HAD is the word, at one time I had espaliered apples (Mac's and Cox's Orange Pippin), peach (Early Red Haven) and pear (Bartlett with a Bosc graft). All gone now, due to the peach was over 20 years old wasn't very productive anymore, the apples and pears had to be sprayed to keep the scab away so they all came out, the last being the pear I had espaliered on the end of my greenhouse it came down just a couple of weeks ago. Now I just have Raspberries (Tulameen), a large clump of rhubarb, a few old time (British Sovereign) strawberries and a female Actinidia kolomitka (not the regular kiwi) which produced one small fruit several years ago, it might be going too if it doesn't smarten up. We did have blueberries just to nibble on when out in the garden but they finally petered out so we pulled those last year.

I'm still up in the air about planting the goji berries I started. Mmmmmm where can I put them I'm running out of space, scratching my head over that one.

The few rice beans I managed to find are being designated to hanging baskets on a plant pole, at least I won't have to bend to pick them :).

Annette

Had an apple tree a few years back. It was a beautiful old one with gnarled trunk. It kept getting diseases and dropping the fruit (several times on my head, lol) so it had to be removed.

Now I just have a patch of raspberries and quince shrubs (Chaenomeles). The quince shrubs have not produced very many fruit, but just enough to make a Tablespoon of jam a couple of years ago. SO good! The flowers are beautiful too, especially the peach colored one.
CMK

I have fruit trees, alpine strawberries, hardy kiwi, grapes, regular strawberries, raspberries, elderberries, cranberries, schisandra, goji berry and lingonberries mixed in with the herbs and flowers. Blueberries, more raspberries, tayberries, sloes, currants, gooseberries and more fruit trees are in another section. Although, I have herbs underplanted by the other fruit trees. It's all good.

Herbalbetty- I would love to see pictures of your garden. I've thought that before, on the herb forum. You have so many great plants. What kind of grapes do you grow? I want to put a grape arbor in the kitchen garden eventually, with a table and chairs. I want to be able to sit in the middle of the garden and enjoy all of my hard work :)

CMK- That's too bad you lost your apple tree! Quince sounds like a good choice. Is that pretty hardy in our area?

Annette- What did you plant where you used to have the fruit trees? Is it hard to espalier fruit?

Most places list the Chaenomeles as being hardy to zone 5. But you never know, it might overwinter just fine on the warmest side of your house. And the thorns are so big that I imagine deer would not bother them. I looked out yesterday and mine have tiny buds started! I think they will put on a good show since it was so mild all winter.
CMK

Well, not mixed in with everything, but I do have strawberries in the veggie garden, and started 4 fruit trees last year in their own section (2 apple, 1 peach, 1 apricot). At the old house, I had alpine strawberries in one flower border. We'll see how the fruit trees do...

I'm SUPPOSED to have fruit in the garden. I have a peach tree, a strawberry patch and a couple blueberry bushes. But, er... I've yet to actually get any myself. I believe the wildlife could better answer your question.

I've got two blueberry bushes, a Celeste fig (with others rooting), Apache blackberries, Belle of Georgia peach, Morris Plum, and a thundercloud plum which may or may not produce edible fruit. I've planted most of these in the backyard in the area I refer to as the "orchard". The fig produced a little last year, but none ripened. It should take off this season. The peach and plums were (trans)planted last year. The blueberries were put in this past fall, along with the blackberry. In the gully, the downed oak tree uncovered a massive grape vine. I hope they're Muscadines or something that produces this year. I've got two strawberry plants, but haven't really gotten any from them yet.

Lavender_Lass, I was growing the apple trees on wires strung between posts. Where the apple trees were there now is a waist high raised wooden planter box. Espaliering fruit trees is easy, when you have a small garden like I have it makes sense. Our peach was espaliered on the south wall of our house. Most peaches are subject to peach leaf curl around here so planting under the eaves of the house helped protect it somewhat.

Annette

I have some very dwarf cherry trees, around 30 blueberry bushes, serviceberry, gooseberry, thornless blackberries and currant bushes here in the yard as well as lots of flowers. Blooms alone do not make a garden for me as much as I love my flowers. I like to eat my fruit and the birds get their fair share as well.

I have blueberries, quince (Chaenomeles "Toyo Nishiki") and actinidia kolomikta. My thoughts on quince are that it's pretty much of an ugly duckling most of the year. If I hadn't "rescued" it from a nursery for a song, I wouldn't have one. My next door neighbor has a big one that hangs over our adjoining fence. I haven't tried making jam with the fruit, which is a great idea. I did try eating some raw---yeeek---talk about tart. I just read that it can be trained for bonsai. Might need to investigate that option.

I plan to add strawberries. I'd love to add more, but just have so little space in the sun. My six year old is fascinated with growing fruit. I was checking out columnar apple trees online. Anyone have experience with them

Lisa

Evans cherry -- bountiful
dwarf apple -- small fruit, biennial I hope; plagued with apple maggot
big apple -- standard greenish fruit, tart, bountiful
plum -- many blossoms, few fruit
apricot -- I think it's dead
red and black currants
saskatoons
raspberries
strawberries
blueberry -- it needs to be moved
wild strawberries -- I've never seen any fruit

Other than that no. :)

I dont have any fruit in mine, but am planning on it. I want it for the birds, as i really dont like fruit( except for banana, lemon and oranges, not ok in my zone). So if anyone dosnt mind, what kind of fruit comes from semi attractive bushes? I dont want to plant things that look scraggly. Thanks, this was the perfect thread! I was just looking at homedepot at their fruit shrubs.

