Boy, I'd probably hold off until after next fruiting season, yeye7. Otherwise, you're likely to prune off your flower buds. Your tree must be getting ready to bloom, if you look carefully. Normally they bloom in late fall/early winter. We do have some Loquats here in San Diego county that seem to fruit earlier than June/July. I would think like any other fruiting tree, you would want to do your pruning after your harvest. And I would follow the fertilizing schedule from the CRFG info on Loquats, fertilizing 3 times a year, especiallyif you're on sandy soil or DG. If you notice too much vegetative growth or not enough flowers, then I would switch to fertilizing twice a year - right after harvest, then going into winter. Patty S.

I have two sides going so far--lots of seedlings going in the areas that look bare. side 1 (this was the 1st side I did back in March): And this is side 2 (I had a bunch of herbs and potatoes but decided to go above ground with those (I just threw together the wood planters from scraps we had laying around-now ISO soil): I have corn, greens, beans, and a few other sprouts coming up--I threw the straw down (from when I cleared our side yard in May) to give them a bit of shade and extra water---this side gets like 6 hours of INTENSE sun this time of year (especially this year). I have some raspberries to plant in the back corner on side 2--I'd love to have a little berry patch. But through research I've found very few varieties grow in a 10a zone (this part is all new to me) Those retaining wall planters are my next big project but the dirt is so compacted I can't even dig---but I'm thinking of just top filling it after I pull everything...just can bring myself to get rid of all my aloe and succulents that grow up in the shade. I'd love to do something vertical... (Side 1) (Side 2) This is the first year I'm doing this---I pulled the existing shrubs (2 10 year old hibiscus, a 10 year old rosemary, among others) all by hand and turned the soil myself---my husband's around to help but it's mostly a project I've taken on myself. I'd like to get a bit more organized as far as what grows where and when, more vertical growth, etc...one thing at a time I suppose. I've shown you mine--who's showing theirs? (I apologize for any typos, I didn't proofread this)

Here's a list of varieties with chill requirements. 400 chill hours will limit your choices. https://www.davewilson.com/product-information/product/pears A few are listed as fire-blight resistant.

Figs are my favorite for zone 9. Where I live (near the beach in Los Angeles), it pretty much never gets below 40°, and so I can easily grow mango, but I would not try it in zone 9. I also have white sapote and cherimoya, which I think might be possible for zone 9, and dragon fruit, which of course is not a tree. The white sapote makes lots of fruit, but it has to ripen on the tree and be used right away. The cherimoya has to be hand pollinated, and that is a pain but worth the effort. The fruit is somewhat similar to soursop but sweeter. The figs I grew at my previous house were supposedly a Texas Red, which I got from a greenhouse in Texas, and they were incredibly sweet. I do not have room for them at my current house. I have an avocado tree that gets pollinated from another tree in my neighborhood, and so it is not always necessary to have two trees, if your neighbors have trees.