Just curious....why not fig? Have you ever had one right off the tree? I'm not a lover of fig newtons or store bought figs but right off the tree, yummmmmm...ambrosia. Adele

highly recommend both asian pears and asian persimmons. i have apples, nectarine, regular pears, plums, cherries and some fruiting bushes, but of all of them, those 2 are the easiest trees. they are no spray and have borne well and are very pretty to boot. bugs don't seem to bother either one much. other than maintenance pruning and fertilization no special care at all. plus those are fruits that are expensive and harder to find. for many of the fruit trees you can get grafted ones with more than one variety to fill pollination needs. the others i have do require more care- though you can still not spray toxic chemicals if you're commited. between proper maintenance, fertilization, surround (a clay coating that repels bugs) and oil spray (that smothers bugs) you can eliminate most of the problems. some of them i grow in large containers to elimnate soil issues and help keep them dwarfed. dwarf trees have the advantage that you can really see what's going on, and they are small enough to net so the birds don't get the goodies. and you do get fruit, often sooner than with full sized trees. plus you can fit a lot more into the same amount of space. if you do go with regular pears and/or apples, be very sure the rootstock you select is highly fireblight resistant. the nc state co-op extension site has some online bulletins listing what to look for and what to avoid. they also have free spring workshops on pruning apples and peaches- very helpful to a newbie. they sell trees at the same time, though i've not bought any from them. there are cool columnular apple varieties now that you can easily grow a fence with or in a pot. i have an apple espalier- another fun option. peaches, nectarines and cherries are rather challenging here. they all need a good bit of babying in one form or another.

blueberries are the easiest bushes and will get to 8-10'- so may fit the bill for what you're looking for, too(they are also no spray, etc). they are gorgeous in the fall when the leaves turn flame red. look for rabbiteye or southern highbush. it's too hot here for northern highbush. juneberries and elderberries are ornamental and edible big bushes. i've heard pawpaws are low care, but mine aren't big enough yet to say for sure. they are very ornamental. i also have cornus mas, but haven't gotten any fruit yet. they have a cherry-like fruit and are blooming now, looking a little like witchhazel when blooming. they are actually a type of dogwood. another thing to possibly consider is vines that you can trellis- like kiwi, grape and some of the rasp/black berries. done on an ornamental trellis they can be very pretty. there's all kinds of other strange stuff like arbutus, che, pomegranate, trifoliate orange, raisin tree, jujube, mulberry, pineapple guava, hazelnuts and seaberry if you're adventurous. be sure to check out the edible landsacping forum.

i would recommend looking at catalogs and or websites of edible landscaping in VA, and one green world, raintree or burnt ridge, all of whom are in the PNW. you'll get lots of ideas. i've bought from all 4 with good results. edible's stuff is shipped potted so it costs a little more, but they are close enough (3.5-4 hrs) that you could drive up. their stock is more well adapted to our area by default, but you certainly can get things from the other 3 that do well.

i'd recommend stella otto's 'the backyard orchardist'. it will give you a good idea of which are the easiest and most practical. i'm sure the lib has it to ck out. another one i like is the 'organic gardener's edible plants' by van patten. no matter what you get the bare minimum you'll probably have to do if you expect fruit is at least some pruning, plan to keep the trees watered and fertilize. it really isn't that much work, though. amazingly rewarding when you eat that first fruit!! mmmmm- tammy

Adele, I know it's terrible, but figs are wasted on me. I just don't like them. My mom gives me a bunch every summer off her tree (despite the fact that she knows I don't like them) and I thank her and they rot and get tossed in the compost. So, I want to grow something I'll like, which is just about everything else!

Tammy, wow, thanks for your response! I'll look into all your ideas. Thanks for reminding me about blueberries, too! (My mom has those also and I can't get enough from her!) The asian pears you mention - do the birds really get at them, or is it possible to pick them before they ripen enough for the birds and keep them inside until they ripen?

i know i probably went overboard on my response, but it's close to my heart! i LOVE edible landscaping- especially fruit. i just kept thinking of more and more things we've tried. if you are local to raleigh and come to the spring swap i can bring some bramble starts.

the birds haven't bothered ours and we've had 2 years of harvests. i think because they are a brownish yellow color they just don't attract attention like other plants. i did have a problem when i left a few on a little too long and they got soft spots. then those big green beetles, sort of like jap beetles, just devoured them, starting on the soft spot. you can pick them pretty crisp and they soften off the tree- but it takes a long while. most people prefer crisp asian pears anyhow. it's alittle hard to tell when they are ripe- i wait til one comes off easily when i lift it gently or if i notice one dropped off. then pick them all. i have a grafted 3x tree. if i can ever scrounge more room, i will definitely plant another asian pear and persimmon that you can eat crispy (about 1/2 of the asians are that way). divine!!

now, the birds do get after blueberries- i have to net mine. they really haven't bothered too many of my fruits except the robins get into the strawberries and the blues get attention each yr. other than that it's only occasional pecks. now the %$^*$%^ squirrels ALWAYS get my nectarines the day before i'm ready to pick. it's a tiny potted tree and it drives me bonkers! i'll get at and net them individually this year.

too bad about the figs! they are an absolute fave and easy to care for to, and cool looking to boot. matter of fact, when your mom does her annual dump i'll happily come get them if you're not too far!! we just about make ourselves sick eating them, and i make preserves with what's left. i'm forever begging them off of folks i know and don't to get enough to satisfy our craving. in a few years when our bushes get big maybe i won't have to, but til then...

Tammy - bramble starts! That sounds fun. Not sure if I'll be able to make it to the swap, but if I can, I'll let you know - I would love some brambles.

