Carefully consider whether you should plant a fruit-bearing tree in the front yard where the public has easy access. Vandalism can be rampant.

A previous neighbor (in CA) put his apple and lemon trees there then rarely had a decent harvest due to overnight marauders of the 2-legged kind.

Rookie:

The pluot is not a bad looking tree, and I would put it out there because there is very little danger of fruit for the foreseeable future. Pluots are extraordinarly difficult to grow in the east. Not rookie material.

The asian pear, on the other hand, will probably bear, so keep it in back.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Since we had a small urban lot, we found that the greener colored apples did much better than red. Cherries, sweet or tart, are also pretty good because they ripen early and don't have to hang on until fall to ripen. The problem with Cherries is that they are pretty short lived.

You might be too cold for Asian Persimmon, but they make a good lawn tree. We had Hana Fuyu in College Park, MD. I admit that I was scared that the softball size, orange fruit would disapear at Halloween, but it was dark by the time the kids arrived.

I've got a persimmon in my front yard. It is still small, but the leaves are large and dark green and look like Magnolia leaves. I chose a variety that should stay small even when fully grown. I was worried about hardiness, but it seems to have done fine (so far so good), but this winter wasn't that cold...even including the freak cold snap.

~Chills

I've also got a Che and 2 plums and currants in my front yard. The clove currants were great smelling.

I put a Hollywood plum in the front yard. I has red leaves which was good for the location, and the pink blossoms are very showy. And the fruit is the same color as the leaves making it less visible to passers by.

I live on a large unfenced corner lot, so my fruit trees of necessity are accessible from the road. I share concerns with one of the posters about vandals and thieves. It's not such a worry yet, since the trees will be a few years before they fruit, and in any event we don't have a lot of foot traffic. But just in case, I am thinking of planting an astringent persimmon and medlar at the places with easiest street access. It won't stop the vandals, but fruit thieves may decide my pickings are not worth the trouble.

thanks for all the responses.

i am not worrying about potential stealing at all. i live in a quiet neighborhood on over 2 acres (the smallest lot in the 22 lot community). i cannot even imagine something like that happening here. we barely get 2-3 treat-or-trickers each year, and i know every kids in the community. the four-legged deer is the real pain. i had a family of 10, 2 big ones with 8 little ones, that seem to live in my yard permanently.

i was mainly concerned with the look. i do not want the neighbor to complain that i am turning the house into an orchard. yet i had too many huge native sweetgum/hickery/maple trees in the yard, especially in the back and have to look to the front yard lawn for open space. the tree would still be 15-20 yards off the curb though.

as for pluot, Tom of Adam County said that Dapple Danny and Grenade are doing well and I should expect bearing in 2-3 years. the king and queen do not do as well in our area.

orginally i was thinking about putting the pear trees in the front since the white flowers from pear trees look really beautiful to me.

will FRUIT pear tree will look the same as a regular yard pear tree?

which one is less demanding for sun? out of the list of
pear/apple/cherry/pluot/peach? i can put that in the backyard.

thanks again
njrookie

My Bartlett pear tree is lovely in bloom, and so are the apple trees and apricot trees. There are varieties of these that would do well in your area.

Rookie:

Just to expand a little on my crptic comment about pluots. I too tried them years ago when I was doing my rookie time. I had three different types, and in those days I was ordering from Stark Bros. The trees grew very vigorously, and became quite large since I kept them over 10 years. These were the Flavor Supreme/Delight types developed in California.

The trees were slow to begin blooming, and never bloomed heavily. When they did, they seemed nearly impossible to pollinate, even though I also had apricots and Japanese plums around. When I did eventually get a few fruits to set, they were the immediate targets of the oriental fruit moth, attracted by their smooth skin and sweet nature. They were, however, extraordinarily delicious fruits -- better, in my judgment, than any apricot or plum. But I finally gave up and took the trees out. Now I grow apricots and plums.

Adams County is one of the country's best nurseries, and if they say that Dapple Dandy and Flavor Grenade can be grown in the Jersey climate, maybe they can. But you will have to take special care of the trees, expect problems with pollination, and spray with an insecticide if you get fruit set. It would make me feel more confident if I ever heard reports of success with Pluots from other hobby growers in the east, but I never have. Reports of bushels of pluots from California are frequent, but I am in a different fruitgrowing world here.

I live in a neighborhood like yours, quiet with large lots. My entire back yard is covered with fruit trees, and I think it is quite beautiful, especially in spring, and nobody seems to object. I give away fruit at various times of year to most of the neighbors. You ought to be able to get away with a fruit tree or two in the front yard, and Asian pear trees are quite handsome when pruned to shape. They also produce lots of Asian pears, which suffer almost no insect or disease problems.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

hi don,

i guess it is too late to back out of pluot. i will give it a shot. if it does not work out, i can pull it out. i will follow your advice:

1. put the plum and pluot trees in front yard;
2. leave the asian pear trees in the back.

i had three purple leaf plum trees in the front as well. will they also help to pollinate the pluot trees?

njrookie

Rookie:

Sure, give it a shot. If you have two pluot trees, they should be able to cross-pollinate between themselves. Your decorative plums, which should be of Japanese origin, may help, but who knows for sure. If you can get these things to produce, I may try it again myself.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA