Planting Fruit Trees where we Live and Work

Check out the term "permaculture" and books such as "Food Not Lawns!" by Heather Flores. I'm in the middle of putting sheet mulch all over my lawn to kill the grass, and I have a landscape plan that calls for espaliered apple and pear trees, large number of small fruit bushes (blueberries, raspberries) and I'll probably plant a fig.

John Gear
United States
http://lovesalem.blogspot.com/

Patricia, I'm not aware of a movement specifically promoting fruit trees but I know that there is a growing interest in community gardens and organic gardening. We were approached last year about adding fruit trees to our community garden. We declined the gift because we lacked knowledge and experience in maintaining fruit trees. Since then we have learned that figs, pears, pomegranates and persimmons can be grown successfully in our area without spraying. We also found two other community gardens in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area that are growing fruit trees organically. We plan to try growing figs and pears in addition to blackberries and raspberries this year. This is our first time growing fruit so the gardeners are curious to see how much effort is involved. A number of our participants joined the program to learn to grow vegetables and many are keeping a plot at home now. I suspect that if we can show that growing fruit is easy, there might be an increased willingness for people to consider fruit trees as a landscaping option. One area that we have not examined is whether the fruit trees will require a significant amount of water. If so, encouraging their cultivation in our region might not be appropriate. I would like to hear from others, particularly those in areas where water conservation is a priority.

Erin Hoffer
Environmental Education and Community Outreach
United States

Having more fruit trees is a great idea, but I am afraid people will be disappointed in the fruits unless they are treated with pesticides and it could cause an increase in residential application of pesticides. Other crops can be a lot less pest prone. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, etc. are all pest intensive.

Gary Fish
Manager, Pesticide Programs
Maine Board of Pesticides Control
United States
http://www.YardScaping.org

There is a strong city farm and community garden movement worldwide. Information on the Australian experience can be found at http://www.communitygarden.org.au/index.html

There is also a big move to encourage schools to grow and eat their own food, which has many benefits. Links to the Australian school gardens network can also be found on this site.

The pesticide issue is also looked at in these situations.


Rhonda Scoullar
Queensland Natural Resources and Water
Australia

There are a few resources that come to mind. The first is right up the street from my home:

18th and Rhode Island Project: A local property owner donated his vacant lot to a student group interested in permaculture. There is a now a beautifully planted, public, organic garden at the site. Right now most of it is lima beans (which will be harvested, then turned into the soil to provide nitrogen for the next round of crops). But there are also at least a dozen fruit trees.
http://www.18thandrhodeisland.org

Forage Oakland: A woman's attempt to harvest and distribute the food available on public trees in Oakland, CA:
http://forageoakland.blogspot.com/

City Farmer: A Canadian organization promoting urban farming
http://www.cityfarmer.info/

Jess Sand
Owner
Roughstock Studios
United States
http://www.roughstockstudios.com

I live just outside of DC, the place we bought had two peach trees. The results are anything but peachy. I managed to get a spotting disease under control by destroying all fruit and excising branches for two years to kill off spores. Last year we had a healthy crop, and the squirrels got almost every peach. Growing fruit trees in your yard is possible, but it is not easy unless you resort to chemical solutions.

Mel Tremper
United States

To encourage others I have started planting fruit trees on the nature strip between the house and the road. this of course means that anyone can help themselves but i dont mind. I am also interested to see how people 'respect' this free resource when the fruit is bourne! It is wise to choose species that won't create damage to footpaths etc.

micheal bingham
Byron Council
Australia

In my experience you need to choose appropriate fruit trees for the environment and also be aware that organic fruit is not going to be perfect like the mass produced and modified fruit from the supermarket. In North Queensland Australia my neighbours and I grow lemons, limes, mangoes, lychees, mandarins, papaya, bananas, avocados and star fruit in our easement behind the houses with no chemicals or fertilisers. Yes, we loose some fruit to fruit bats and birds but netting even a portion of each tree gives us more fruit than we can eat. And the 'good' insects eat the 'bad' ones - eg Green ants eat aphids. Small blemishes are just accepted as part of the fruit and easy to aviod when eating. We would never attempt to grow stone fruits or fruits that have been significantly modified for commercial use - the more original the species the better they seem to do. Eg cherry tomatoes do much better than larger varieties. And papaya grown from seed from a previous fruit. We may be lucky living in the tropics but I think fungus and insects are as prevalent here as anywhere. Don't give up, just try different types until you discover what works for you.

helen 

The cautionary/negative comments regarding the difficulties of growing fruit etc without pesticides need to counterbalanced. I have grown apples, pears, plums, gooseberries, currants, grapes, blackberries, raspberries, boysenberries, cherries and an extensive range of vegetables for over 30 years in the UK and Canada and more recently in Australia. I have never applied any organic pesticide to anything, and have had excellent crops. Birds, squirrels, raccoons, possums and other pests sometimes have to be contended with, as do blights, virus diseases and the whole gamut of other assaults that affect plants. This can all be easily done with no use of pesticides.

Regards

Rob Hughes
WA Dept Environment and Conservation
Australia

Yes, we have grown fruit trees and blackberries organically for about 7 years at coppellcommunitygarden.org. Interest in caring for the trees came after planting them. Last Saturday there was a group of 6 working together to decide which branches to prune on the peach and pear trees. The caretakers focus on building healthy soil and proper pruning. Last year we put in a small orchard at another community garden by a new public gathering place. We have seen a pronounced increase of people wanting to garden and attend gardening classes already this year.

Amanda Vanhoozier
Community Programs Supervisor
City of Coppell
UnitedStates
coppellcommunitygarden.org

Hi Mel,

Stonefruit have a reputation here in Australia too, but it's not true to say that pesticides are necessary in order to get results from fruit trees. I have several citrus trees - I pick the stink bugs off by hand once a year, and that's about it. We eat avocadoes from a tree that gets no attention at all.

lorna jarrett
university of wollongong
Australia

Hi, Patricia, let's not forget looking for what sorts of native fruit and nut trees might grow well in your area. For example, you might check out trees such as the paw paw and mulberry. Prompted by your question and an interest in native edibles in South Florida, I googled native fruit trees and soon came across descriptions of American natives such as wild plum, pecan, hazelnut, chestnut, and hickory that may do very well in your neck of the woods. In fact, it turns out the Thomas Jefferson was an avid grower of both native and imported fruit trees, and the nearby Monticello gardens that he owned currently have descriptions of the kinds of plants that he grew on their website (http://www.monticello.org/). Perhaps you could talk to the folks there about your ideas and see what other suggestions they might have.

Scott

Scott Lewis
Florida Atlantic University
United States