Can anyone speak to having fruit trees in yard?

April

There is a part of our yard where Mr. A wants to install "10 - 12" fruit trees. Fruit Tree Guy was here the other day and I can see Mr. A getting his heart set on it while saying that I, April, have "final veto power."

My sister says we will deeply regret this because fruit trees are extremely messy, need a lot of care, and create more harvest than can be dealt with. (Fruit Tree Guy says his clients work with non-profits who distribute the harvest to food banks.)

Anyone have a personal story (positive or negative) they can share about living with fruit trees?

1 month ago

Off Topic

26 replies

Latest reply was from JAileen

Anonymous

Both my mother and myself have had fruit trees, hers because she planted them and mine because they were here when we bought the property.

Your sister described our experience very well. I might add that nothing really edible was ever collected because of wildlife competition and because there really is an art to it. but regret is subjective and your husband might enjoy the project regardless and/or might achieve very satisfying results!

Seems like a harmless desire that I could not refuse as long as I was not expected to participate.

1 month ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

When we built the new house in 2018 my husband decided he wanted the small back patio and grassy area lining the back fence to be useful as well as decorative. He planted an olive tree, 2 grapefruit trees, one lime, one lemon, one orange and two mandarin/ satsuma trees. Also a vegetable and a herb garden. He maintains all this with fertiliser and some spraying. It’s quite a lot of work but he seems happy to do it and doesn’t expect me to.
He eats more of the fruit than I do especially the grapefruit. I do eat the mandarins. The orange tree has not produced much. The limes and lemons we do use in cooking, includes the other family home where Vietnamese SIL loves to cook with limes especially.
We also have a feijoa tree which produces more than we can all eat, we give some away.
Not a lot of mess from these trees but quite a lot of maintenance.

1 month ago

JAileen

Veteran

Our climate is harsh - hot summers and cold winters. But despite that, we have several fruit trees. The very best in my opinion are peaches, if your climate allows it. We have three peach trees. During peach season we gorge on them - for breakfast with yogurt, peach salads, cobbler, ice cream. You cannot have too many peaches!

We also have three apple trees. They all have coddling moths which are worms in the apples. The way to prevent this is to spray poison which I don’t want to do. I would rather not have the apple trees, but I do sit in their shade in the summer, and have hung a hammock between two. Also, a couple years ago, we had a bear in our yard who apparently wanted the apples. That was the most exciting thing that has ever happened here!

1 month ago

Marmee

Veteran

We have an Italian plum tree on our city lot, and I love it. It's always been healthy, and low maintenance. We collect plums, and invite the neighbors to do so, too. Other neighbors who have too much fruit on their trees invite a local organization, City Fruit, which harvests whatever fruit you don't want and donates it to food charities.

1 month ago

Sloper

Veteran

I live in Southern California and it seems like everybody has some type of citrus tree in their yard. When we moved here about 30 years ago, our yard had a small gnarly crabapple tree, two lemon trees, and an apricot tree.

We removed the crabapple - it was not in good shape.

The apricot was a lovely smaller tree with nice shade. The fruit was small but useable - when it produced. Also was a squirrel and ant magnet. Squirrels would take one bite out of the fruit, then throw it on the ground. Unfortunately, the tree was quit old and died maybe 15 years ago so we removed it.

The lemons are spectacular - Meyer lemons as far as we can tell. VERY bushy and thorny but the lemons are exquisite. Lots of bees and hummingbirds. Unfortunately, recent health issues have kept me from cooking and baking, so now much of the fruit goes to waste. If my husband didn’t work from home, he could take some to the office, as I used to do. It was definitely a treat to dash outside and pick a few when I made lemon curd, marinated chicken, or roasted a salmon.

Our neighbors have a huge avocado tree which also attracts squirrels - one bite and they throw it on our driveway.

Anyway - fruit trees do need attention with pruning and picking, and keeping critters away.

1 month ago

SW Ann

Veteran

I have a grapefruit and an orange tree that came with the home when we bought it 25 years ago. My husband cannot eat grapefruit due to medication interaction, and I only want a few. Mostly birds eat them.We give the fruit we don't eat to our neighbors but many of them have the same trees in their yard!

The fruit falls and must be picked up frequently, or it rots.

The food banks would love to have them, but that requires me to pay someone to harvest, or do it myself, and the trees are 18 feet tall. They take a LOT of water for optimal growth, but are quite beautiful when blooming. I like having the trees, but would have chosen a non fruit bearing trees if I had chosen myself. My suggestion is to start with 1 or 2 trees and see how that goes....

1 month ago

Runcarla

Veteran

When I lived in a northern Ontario town surrounded by ‘bush’ the police routinely asked folks to harvest and dispose of all the fruit from trees, but we still had bears and deer come into town in the fall to eat deadfall that didn’t get picked up. The DS’s were once given a drive home by police, due to a bear roaming our neighbourhood. It was tranquillized and taken away (and disposed of) after it went up a neighbour’s apple tree and wouldn’t (or couldn’t) get down. It was a huge old apple tree two stories high. It blew down during a wind storm and the upturned root mass was greater in circumference than the height of a man!

