I'd look for information about home fruit trees on California Cooperative Extension web pages. Or see what pertinent literature they had at the nearest office (these are open during regular hours - if you are tied up 9-5 you may not be able to do that).

If you are in Sonoma, email us from Sonoma County Master Gardeners. Also check our Facebook page (where you can also post questions). If you are in Napa, here are the links: Napa County Master Gardeners, Facebook page. Lots of folks in both places who have experience with fruit trees. You can also check out the Redwood Empire chapter of the Rare Fruit Growers, which is a vibrant and active group.

Implement a spraying program! Your trees will be literally crawling with pests and infected with diseases. This is why I don't grow fruit.

There is also a Fruit and Orchard Forum here which would be better than the Harvest Forum you tried.

tj

Logan many people grow fruit trees here without spraying them.

Well, not here, but our climate is much different than yours. Some do better than others. This is why we do not have many fruit orchards here, because it just isn't feasible to spray all the trees.

Thanks all! I'll look into the places you have recomended! Nancy

Logan North Carolina ranks 7th in the nation in apple production. i didn't bother to keep Googling after 'A'.

It isn't just me. I can grow almost anything (except succulents, I kill all succulents), but fruit trees (especially cherries and stone fruits) are very susceptible to verticulum wilt. There are places in the mountains here that get down to 5b with completely different soils than we have in the piedmont/foothills (I'm kind of borderline), to sandy beaches. I don't think they like the v. wilt or the heavy clay soil (but all of my other plants it doesn't seem to bother).

So, Logan, how does spraying the tree help with a soil borne pathogen like Vert. Wilt?

tj

Logan, REDBUDS are susceptible to verticilium wilt. NC has a long list of fruit and nut crops. Not trying to give you a hard time so much as admonishing you to not state what you do not know personally to be true. And remember, just because it is true for you, doesn't make it true for everyone. Your enthusiasm is admirable. It would be wonderful if with your 'getting of information' you also learned to get wisdom.

You guys can stop arguing and I'll just go to my ag dept. Nancy

They should have lots of information as fruit is a big deal in California.

lol ....

nancy ... bet you dont see this ... but i would not bother moving MATURE trees ... unless you are willing to pay hundreds or thousands for a large tree spade to do the job right ...

it would be much simpler ... and cheaper.. to buy some new trees.. and have them mailed to the new house.. at the appropriate planting time ...

there is a very active fruit forum... and i have never seen those experts in this forum ...

ken

LOL!! Ken, Nancy is not considering moving the trees...........she is simply moving to a new property that already has fruit trees. She is just not familiar with their growth and care.

btw, I visit the fruit forum almost as frequently as I do this one. Growing any sort of tree is pretty darn similar, although pruning, pollination and disease and pest issues may be quite distinct for many types of fruit. And that is why suggestions to a contact the local extension office is appropriate, as these tend to be very regional issues.

btw, Logan, the verticillium pathogen exists in virtually ALL soils and literally hundreds of different plants are prone to it. It is not a regional issue and it is not restricted to NC. On the whole, stone fruits are less susceptible to VW than many other tree species, including maples, magnolias and redbuds.

My understanding is that Nancy's the one moving, not the trees. Isn't she asking for suggestions of what fruit to plant in her new garden?

Regarding the freezing part of the question. In my experience fruit frozen raw is only fit for cooking. So that reduces the usefulness of freezing if you don't bake. However, you can freeze cooked fruit such as poached or stewed and it thaws out to the same state as it went in the freezer.

Floral she was just asking how to care for the existing trees on her new property.

Duh.... to quote a well known yellow headed philosopher. I need to read more carefully. BTW I wasn't contradicting GG. The time lag between the UK and PNW meant her post wasn't there when I started typing.

well shoot.. if you are going to stick to the facts .. and im going to misread.. whats that all about ... lol

listen closely nancy .... if you have no use for them.. just get rid of then ...

growing fancy fruit like you might see in a store.. involves a spray regimen of 3 to 5 sprays during the season ... and frankly.. by the time you factor in that cost .. you can buy all the fruit you might want or need at the store ...

after that.. if you are wildly successful .. what exactly are you going to do with say.. 10 bushels of apples ...

and then.. after that.. if you dont pick them.. they will fall to the ground where they will rot and ferment.. and the next thing you know ... you have stoned wasps and bees in the area ... if not deer ...

at both of my houses... i simply ended up getting rid of the trees ... as they were near worthless to me.. and cost me money ... thats kind of a double whammy ...

ken

Ken - many people here love growing fruit and the MGs have specialists that can help. Sonoma and Napa are agricultural counties and much of it is small boutique farming. There are also organizations which glean leftover or excess fruit and channel it to the shelters and food banks. There are only two trees in question and one is a cherry. If it fruits, trust me, she won't have any trouble finding homes for the fruit. The other is a peach, which is never going to be a huge bearer here, so excess fruit likely not a problem either. The peach likely needs to be sprayed in dormancy for leaf curl. Other than that, probably not much more care than for most ornamentals. And the leaf curl is strictly an aesthetic issue; the tree soldiers on regardless.

I'm not sure why there seems to be such an aversion from some posters on growing fruit trees. They are such a common garden addition!! Vast numbers of the population across the country grow fruit trees and they do NOT have to be a high maintenance item. In many cases, they can be grown successfully without a frequent spray regimen - I have never sprayed any fruit tree I've grown. It's a matter of selecting disease resistant cultivars when planting new and evaluating how serious any disease or insect problems might be when dealing with mature, established trees. And accepting the fact that homegrown fruits may not be the picture perfect specimens you see in the grocery store :-)

As Sara notes, most require no more care or attention than any other garden ornamental.

Well, the trees are mature, so I really do want to give them a shot for at least a couple of years. I'm not a fan of cutting down trees unless they are pests.

If I can't figure out what to do with the fruit, there's a homeless place that will take donations. I can also meet the new neighbors by bringing them fresh fruit! Or my (now) neighbors will love some free fruit! Nancy

Depending on how "country" your location is I would consider keeping chickens in with the fruit trees. Peaches and cherries especially in your area shouldn't need a ton of spraying (if any) I expect. Other than maybe some concern about powdery mildew? Birds would be your main competitor. An animal to interrupt the lifecycle of the pests at the larval stage might be all you need.

Edit: I live in Kentucky a very humid and pest prone area and most of the people I know with a couple fruit trees don't bother spraying at all. You may not produce commercial amounts of fruit or blemish free fruit but it tastes just as good :)

San Francisco allows chickens (they limit it to 2 per household, I think) so I suspect most municipalities around here are ok with them! Roosters are another matter...and the 'byproduct' is such good fertilizer for things like vegetables.

The fruit trees are not crawling with all kinds of pests in my opinion. Mine seldon had any bug like pests. The real problem was the rodents! They ate all on my plums and put holes in all of my peaches except for one fruit!

Dyrn, we are moving FROM the country into town. Tlbean/dyrn/Sara, we had problems with rodents when we had chickens! The barn rats loved the chicken feed! We now have several barn cats (fixed!) Won't have them in town. Nancy

Frozen fruit makes great smoothies and fruit shakes.

Sara, my BIL was mentioned in Herb Cain's article in the 70's because he bought pullets who several ended up being roosters! LOL Still have that article somewhere! Nancy

That is hilarious!

Well, the trees are too large for us to put netting over them, so I guess we'll just have to grab as much fruit as we can when it gets ripe! Fight with the birds! LOL Nancy