I suggest you read some info at the following site. It is PA info, but the Cornell, NY site was not as easy navigable. http://tfpg.cas.psu.edu/default.htm You have a wide range of choices, but generally you need two varieties to ensure pollination and a good fruit set: http://tfpg.cas.psu.edu/default.htm fwiw, bare root fruit trees are often priced in the ~$20 range plus shipping, but you wantto make sure you have both the correct variety and rootstock (you will seldom see rootstock info at local sources).

I'm in Rocky Mountain foothill Z5a, which would be pretty different from Midwest 5. My hit list: "Glenora" grape. The only thing fruiting this year after the terrible cold snap of early February. Produces second-rate fruit for a couple of years before it gets going. "Polly" white peach. Cold snap killed the blossoms this year, but otherwise its in fine shape. Its available as a special order from Bay Laurel Nursery. It was slow to come into production, but faultless once it did. "Redhaven" yellow peach. A little marginal for my area, but it seems to almost have a will to produce fruit for you. Its widely available, and very high quality. I am pretty sure you can get one and plant it this weekend. "Rosy Gage" plum is shaping up to be a VERY good plum. A little shy bearing so far, but its still a new plum, and I had pollination issues to solve. I have an idea once it hits maturity it will produce well in a good year. Pollination is an issue with Euro plums more than other trees. You have to make sure you have the right combination. "Castleton Plum?" My fall planted [a mistake in z5] "Castleton" died in the Big Freeze of course. I'm not terribly satisfied with the pollinators I have for "Rosy Gage" I would double check to make sure it cross-pollinates with "Rosy Gage" If it does I would go for it. This is in the realm of speculation and reputation rather than experience, however. Apricots: If you live in an area where you can even occasionally get a crop, you should grow an adapted apricot. There is just no comparison to a store-bought apricot. None. Furthermore, apricots if it grows well in your area are extraordinarily attractive trees that deserve a high-profile spot in your landscape. I like the taste of Wilson Delicious from Stark's best of all. 'Moorpark' works OK too. But as I mentioned, in my area the crop is an afterthought. Sorry, not enough luck with apples or pears to make a recommendation. As I mentioned, if you live Back East, these recommendations don't mean much.

1. Get a Sunset Western Garden Book. 2. Forget USDA Zones and Heat Zones when it comes to planting appropriate fruit trees for you. 3. MANY citrus will do well in your area; it will boil down to your personal tastes (as in actual "taste".) 4. "Chilling hours" is a concept for determing success of deciduous fruit trees (e.g. appleas, pears, apricots, peaches, etc.). Not for citrus. And yes, you are in an area where "low-chill" fruits will have to be chosen. I'm thinking, too, that 300 hours is on the high side for you in Rancho Bernardo. 150 hours is probably closer. There are plenty of such VERY low-chilling trees. 5. Dwarf trees are slow-growing to maybe 6 feet. I've never found them to be as productive overall as I would like. If you have the room, choose semi-dwarf trees. 6. If you want lots of varieties but don't have lots of space, do consider the practice of planting 3 or 4 fruit trees to a single hole. If you do this you must plant the same type of fruit in the same hole (i.e., oranges with oranges, peaches with peaches, etc.) as well as make sure they are on the same rootstock. Don't experiment with "fruit-cocktail" trees.

Blueberries for sure - they are easy here in NC, I have 12 different varieties, the best producing is Tifblue, but some were from unnamed plastic wrapped box packaged no name variety from Home Depot that grow and produce just fine. Fig trees may get wiped out with ice/snow/freeze every 4 or 5 years but will come back from the roots. They do get quite large and I hate to prune them so they are out in the way back (all 12) and are now 15'x15'. Easiest is common Brown Turkey that is prolific but the best tasting are Chicago Hardy, Black Mission. and Celeste. My biggest success was with dual variety grafted Asian Pear, but just before they fattened up the squirrels carried them all off in a matter of hours. I've learned that I have to put bird netting over all for them to tangle in, and hot pepper spray consistently when the fruit begins to be fruit and to be patient. Other than that they are pest free and don't require much care, are very pretty trees that doesn't get too tall or wide -- well worth it when the little fruits sell at Market for $1.50 each!!!!! and they make wonderful jam. Consider strawberries for a ground cover and that vegetables don't have to be in a vegetable garden especially with your garden's orientation to the sun, carrots have lovely leaves, leeks put on quite a show, sweet potatoes are gorgeous. The dwarf tomato plants seem to keep a lot of critters at bay, and basil is a really pretty plant over all, no matter the color of the leaves. I planted cucumbers in my front yard once when I lived in a subdivision and all the neighbors went nuts watching them twirl and wind un-trellised, growing a foot a day for sure, completely covering the "decorative gravel" the HOA made us use instead of lawn. Lots of pickles were given out that year much to everyone's delight. Rosemary grows wonderfully well here without pests and replaces those ugly green meatballs the contractors plant from one end of the US to the other, still growing ugly for 50 years and totally worthless. Grapes like to take over and the Japanese Beetles love them (use BT every 5 years for easy elimination of that pest). I grow some just for stuffing into Dolmas but have not had much luck getting a crop of edible fruit all at once because the birds do too. They really have to be trained, like weekly it seems, to keep them in moderation. I had one grow up a 40' ham radio tower in one season. One thing to think about is your lawn. Grass and all its needs for yucky chemicals is not so good for things you want to eat, and pine needles are a fire hazard. Think xeroscaping or ground covers instead. My friend asked, "When do you have enough plants?", and I replied, "When you can't see the ground." And, think of the birds too. In the dead of winter they love the native American Beautyberry, Cotoneaster, Pyracantha, Mahonia (people edible for jam too), and lots of Viburnum in various shapes and sizes that also provide beautiful flowers pest free. Some fruits you do not want are: Apples - cedar rust disease carrier/host because of our native red cedar trees, Peaches - heavily sprayed with chemicals is the only way to get a crop (of chemical laden fruit), Pear trees - fire blight magnet, Paw Paw - very slow to fruit and not very interesting visually, only eaten fresh and rather insipid, Blackberries - take over the world with underground roots that pop up everywhere even years later and compete with our native seedy blackberries without flavor, Crabapples - deer magnets who will come back for years and paw the ground where they were forever and ever, Raspberries - never produce fruit after the first year and die consistently without reason, Rhubarb - will never produce because our climate is too humid and we don't get a deep enough ground freeze. To answer your question about getting rid of everything that is there now - here's my motto: "This space is mine!" Nancy