POLL: Do you have fruit trees?

9 years ago

I always wanted a yard with fruit trees in it. Though we lost a gorgeous orange tree we had a few years ago, we've still got a Meyer Lemon and a multi variety apple tree. How about you?

VOTE and tell us about it in the comments!

Improved Meyer Lemon · More Info

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Featured Answer

sacapuntaslapioz

9 years ago

I got some apples and cherries. In 3 years I have eaten 3 apples and 6 cherries. birds and squirrels and other critters eat the rest.

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Comments (259)

Diane Fairbanks
7 years ago
I have a pretty small yard, but I've planted 2 semi-dwarf apple trees, 3 semi-dwarf pears, one pie cherry and two sweet cherry trees, plus put in blackberries, raspberries, and rhubarb, to go with the existing black walnut tree. Unfortunately the squirrels get to the apples and pears, the birds get the cherries, everything ignors the rhubarb, and I'm picking blackberries right now--huge and juicy!
Amaryllis H
7 years ago
You can collect the plastic clamshells that produce comes in and snap one over each apple and pear to thwart the squirrels. Tape them shut if raccoons are an issue--mine can pry them open otherwise, but the squirrels can't.
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Diane Fairbanks
7 years ago
Wow, that is a great idea! Now I have to start saving those, as I usually just recycle them! I was particularly looking forward to my Rome Beauty apples; I guess the squirrels were too!
cbenoitsalemi
7 years ago
We have a peach tree............1st year: a small number of quite small and rather pock-marked fruit. 2nd year: LOTS of peaches. We couldn't keep up with them. Even with giving some to neighbors. We ate and ate and ate....Yum. 3rd year (this year): Lots of fruit....seeming on the way to getting ripe..........but still hard and green an the back side. Many falling from the tree. I finally realized that we also had many which were withering, shriveling, getting to look like desiccated brains right on the tree...... Blight of some sort??? Others were just going straight from half green to half rotten.

I began a salvage operation...........many (most) were bad inside even if they seemed ok outside. Each of those had a little worm inside(!!!) having a gay old time. I trimmed and trimmed..........very happy to have a good paring knife. My husband and I disagreed on the suitability of the leavings for the compost pile (He won; the compost pile is bigger). Anyway, now I have numbers of frozen half pints of peaches tucked away to use as cake or ice cream toppings this winter.
Amaryllis H
7 years ago
cbenoitsalemi, that just saves the problem for next year, and then some--you'll have a whole lot more of the pests if you let them breed, which they'll be happy to do in the decomposing peaches. I'd dig out that compost and toss it, fast.
Robin 5b Nehls
7 years ago
We live in Illinois and have 2 cherry trees and a peach. The apple trees did poorly because we didn't spray.
Consuelo Albarran
7 years ago
AJapanese guava tree. Gave fruit this year.
Janet Kofoed
7 years ago
cbenoitsalemi, I had the same problem with my peaches. It's a fungus thing. The solution we found is to thin the peaches so that no two peaches will touch under any circumstances. That way there is enough circulation so they don't get it as much, and the ones that do you can eliminate without having them infect the others. Unfortunately, that did not help with the squirrel problem that ultimately defeated us. The peach tree blew down in a wind storm this summer.
Glenn Jones(9b)
7 years ago
I've added a third mullberry,a native red ,a avocado and a unknown tipe of banana.I am running out of property for trees must buy the lot next door
Christine Horan
7 years ago
Can I fertilize a 4tr Meyer in pot inside w blooms on it?
Glenn Jones(9b)
7 years ago
Yes Christian you can
eightpondfarm
7 years ago
we have fruit trees, a plum and a pear....but it's been perhaps 10 or so years since we've gotten to eat the fruit. darn squirrels grab all of them when they're only about 1/2 grown. we do, however, have many pecan trees, and most years there are just too many nuts for even our multitude of SQs.....so we get 40 or so pounds of shelled pecans from just one tree in our front yard. We let them have all nuts from all other trees on our property...and we've a LOT of pecan trees, plus black walnuts and many many hickories.
Amaryllis H
7 years ago
Plastic produce clamshells. Snap one over each of the fruit. Tape them shut.
printesa
7 years ago
Amaryllis, I've heard of that as well, but that would be very time consuming..imagine doing that for every single fruit. We cover the trees with mesh and that helps
Christine Horan
7 years ago
How do I get this clamshell & what do I wrap around citrus cutting in clamshell? How long? I'd love to try?
Christine Horan
7 years ago
Can someone answer my request on where I get clamshell & what I put over citrus cutting ? How long it will take? I'd love to try? What time of yr. is good? Where I live in Oct. plants come in due to cool 40-30 degrees. Can I use clamshell in winter?
Christine Horan
7 years ago
I don't see the clamshell below? Where can I get it?
Christine Horan
7 years ago
Will clamshell work on rooting a PCH. Of citrus? What do I put in clamshell to keep moist ? How long will it take? I saw on YouTube a guy used clamshell to root citrus. He made it sound like he was selling clamshell to root citrus?
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Raegan Ford Interior Design
7 years ago
I don't have fruit trees, but I love them!
Amaryllis H
7 years ago
I collect the clamshells from my own grocery shopping and my friends collect theirs for me, too. The bigger ones from Costco like what grapes and stone fruit come in are especially sturdy and last several seasons. I snap them over each individual fruit.

