From what I understand, birds and squirrels, your typical backyard wildlife, don't really care for vegetables, particularly tomatoes. Although I know squirrels LOVE corn. Anyways, as mentioned above, they are probably looking to get a drink, and they've found plenty of liquid in your tomatoes. As also mentioned, putting out a bird bath will provide them the water they are looking for. We feed the birds here, and have a birdbath as well, and have never had issues with birds damaging anything, except fruit. They love raspberries and such, but those things spread so fast, that a few missing berries is ok. Oh, and if/when you put out a birdbath, you'll start getting algae growth in it after a few days. To combat this, put some copper into the water. Pennies are not copper, so they won't work. I just tossed a 6" piece of bare copper wire into the bath, and I don't get algae at all. Birds can be a good thing to help eat bugs from your garden, so attracting them isn't all that bad. Good luck! Joe

It's okay to have grass or other plants growing beneath your fruit trees. For the home gardener, that won't affect your crop enough to matter (it's different for farmers, who need maximum production). I've grown fruit trees in our lawn in Southern California, Wisconsin, and Indiana. For grouping the trees, I think it looks more pleasing to group deciduous trees with other deciduous trees, and citrus with other citrus. I like having citrus planted along the route we take from the car to the house, because that way we can enjoy their fragrance as we come and go. One way to plant deciduous fruit trees in a more natural arrangement is to plant similar trees in groups of three, here and there in your yard. (I'm not talking about the three-in-one-hole method; you'll still space them out some). For instance, you might have three apple trees in one area, three peaches in another, and so on. That also helps with fertilization if you're growing apples or plums or other trees that are not self-fertile. When you plant the groups, don't put them in rigid triangles; if you stagger them a little, they look more natural. You might want to have one or two pairs of trees, too, to help with the natural look. Blueberries make a very pretty hedge, so you might want to plant those along the front or side of your property. Blackberries can be very unruly. I would put those where they're not particularly visible. Raspberries make quite a nice hedge. In Wisconsin, we planted the everbearing raspberries, because you can just mow them down once a year --very easy care! We had them as a border between our lawn and flower garden (they will spread, though, so we kept a strip of lawn on each side of them and mowed it regularly to keep them in check). Cherries will definitely need bird netting. It's good you're using dwarf trees! I'm not sure about blueberries. You live near my favorite nursery, Annie's Annuals and Perennials in Richmond. She carries a grape called Emeryville Pink that will succeed in your area. It's listed in her online catalog under Vitis Emeryville Pink. It's not available all the time, though, so you might want to call them and ask when they'll have it next. I hope this helps. Good luck with your garden! I'm sure it will be beautiful and fruitful. Jennifer Here is a link that might be useful: Emeryville Pink Grape

I feel a list coming on (they are all in the ground): Citrus: Blood Orange - from seed to 2ft in three years, no complaints Meyer Lemon - one gallon gift has yielded lemons all three years, thriving Palms: Canary Island Date Palm - from three gallon to monster, if you have the room this is your palm Silver Date Palm - Seedling is adjusting but putting out new fronds, so far so good Bismarkia nobilis - Seedling is sulking, I hope that it is establishing its roots and puts out some growth this summer or I think that winter will kill it Chinese Fan Palm - Establishing itself, so far so good Foxtail Palm - Seedling in sun scorched to death, seedling in shade putting out new growth, three gallon in semi-sun recovering nicely from a nursery- induced spider mite infestation Pygmy Date Palm - growing as fast as these little guys do Mexican Fan Palm - Until Tropical Storm Cindy this was a big success, now it is looking really stressed, I think the roots were disturbed by the wind Queen Palms - Coming along a little more slowly than I expected, next year will tell Sabal Palm - This was a gift of a bird to the yard and is probably ten years old, it is finally developing some trunk Gingers: five species all thriving (except for the ones that the yard guy weed eats) Cassias: alata and one other whose name escapes me, too successful, want some? Cannas: at least five cultivars, Wyoming looks the best, all have leaf roller issues Alocasia: thriving in shade and sun Colocasia: sulking, too much shade, not enough water Bananas: ornata, rojo, and one that I rustled from a construction site are all thriving, they are a maintenance chore, but when kept in check nothing beats them Firespike: perfect for deep shade Tree Fern: I would not trade my Australian Tree Ferns for anything, one has more than three feet of trunk, this is the first year for the Tasmanian Tree Fern, they are all planted under trees to protect from radiational cooling Rice Paper Plant: thriving, which is both good (they resemble gunnera which we can't grow here) and bad (they pop up everywhere) Root Beer Plant: piper auretum (or something like that), it is thriving, Cindy's winds made me cut it way back, it runs like bamboo, sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it, to do over I would have put it in an area that I could control better, it has a great leaf shape if you are into that sort of thing Cuphias: I have five species of these "cigar" plants, beetles have really chewed them up this year and I have tried unsuccessfully to control them, it is an off year Castor Bean: I grow it, but not with much enthusiasm, they grow tall quickly and flop over just as quickly Clerendum uganese: An off year, I suspect some root rot Bottle brush: If you don't have one you should, great screening plant that attracts hummers, blooms heavily in spring and sporatically during the rest of the year (like now), from ten inch plant to small tree in six years Nigh blooming jasmine: you either love it or hate it Brugmansia: I don't know what cultivar it is, it was sold to me as a "white" one, but it is more of a "salmon/peach", I grow it in part sun rather than full sun, I think you get a better canopy of leaves this way, this is the best smelling flower that I have ever encountered, it can freeze to the ground and become a small tree in one season Lantana: I grow an orange and a white one, they come from an era when I wanted bulletproof plants, overrated as butterfly plants Justicas: I grow shrimp (red bracts), flamingo (pink) and hummingbird (orange) plants, these are somewhat too successful Morning Glory Tree: I don't know what to do with this because of it unusual form, it blooms when nothing else does, however, it is an awkward plant (to 20ft high) I know that I am forgetting a few like the monkey face and a few tender salvias, but it is a start.

Oranges and lemons are definitely out for Oklahoma. It will get too cold here for them, unless you plant them in pots that you bring indoors over winter, as Randy suggests. Cherries, apples, and pears can be grown here - usually the birds get the cherries. You will need to check out the warmer climate varieties because usually these fruits are grown best in cooler zones than ours. We get really, really hot and humid in summer! It will be a zone 7b I believe in that area for you. Welcome to Oklahoma, and feel free to ask any questions you like. Susan