Lilyfinch, Blueberry bushes are quite attractive. They have white flowers, pretty berries and turn bright red in the fall. Birds LOVE them.

A plea on behalf of old trees......

"It was a beautiful old one with gnarled trunk. It kept getting diseases and dropping the fruit (several times on my head, lol) so it had to be removed." I'm sorry to hear that.

To me the first sentence far outweighs the second. For those of you with an image of an English cottage garden in your mind's eye an old gnarled apple tree is a gift. If it's a Bramley all the better. It is a real character in the garden and like a characterful old relation you wouldn't give it the chop because it is no longer in perfect health and sometimes annoys you. (Steady now - however tempting it might be... ;)) An old fruit tree lends maturity and a sense of permanence. It provides shelter for invertebrates and consequently supports birds. The fruit, even if no good to you, feeds countless creatures, some of which you can't see, but they're still important. If I had an old gnarled apple tree I would probably plan the rest of the garden round it, not cut it down. I think that the whole essence of cottage gardening is to resist tidiness and to encourage variety and profusion.

End of appeal on behalf of less than perfect old fruit trees....

Oh -- in answer to the original post. I have a medlar (Which is even more gnarled than the tree in the photo).

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:645782}}

lilyfinch,

Most (all?) fruiting shrubs and trees have an early spring bloom -- sometimes too early. The shape and size usually depend on how you prune them.

Flora what a lovely picture that tree must make in your garden, if I had a tree like that I'd be chaining myself to it if someone was trying to cut it down.

The first and only time I've seen Medlar fruit, it was a plate of three at a little parlour show I was judging, not knowing anything about them I winged it, judging them only on uniformity and what seemed to me good condition. These are rarely grown in my neck of the woods, still don't know much about them. Educate me, how do you tell when they are at their peak of perfection?

Bramley seedlings are grown here, lovely cooking apples and oh soooooo big.

Annette

-flora, the decision to take down the tree was in no way made lightly, nor was it merely for the sake of aesthetics. I am a huge believer in keeping trees even though they might not be either useful or beautiful.
Just saying, there are sometimes extenuating circumstances... :-)
CMK

Just to be clear, diseased apple trees are a big problem in the state of Washington. We have "apple maggot quarantine area" signs everywhere. Remember, eastern WA is one of the biggest apple growing areas in the world.

We also have many restrictions on types of grapes that we can buy here...central WA produces a lot of wine.

Plus, if CMK cut down a tree, it had to be in bad shape!

Lavender Lass. I have posted many pics of my gardens on other sites like Dave's Garden and the Baker Creek Forum, but I don't like how pics are loaded here on Garden Web. I do not want to start a Photo Bucket account or a Flicker account, etc. The other sites let you simply browse your computer files to load a pic.

Annette - I don't want you labour under a misapprehension -that tree's not in my garden, it's just an example of how nice an old apple tree can look.

CMK - if it had to go it had to go. But it is a pity.

We have fruit trees: quince, crabapple, persimmon, fig, pomegranate, kumquat, and orange. I have blueberries that are 2 years old but are in too much shade so will need to move them. Also have a guava that has never had fruit but maybe needs a pollinator. I plan to buy a Meyer lemon soon. We like to plant trees that give us fruit that we wouldn't normally see at the store. (By the way we are experiencing several tremblors right now! Will have to check how big they are...always kind of scary! We are in CA)

So far I only have rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries. I'm reading up on grapes to see if that's something I might like to do. I bought myself an arbor but haven't decided what will go on it.

I've been thinking of putting some blueberry bushes in the garden. I hear they are beautiful bushes, but only see the tiny little sticks from the big box stores, and have a hard time imagining how long that little stick will take to form a bush!

But, thanks for this post. It has really given me something to start planning. :)

An old knarled apple tree in my orchard. Still hanging in there. A fruit tree pruner who visited my place once remarked, when I was alarmed at the large crevice, "Don't jump to conclusions, I've seen old apple trees in MUCH worse shape than yours and they're still producing!" That was many years ago, tho; this Spring it looks to be leaning a tad more than usual. Has always bloomed beautifully and produced small bitter apples. It's hard to cut down any tree. With proper pruning this one could possibly have survived a few more years.

{{gwi:645784}}

{{gwi:645786}}

{{gwi:645788}}

Like scully, I think I have fruit trees in the garden. I see trees, it's just that I rarely see fruit.

The "Snow Queen" Nectarine is kept very small so I can wrap it in wire, bird netting, and upside down vaseline-covered plastic pots at the trunk to keep out the squirrels and rats. That never works. We got one nectarine last year.

The avocados are too big for that- so I eat squirrel-bitten avocados. I stand a fighting chance with the Oro Blanco grapefruit and the sour oranges that are supposed to be Valencias, because the squirrels find them unpalatable.

I'm growing ground cherries this year- we'll see if I get to try one before they are stolen.

You'd think the little wretches would be content with the endless supply of peanuts they steal from the scrubjays, the vegetables from the potager, my sunflowers, and the chickenfeed, but I guess they need dessert.

Renee