I'd never thought about a cutting--I have no idea. Most of my fruit trees are young, so so far I haven't needed more than forty or fifty and it doesn't seem a lot of time to me to do just because it's so gratifying the thwart the squirrels--it took me 21 years to get my first Fuji apple! And now those apples are mine.

Cherries, they don't work well for because the stems are too fragile to support them since they grow straight from the large branches or trunk. Peaches and plums and apples they're absolutely perfect for.
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A Good Eye Curated Decor
7 years ago
Just returned from Italy and bought a lemon tree - I'm in Love with Italy!!!! And Italian to boot- pun intended!
pdk920
7 years ago
Here in Oregon where cherries are a commercial crop the orchardists used to plant a row of common mulberries across the back of the orchard -- the birds like mulberries better than cherries, and ate them instead. But mulberries are messy trees, so you don't want them where you walk or where your kids play.
steiconi
7 years ago
meyer and eureka lemons, bartender and tahitian limes, tangerines, oranges, grapefruit, pomelo. 22 kinds of banana. lychee, mango, mountain apple, cherimoya, tropical peach, papaya, figs, avocado (is so a fruit!), and a bunch more I can't think of.
maytee1997
7 years ago
Eureka Lemons, Mandarines, Passion Fruit, Peach, Plum, Mini Gala Apples, Apple Guavas, Pomegranates, Mango, and Anonas.
Heather Walters
7 years ago
We have a golden delicious apple tree, red delicious apple tree, dwarf hale peach, diamond princess peach, elberta peach, sour cherry tree, 2 bartlett pear, plum trees, blueberry bushes, wild blackberries. I love having them!
andy99mich
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Nanking Cherry, Ozark Premier Plum, Multi Graft Apple with Fuji, Meyer Lemon, Bartlett Pear, 3 Blackberry Bushes.
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A Good Eye Curated Decor
7 years ago
I fee loved the lemon trees in southern Italyand Sicily while on vacation this past summer so I had to have one when I returned home to Long Island NY.. I bought a 3ft tree at the end of October and have it in my kitchen in front of a sliding glass door. The nursery told me since it was a young plant it would not produce lemons for the first year or so. Much to my surprise I noticed 2flower buds earlier this week!!! I'm ecstatic and my daughter called it a New Years miracle... I couldn't agree more
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A Good Eye Curated Decor
7 years ago
I loved the lemon trees in southern Italyand Sicily while on vacation this past summer so I had to have one when I returned home to Long Island NY.. I bought a 3ft tree at the end of October and have it in my kitchen in front of a sliding glass door. The nursery told me since it was a young plant it would not produce lemons for the first year or so. Much to my surprise I noticed 2flower buds earlier this week!!! I'm ecstatic and my daughter called it a New Years miracle... I couldn't agree more
sm m
7 years ago
Just recently moved and I'm already planning which trees i can plant to help feed the birds,squirrels and rabbits and deer through the winter.
D. L.
7 years ago
Had a pear tree at one house and it never bore fruit worth eating. Had an apple tree at the most recent house and the same thing.

