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Spring fruit planting list. Thoughts? Comments? Advice?

8 years ago

As I stated in another thread, I just moved to Kentucky and am starting brand new in a new yard. This is still tentative, but here is my plan/wish list. I just moved from Florida and am new to growing trees in Kentucky, so any thoughts are welcome.

Apples: (5) - William's Pride, Goldrush, Pristine, Golden delicious, Pink Lady.

Pears (4) - Blake's Pride, Ayers, Magness, Moonglow

Plums (3) - AU Producer, AU Rubrum, AU Rosa

Peaches (3) - Redhaven, Belle of Georgia, Jefferson

Grapes (1) - Reliance seedless

Blackberries (2) - Triple crown, Oauchita

Raspberries - Caroline

Boysenberries - thornless

Comments (7)

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    My only comment is on the Ouachita blackberries, these are one of the lowest chill hour varieties of the University of Arkansas thornless blackberry varieties, which I suspect will be too low on chill hours for anywhere in KY, you might consider something with a bit higher chill hours, I would think nothing with less chill than Natchez blackberries.


    Also if you are going to order online you probably want to do so soon as we are approaching the end of bare root season, I have bought from Simmons plant farm in Arkansas in the past and they seem to have some of the best bare root prices.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    HOME FRUIT VARIETY RECOMMENDATIONS - 2012

    The following table lists home fruit varieties recommended for Kentucky. Several of these are
    identified as minimal pesticide (MP) varieties, which will usually mature their fruit with fewer pesticide
    applications. Most other fruit types require a regular pest control program.

    http://www.uky.edu/hort/sites/www.uky.edu.hort/files/documents/homefruitrec.pdf

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Have you thought about persimmons (native and hybrid and maybe even one of the hardier Asians like Saijo), pawpaws, mulberries, hardy kiwis (Actinidia arguta), and maybe some nuts (black walnuts, hazelnuts, heartnuts, chestnuts...)? Those are all things I value very highly (on par with apples and peaches and grapes, etc., even though they're less common in supermarkets, which only makes a homegrown source even more valuable) and that, at least growing the way I grow, I would expect to be more successful and rewarding in zone 6a Kentucky than plums or peaches. That's not to advise you against planting plums or peaches, because any success with them at all could be very rewarding, but I'd consider them long shots, knowing the kind of things I would and wouldn't realistically spend money and time on when working on a small scale.

    I can't say much about your other particular variety choices, but your apple and pear selections look really good to me based on my experience so far.

  • 8 years ago

    I love Fuyu persimmons, but I'm not sure there is anything comparable I can grow in KY. I've never had an astringent persimmon that I liked enough to grow.

    Pawpaw, is on my "need to try" list. Never had one before.

    As for nuts, the jury is still out. I've considered them, but haven't settled on whether to grow any or not. I like some nuts, but don't love them as much as fruit.

  • 8 years ago

    What kind of persimmons have you tasted? Rosseyanka is an American Asian hybrid that I've tasted and loved that should definitely be hardy for you. (I bought one small tree and grafted another, but I haven't gotten Rosseyanka fruit from my own trees yet.) There are also some really outstanding selections of native persimmons. Ruby is the best I've tasted so far, but I haven't yet tasted a lot of other people's favorites. Prok seems to be a top contender.


    I'd have similar advice when it comes to pawpaws: don't just try any random seedling (which would make most fruits seem not very good) but try fruit from a superior, grafted selection before deciding whether or not you want to grow them. Pawpaws seem to be more of a love-hate thing. In other words, some people really like them a lot, better than peaches and plums and apples, etc., and other people don't care for them at all. Some people just really love them. My wife loves them. I really like them, but to me they have a rich, filling taste such that about half of a big fruit per day is plenty for me. Overleese and the related Shenandoah are pawpaw varieties I might recommend trying first.


    Don't neglect mulberries or hardy kiwis either. I love hardy kiwis. They're probably my favorite fruit of all. Super sweet but with lots of acid to balance the sweetness and interesting tropical flavors. The more common fuzzy kiwis (which you probably can't grow in zone 6) are really a treat in January and February when there's hardly any other fresh, homegrown fruit, but I don't think they taste very similar to hardy kiwis at all. Hardy kiwis are pretty hard to find in stores -- I've never seen them -- but I've heard some stores sell them, probably around September/October. If you're open to unfamiliar fruits, I think the odds are very good that you'll like hardy kiwis a lot.


    If space is limited, I can see prioritizing fruits over nuts. Except for hazelnuts, nut trees are mostly pretty big. They can be quite productive, though, often make better shade trees than fruit trees, and it seems like they mostly take a lot less work per acre than fruit trees.

  • 8 years ago

    I haven't tried a lot of persimmons. A few wild ones and whatever our local store sells (can't remember names). We grew Fuyu in Florida, but I don't think anything like that grows up here in KY.

    Like I say, in our house, astringent varieties aren't loved. Like my son says "it makes my mouth feel funny". (even says that when they are sweet) I'd be willing to try Rosseyanka, but don't want to plant it without sampling first.

    I hadn't heard of hardy kiwis until recently. I guess I have a long list of fruit i need to find and try next year.

  • 8 years ago

    A good American persimmon will be easy to know when to harvest, and then it won't ever leave even a hint of astringency. This might be even more true of the good varieties of American persimmons than astringent types of Asian persimmons. If residual astringency is what's turning you off to American persimmons, I think just growing some good, named varieties will totally do away with that problem. Do you know how far you are from Cliff England's orchard and nursery? I would recommend visiting his nursery next September, especially if you're not too far away. I've never been there myself, but I'm guessing you could sample some fruit. He grows and sells a lot more than just persimmons. I'd get in touch with him ahead of time and find out what he recommends if you'd be interested in going.


    As far as Fuyu-type persimmons, they're definitely an option in zone 7, but I doubt even the most cold hardy Fuyu-type you could find would survive an average 6a winter without protection. If you really like Fuyu-type persimmons you could grow a naturally dwarf Fuyu-type persimmon (which a lot of the Fuyu-type persimmons are) and protect it in the winters -- I know of people even in zone 5 that do that -- but I don't think I'd go to that trouble myself if I were in zone 6 (even though I go to even more trouble to protect a satsuma in my zone 7.)