The same goes for where I live now regarding warnings to collect and dispose of windfalls. It’s a problem we create. I can’t blame the wildlife. Rabbits and mice will strip the bark from around the base of the trees, deer will nibble any branches they can reach. A variety of wildlife will be attracted to the fruits in the fall.

There are wild apple trees and abandoned apple and pear orchards nearby. The fruits are small and can be wormy. I make a pie or two from foraged fruits, but mostly give the local family farms my business - and have fun working through the 15-17 different apples they grow on their farm!

We have friends and family who have fruit (and nut) trees. Like others say, it’s a production to grow the fruit and keep it edible without chemicals, and do expect wildlife. Folks with 1-3 trees seem to have a better time managing their trees than folks who grow ‘orchards’. You’ll need at least two trees for cross pollination, unless you go for a tree with grafts of different varietals. My sis has one of those, and does have a lot of fun with it - but it’s in the middle of her downtown suburban yard, and her DH cares for it lovingly! (They did end up with a raccoon problem that ended up in vet bills for a cat and further $$ for an exterminator (rabies is a problem in Ontario.))

DH wanted to add two fruit trees to our holdings, but after our magnolia got scale, and he spent this year hand scraping it off, because he doesn’t want to resort to chemicals, he’s rethinking the fruit tree project!

Good luck, whatever you decide!

1 month ago

cat2

Veteran

We have an apricot tree; it needs proper pruning, and to have a net tossed over it if we want to save fruit from the squirrels. It’s been great for making jam and chutney. I can’t imagine having 10 of them, though. But we intentionally bought a place with a small yard because we aren’t avid gardeners. So YMMV.

1 month ago

Sisi

Veteran

I confirm all what has been said here. Like SW Ann, I suggest to start with a few trees and see how it goes.

1 month ago

April

Veteran

Harmless but potentially quite expensive. The trees - and I assume these will not be two-foot saplings - will need fencing, pruning, organic pest management (we're on the Pollinator Pathway), etc.

I foresee the entire harvest going to wildlife, except what falls on the ground and draws wasps.

And yet, as you point out, I am not being asked to do any of the work, so...

1 month ago

April

Veteran

When I wrote the answer above, the many replies that I see this morning were not posted yet, so please forgive me for any confusion - I was responding to SW Ann's first reply to my post.

We do have many bear sightings nearby, though none yet on our own property. We draw deer, rabbits, bobcats, raccoons, coyotes, foxes, and last year discovered in a grisly episode that we were hosting at least one black weasel.

Since the fruit trees would be quite near the road (unlike the backyard meadows), I'm sure we would soon be a bear magnet.

And yes, echoing everything people said about squirrels. For me it's the tomatoes; they pick the good ones, take a bite and toss the rest.

1 month ago

Sal

Veteran

Keep in mind I live in NZ where there are no bears, squirrels, snakes etc...

I love having fruit trees. We have five small apple trees, one large lime, one small lemon and one grapefuit. I have surplus limes and grapefruit and put them on my kerb for collection - they all go! I don't chemically spray them but I do prune and water in summer. I cook the apples in pies and make apple sauce. I freeze the lemons.

I also grow rhubarb, herbs, spinach and summer vege. I am in no way self sufficient.

1 month ago

Sisi

Veteran

April, I am impressed at how many wild animals live near homes in America. I imagine this makes it difficult to keep an orchard or a fruit garden. And I didn't know squirrels were such wasteful people!

1 month ago

April

Veteran

Oh yes, squirrels are the worst. I don't mind feeding the animals but this "one bite and toss ir" habit is quite irritating.

Remember the chapter in Beezus and Ramona where Ramona takes one bite from every single apple in a crateful "because the first bite always tastes the best"? Maybe that's the squirrel creed.

1 month ago

MsMaven

Veteran

Started with a plum tree but one year the squirrels got every single plum, so we made a patio in that area. A pomegranate had fabulous fruit, but was eventually shaded out and we had almost no fruit.

Citrus trees have done better. A tangerine tree by the front driveway does well, but passersby take a lot of the fruit. Without asking. Our Meyer lemon in back produces a lot of fruit, more than we can eat, so when we pick them, we put them in a box on a chair in our driveway with some plastic grocery bags to recycle, and a sign "Free Meyer Lemons." They are all gone within an hour or two.

The Meyer lemon has its own ideas on how it ought to grow. It takes a lot of pruning and spraying for sucking insects.

1 month ago

April

Veteran

MM - I have two Meyer lemons in giant pots because in CT they have to overwinter indoors. One, that we have nicknamed Lazy Lemon, does nothing in terms of fruit and never has. The other is quite productive and is named Lulu Lemon.

Marital discussions continue. Turns out apples cannot thrive near cedars, so we would have to remove three very large cedars (trunks 2' across?) to move forward. Naturally, this doubles the price of the installation.