When it isn't worth eating, it just messes up the yard and attracts animals.
pdk920
7 years ago
Apples and pears generally need to be sprayed to produce good fruit; your County Extension office can offer more advice about raising fruit trees.
samsaraedu
7 years ago
Maybe you can use that tree as stock and graft some more resistant varieties on to it to get desired fruit.
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Soltech Solutions
7 years ago
We have our calamondin tree growing right in our office. Really brightens up the room with no sunlight needed, just a sleek growlight!
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Green Scene, Inc.
7 years ago
If you do decide to plant some fruit trees, make sure you hire a certified arborist to assess the health of your trees regularly. Although it is a small cost up front to maintain, in the long run it could save you a ton of money by not having to remove them in the future. Best of luck & enjoy!
Nailah Hardrick
7 years ago
Please help: I live in midwest and I am looking for White Flesh Peach Pits/Seeds to grow two peach trees in my yard. Is there a forum that I could request seeds?
Amaryllis H
7 years ago
Nailah, you're going to live with the tree a long time, so get one you like. Bare-root season is about over, so you should be able to find some good deals; I got my fig tree two years ago the first week of March for $10 and a cherry tree for $12.50.

You can find a good description of a lot of cultivars on the Dave Wilson site and you can find out about how many chill hours your tree will need. I do know that Babcock is a great white peach, and that it blooms a lot later than most, which means the flowers are more protected from late frosts than earlier types would be. Indian Free is the absolute best of the white peaches, and it also blooms late, but it is unusual in that it needs a pollinator. I have both, and they bloom together but the Babcock's peaches are ripe quite a bit earlier than the Indian Free--so the flowers overlap but not the ripening. Perfect.
Leeza
6 years ago
We have a mature non-Meyer lemon and a bearing mango planted by the previous owners. Since taking possession of the house 1.5 years ago, we have planted 3 persimmons, 2 pomegranates, a fig, and a strawberry guava. Trying to figure out where to put a small lime!
Lynda (Zn9b/23 - Central CA Coast)
5 years ago
We have a Eureka lemon, Key lime, Kaffir lime, Bearss lime, Wonderful pommegranite, Satsuma plum, Santa Rosa plum, Algerian Tangerine, Satsuma mandarin, Honey mandarin, Navel orange, Valencia orange, Meiwa kumquat, calamondin, Fuji apple, 4 in 1 apple, 4 in 1 pear, strawberry guava, lemon guava, Snow Queen nectarine, white sapote, manzana bananas and feioja. We love our trees and make wine out of the plums and jams out of the feioja and guavas. Everything else, we eat when it is fresh. We haven't figured out what to do with the sapote yet.
Grace Romito
5 years ago
Help! https://www.houzz.com/discussions/very-sick-meyer-lemon-help-dsvw-vd~5535046?n=76
HU-145913874
3 years ago
Can anyone tell me what‘s the best pollinator for gala apple tree? looking for a tree with sweet fruit for fresh eating that is disease resistant. I‘m in zone 7b.

thanks
summersrhythm_z6a
3 years ago
Post your question on Fruit & Orchard forum (Houzz), the pros there could help you better.
HU-145913874
3 years ago
Thank you
Rs S
3 years ago
In Missouri, so have started an orchard of different varieties of apple and pear. Also planted pecan trees. Just hope I live long enough to get some pecans!
They really are a lot of work though.
HU-145913874
3 years ago
Make sure to make rum cake with the pecans 😊
Rs S
3 years ago
Also, HU-145913874, when I bought my Gala, I was told Fugi and Granny Smith I already had, were excellent pollinators for the Gala.
Jj J
3 years ago
I have an espaliered apple tree with 3 varieties of apples on it. Happy happy happy!
Lars
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Right now I have Meyer lemon, Eureka lemon, Fuji apple, blood orange, naval orange, avocado, cherimoya, white sapote, Kaffir lime, yuzu, and ice cream banana (which has bananas on it right now). When I lived in Venice (CA), I had pineapple guava, Manila mango, papaya, and Texas red fig trees, plus a Valencia orange. I do miss the trees I had in Venice, but I only have so much room.

I also grow pineapples, but they are not trees, although they definitely make fruit.
summersrhythm_z6a
3 years ago
We have a small orchard at weekend country place, the previous owner planted apples, pears, peaches and cherry trees, I added apricot, jujubes and Fuji apple, hawthorn, cherry, pear trees. At suburb home I have a few potted persimmon trees, one apricot waiting to be planted.
partim
3 years ago
I have never heard of jujube fruit before. It's not hardy in Toronto where I live or I'd try one!
summersrhythm_z6a
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I planted two Honey Jar jujube two or three years ago in zone 5a near Lake Erie. They had no winter protection. I think I lost one last winter. The tag was missing, Will take a closer look when I am down there this week. It's doable in zone 5a, but I'd give it some winter protection for safety.

POLL: Do you have fruit trees?

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