Do you know the variety name of the asian pear you have? I'm interested in this but I don't know much about how to find one. Any ideas?

great topic!! i am just getting my garden started and so far have 1 fig tree and 1 cherry tree. I plan on blueberries, raspberries and now I think I *need* an asian pear and maybe a persimmon. Has anyone grown apples successfully? Also, what do i need to do to my cherry tree this year? I planted it in the fall.

kirsten- the 3 varieties on the asian pear are shinseiki, yongi and yakumo. if you can plant 2 then you better control the varieties and can pick for what you want as far as flavor & disease resistance. i've noticed on the combos they often use varieties you can't order separately, though i don't know why. i got it from one green world in 2004. i've had 2 years of crops.

as far as brambles, i have lots of different ones, and i have about 10 varieties. i don't have enough of all kinds to share but can easily share about 5 kinds. if you decide you can come, once the preswap trades start rolling, post & we'll figure out what you want, or you can email me directly. up to you. the swaps are so much fun- if you can come, you should.

dogridge- depends on what kind of cherry you have, and what kind of soil. they have to have great drainage or they get rots. i know of a few northstars that are growing well in the ground (sour types). some of the local nurseries sell compact stella, which i have, but mine's in a pot and i don't know anyone with a sweet in the ground in these parts. not that it can't be done. the sweets are not supposed to deal with our soil well- part of why i potted it. it's done ok, though i haven't had fruit from it yet. the northstar we have had fruit from; ours is potted as well. my whole issue is i'm borderline for sun on most everything, so i really have to maximize what i do have, hence the dwarfs. esp for cherries i felt being potted had another advantage in that they got more winter chilling.

you do need an asian pear & persimmon! if you like these fruits i wouldn't think twice, honestly. the persimmon i have is ichi ji jiro which i got from ed landscaping. it's a dwarf and the fruit is great crunchy- no astringency at all. it took about 4 or 5 yrs to start bearing, but then that first year we got more than 30 fruits! they are palm sized and gorgeous like lanterns on the tree. the blooms are small and hardly noticeable, so it's a real treat when the fruit starts. the trees are very ornamental- they turn a glorious red orange in fall. the leaves are dark green, med big and glossy in the main season, and they don't seem to attract jap beetles like so many fruits do.

i have 2 apple trees. one is a 4x grafted, which are a little tricky to prune. you do it like a peach, not an apple. the varieties are braeburn, cox's orange pippen, fuji and wynochee early, and it's on emla 27 rootstock i think. the other is a 3x espalier from one green world in 04. i don't have all the varieties- not sure what happened to the tags. the bottom layer is melrose and the mid a yellow. we got fruit from the top layer last fall, kind of a browny red, and had a very good flavor. the other layers didn't have good set. biggest pest i had with it was the deer! it's about 100' from the 4x, so so far they haven't shared bugs or deer. the 4x came from raintree, i believe. i've had it for about 7 years. it's borne now for about 4 yrs, but we rarely get much fruit because i get busy and don't spray and the bugs get it all by the end of the season (what we have gleaned was very good, if not pretty, which i don't care about). dumb, i know- we would get fruit if i kept it together; it sets plenty. i'm determined not to lose my crop this yr. jap beetles and the big green ones LOVE apple trees, so you really have to watch them. i think surround would eliminate a lot of that and moth larvae and neem (an organic that repels jb's) would for sure. i also get one tent caterpillar nest each yr. i spotted the egg case the other day so i will cut it off ahead of time and maybe break the cycle. i clean them out by hand each yr. as the tree is only about 6'-7', so it's not too hard to manage. i have had to actively keep it that small.

even if you don't get anything from them, get on garden's alive mailing list; they carry a lot of products for fruit trees and publish a schedule for less spray spraying. their prices are ok, but they get you on shipping fees. wait for the coupons they send and you can help offset that. with apples you have to watch for rust and fire blight. those are the big viral/fungal/bacterial pests. apples and pears are closely related, so they can get most of the same diseases. there are great bulletins on the nc co-op site; i highly recommend looking them up. also, the aforementioned nurseries do a great job of educating. if you're looking for old varieties there was a thread last yr that talked about some of the nc & closeby nurseries that carry some of them. do a search and it should pop up.

one last note. i saw a couple vendors last yr at the state farmer's market selling persimmon trees. so there are local sources if that's what you want. you get a lot more choice by mailordering, though, and usually a much better price. good luck ladies! it's a fun and yummy part of gardening to eplore.

Besides all that Tammy has mentioned I have good luck with Navaho Blackberries, Heritage Raspberries (which fruit for a much longer time than others, the summer fruit has no flavor but after the first frost they taste pretty good. Nothing like they taste up north or even in the mountains but well worth the growing), and I have the little dwarf Bush Cherries - they are tiny small with almost regular sized fruit. The fruit taste more like a wild plum than a traditional cherry, not so hot fresh but acceptable when made into a pie. They don't take up much space and are beautiful in bloom.

There oughta be a law that all gardeners in the Carolinas grow blueberries. They're easy and fun and pretty to boot.

Thanks again everyone!

I just decided on 2 asian pears, one of which I planted today! I ordered another online, since I think it's best for pollination to have 2 different varieties. I am really excited.

Trianglejohn, Yes on the blueberries! In fact, I'm converting some yard grass into beds (lasagna method) and they'll probably be ready next year to plant some blueberries in, or possibly this fall. Do you find you need to net them?

i definitely have to net mine. not the first few years. but once the birds found them, it was all she wrote. now i wait til i notice them munching and net. it normally only takes a few days into the concentrated harvest before i need to. i drape and then we duck under to pick since our bushes are about 5-6'. tam