I can see Mr. A getting more committed to this plan and am trying not to sound overly negative. I'm holding my tongue until I hear more about the height of the trees they want to plant AND about the need for yet more hideous deer fencing. (Is it really a need? How "temporary" would it be, one season or five?)

Let us also remember that my ability to navigate this property - house *and* grounds - has an unknown expiration date. Right now is as good as I will ever be mobility-wise and it's not great. The more heart-and-soul projects we invest in here, the harder it will be for Mr. A to leave when I have no choice. And now we are selling the apartment that was supposed to solve this problem for a few years.

1 month ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

April that’s sad to hear you are selling the apartment? You were so excited about buying that only a year ago?

1 month ago

April

Veteran

You're so right, JNZ - we closed on it one year tomorrow. I'll start another OT thread on that particular topic.

Orchard update: Mr. A is ready to move ahead with what he's calling "the full Monty". No cautious half-measures here, no dipping a toe in to see how it goes - it's 10-12 trees at once or bust.

1 month ago

kerlyn

Veteran

Coming out of lurk-mode to add my 2 cents! I've enjoyed our 2 apple trees that we planted 4-5 years ago, and this year they were doing so well. I give lots to my parents and let the neighbors pick what they like. Unfortunately, here in Minnesota, bears are a problem. I watched as a large black bear (with a white chest!) tore down our big beautiful honeycrisp tree! I ran out on the deck and hollered at him and twice he ran away. But then I guess he decided the apples were too tasty and I was too puny to do anything about it!

My hubby came home a few weeks ago with a plum and a cold hardy pear tree. I was really excited and they look great where he planted them, but then in my research I realized we would need one more of each if we want them to produce fruit! Doh!!

They certainly can be a bit of work, but we've really enjoyed them. As have the wildlife. LOL

1 month ago

kerlyn

Veteran

Oh! And also wanted to add that I always enjoy your writing and sense of humor, April, even when dealing with life's challenges.

1 month ago

rebekahphoto

Veteran

Exciting! We love our fruit trees, but yes they are a fair amount of work.
That depends on the type. most of ours are dwarf heirlooms. My dad gifted us 8 trees when we purchased our house 12 years ago, and we have added/removed some since.

Fig: Lots of pruning
Cherry: not much pruning
Plum: fall pruning
Pears, fall pruning, spray
Apples: lots fall Pruning, spray (organic dormant sprays)

Pruning every fall, spray several times, harvest. squirrels, rats, crows and racoons are our pests to watch for.
But the harvest is lovely and delicious, Last saturday we just pressed apple cider from our trees + my parents trees. Now we have 20 gallons of cider fermenting, and some in the freezer.

4 weeks ago

pil

Veteran

I mention this because of your dog. Our neighbors have a peach tree right next to the property line. The squirrels like to bring the peaches to *our* tree and drop the uneaten portion in our yard. I have to do a peach sweep of the yard because our pug tries to eat what is dropped. I don’t want to deal with an ingested peach pit.

3 weeks ago

April

Veteran

Fortunately, the proposed orchard is well forward of the fenced yard where Bodie is allowed to roam, but OMG a peach pit. Move over grapes, chicken bones, dark chocolate, prescription pills, and onion pieces because here comes a brand-new dog ingestion worry!

3 weeks ago

Staysfit

Veteran

When we moved in I planted plum, pear and apple trees. Fast forward 17 years later and only one Granny Smith apple tree survives due to our harsh weather, however, it’s becoming a pain. It requires expensive spraying, the blooms need to be thinned or it will produce too many apples which weigh down the branches and break them creating more maintenance issues and then there’s always a question of what to do with 350lbs of granny smith apples? Applesauce? Apple pie filling? Gifts to friends and food pantries? This year our tree produced a remarkable crop of > 410 lbs. Unbelievable! We still have apples left on the tree to harvest, lots of them, plus we have more than my husband and I can manage. Maybe some teenage neighbors can help? If we don't pick them they attract deer and other creatures which make a mess of the lawn and increase risk for tick born illness, etc. I’m still getting that sorted.

In the pictures below are 9 or maybe 10 grocery bags filled with apples in our garage. We have 6 or 7 in the house and already gave away around 10 bags. The picture is the tree after the harvest of all these apples.

Would I do it again? Probably not. There are local apple farms and other places where I can get fruit...

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3 weeks ago

April

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SF, I cannot tell you the amount of dread your photos inspired in me!

I showed them to Mr. A (I didn't inflict them, just mentioned them and he asked to have a look) and do not know if he's feeling daunted, but yikes. Those poundage reports were quite eye-opening.

3 weeks ago

JAileen

Veteran

In the last 29 years we have had four dogs: Skippy, Buddy, Bob Barker (not his real name) and Mr Skunky (not his real name, either). None have eaten even one peach or pit. I don’t know why. They have all loved gnawing on fallen apples, though. They also loved peeling grapes/raisins off our deck. Like the bumblebee who doesn’t know he shouldn’t be able to fly, they didn’t know the grapes were toxic, and enjoyed them every chance they got, and didn’t die. From them, anyway!

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2 weeks ago

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