and garden crops for industry and public education.
The three-acre site includes a vineyard designed to highlight different training and pruning systems of grapes; a tree fruit planting exhibiting varieties of tree fruits adapted to Missouri; a naturalized area devoted to larger fruit and nut trees; and the Ozark Home Landscape, a home landscape developed in cooperation with the Tri-County Master Gardeners. An open-air pavilion serves as a central gathering area in the garden for workshops and other events.
All plantings are designed to foster “hands-on” learning experiences to public groups such as Master Gardeners, school age children, and commercial as well as amateur fruit growers. The Horticulture Demonstration Area is featured on the September Apple School Tours where area grade school children participate each year.