Fruit and nut trees

14 years ago

Hi everybody. I bought a new place last fall, and have 1/3 acre of plantable yard including a huge right of way.

So I would like suggestions on varieties that people have tried in a heavier alkaline soil (it will be topdressed with chicken compost):

1. Pear - currently planning to try Harrow's Delight and Potomac for high fruit quality and fire blight resistance.

2. Peach or nectarine - I want a large delicious fruit with minimal problems (doesn't everybody?).

3. Plum - don't know. I had a Japanese red variety at my old place that was very sweet, and never seemed to have the curilio.

4. Hazelnut - I assume an improved variety.

5. Pistachio?

6. Hardy pecan - found a place that sells a reasonably good and hardy pecan. I know a tree in our valley that produces. I am less windy and a tad warmer here. The trees will be planted on the south side of the house where the snow tends to melt off.

7. Have an unknown apple - probably Lodi - which I am still pruning fire blight out of.

8. Only tree I have planted is the Utah giant cherry. It is doing well.

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Comments (5)

lucky_p
14 years ago
Be aware that you'll need at least two pecans with compatible pollen-shed/nutlet-receptivity patterns to get good nut crops(or convince nearby neighbors to plant one or more as potential pollenizers - you'll all benefit. Additionally, with two pecans on 1/3 acre, they'll eventually shade out some of the area where your other fruiting plants are located - you might put the short-lived stonefruit varieties in those spots - you'll probably still get their full productive life out of them before the pecans get that big.
Check with your county Cooperative Extension Service ag or horticulture agent about the viability of pistachios on your site - or visit the UC-Davis Fruit & Nut Research Center website for more details & contact info for their pistachio 'experts'.
bcreighton7
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you for your reply lucky..
for pecans I was going to try a little known var called Yates 127 which is somewhat self-fruitful, and is among the best of the Hardy vars. If anyone knows where I can get a Mandan or Lakota please speak up - they are wanted. Otherwise I will be stuck with a Pawnee. The trees will be on the S side of my home so they will eventually shade my home and some lawn - not the garden area in the back. They are all somewhat late blooming so they avoid some frost danger and can cross pollinate some.

Grapes so far nothing fancy - Himrod and Black Monukka. I want seedless, table quality, and not too difficult to care for. Others to consider so far: Glenora, and Lakemont(a Himrod seedling).

Maybe Doyle Thornless blackberry.

More suggestions please?
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i had a purple plum ... that flowered for 15 years ... and did not set fruit.. until the season it died ... nothing to do with lack of pollinators ... it was an ornamental, rather than fruit tree ... and frankly.. i dont know what to make about that graft job in the second pic ... i spent the first 6 years in my new house.. harboring everything the prior owners left... you know.. for the history ... bahhh on that.. the happiest day in that garden was when i finally got rid of the last nightmare the prior owners planted .. lol ... if you want a fruit tree... plant some fruit trees .. talk to the fruit nuts in that forum ... and if you want a good landscape tree or shrub ... but dont spend too much energy.. trying to rescue this overly mature.. horribly grafted plant ... [btw ... the 'good' plant may have died long ago ... this might be a reversion of the rootstock] ken
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carolync1
14 years ago
How hot do your summers get? Are you in "Utah's Dixie"? That's what I think of when I hear "pecans" in Utah. Or pomegranates, figs, etc.

Don't sniff at Black Monukka grape. It's great when well-grown. Ripens even on much of the Wasatch Front. Rare for a seedless European variety. Have you looked into Venus?
lucky_p
14 years ago
bc,
I have Yates 127(and 68 & 152) grafted and growing in my plantings, but it's young, and I don't know anything about it's bloom periods - I've seen nothing in writing about whether it's protandrous or protogynous, and I've never heard a claim about it being self-pollenizing. If you had room for a Pawnee(or Mandan) & a Kanza(or Lakota), you'd pretty well have the bases covered, so far as pollenization is concerned.

Lakota was released in 2007, Mandan in 2009; it may be a while before they're readily available in the nursery trade, but you might check with Wes Rice in Ponca City, OK. He might have scionwood &/or young grafts available - or know where you might obtain one.
I've not looked at Womack's Nursery in DeLeon TX in a while, but they might have one or both available.
bcreighton7
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Carolyn,
Yes, that's why I'm planting the Monukka. I am in the lower end of the Wasatch front. Tell me about Venus - haven't seen it yet.

Hi again Lucky,
the studies I've seen show the bloom pollenizing and receptivity to overlap a few days, depending on local clime, and thus it is somewhat self-pollinating - reports seem to confirm this. Thanks for the info on availability. Did you get your Yates at Nolin Nursery or graft it yourself?