Steve, Meader is not self-fertile; however, it is a member of the Early Golden/Garretson family, members of which have a genetic propensity for occasionally having a branch here and there that produces male flowers which can fertilize the female flowers on the rest of the tree - which will result in seeded fruits. Meader will often set seedless fruits in the PNW, but that's a climatic fluke - in the east, you'll either get overproduction of seeded fruit(translating into small fruit size) or no fruit production at all if there is no 90-chromosome persimmon pollen around to fertilize the female flowers on your tree. If there are no native 90-chromosome male persimmons in your area, I'd advise planting one - or even better yet, one of the polygamodioecious(bisexual male) selections, such as Szukis or Claypool F-100. Like gene, I also have some deep-woods persimmons on the farm here that are probably 60 ft tall - and 40+ ft to the first remaining branch; but open-grown persimmons are more likely to take on a spreading orchard-tree type of growth habit, not unlike a standard apple tree. I'm not tech-savvy enough to post photos here, but if you'll send me an email, I've got some photos of heavy-bearing open-grown persimmon trees, and some close-ups of the flowers that I can send as email attachments.

What I have learned about planting a tree: There is ALWAYS a reason not to plant a tree. Most of them are poor ones. Most of them come from people with an agenda. Yet by all means, never trust anyone from a nursery. They are money grubbing ignorami who are never hired for actually knowing anything. Yet there is only one reason to plant a tree that means anything: Do you want to? For any reason? (fall color, flowers, screening, wind, shade, innate beauty, etc.). Walk down practically any street in practically any city in practically any country, and I'll place odds you can find something wrong with just about every tree you see. Just peruse the explanations cited above: It's planted too close, utility lines of one kind or another, too large, wrong kind of tree for whatever reason, most of them personal and highly subjective. Yet lost in all the clutter are some of the best reasons, and they are reasons to plant a tree. A sociologist at the U of Illinois has conducted some research that says a view of a tree, even a pitiful tree, leads one to a happier outlook on life and a greater likelihood of civility to neighbors. So, to draw the insane conclusions that people seems to love, plant a tree, save a life. Surely that's not too high to save a life? Also, it's estimated that a healthy urban forest can reduce the temperatures of cities by up to 20 degrees. Given the number of headlines regarding global warming (including how elk contribute to it), that would darn near be enough to scare me into planting far more trees than needed. OK, enough of the hyperbole. There is one practical rule to follow when planting near a house: Don't plant a tree that will grow taller than the eave under the eave. Everything else can be influenced...or pruned.

What types of evergreens? If they are close to the neighbors side, are they ok with that? Some evergreens shed their needles and can be messy. Some grow quickly, some grow very slow, most grow in width as well as up and will quickly spread into the space there...and most are likely to give a lot of shade, meaning that you will be limited on what you can plant around them if there is not much sun. Pachysandra is a nice ground cover, very low maintainence and stays green all year. But, it does spread fast. I wouldn't put any ground cover if you have any desire to grow flower there at any point. If it were me, I would put up a hedge type shrub to act as a fence along the neighbors side, look for one that is pretty tame and grows fast - then you won't have to look at that boat. Gotta love people who park boats in their yard. We have neighbors with a boat the size of Rhode Island in their back yard. They got it cheap after Hurricane Katrina, took a flat bed truck and a crane to get it up here to the northeast, they put it in the yard, and there it has sat for the last several years - they worked on it for one summer and then just forgot about it, not even bothering to cover it in the winter...slowly it is turning into the world's largest birdhouse and the neighborhood's biggest eyesore...but what the heck. I digress... Anyway, hedges. Yes. And then something pretty and fast growing, centered in that space there. Like a Bradford Pear or a Wheeping Cherry. Plant pachysandra around it, or make a nice little flower bed with decorative rocks or whatever your husband wants. That's what I would do! Good luck!

Thanks acadiafun1! What a nice thing to say. :-). Haha, Abbisgram! I think 11x12 is a good sized room! The room I'm staying in until I move into my house in .June is 12x12 and I think it's huge! Kids these days. And my goodness! Some people just can't take a compliment. They have to turn everything around and be negative. Some people are just unhappy by nature and it spills over in everything they say or do. I'm guessing she was unhappy with her house to begin with, and when you gave an honest compliment, she couldn't see it. "Cozy" can mean small in real estate, but it's also a nice compliment to someone's style in making their home warm and inviting. As a teenager, one summer we got to vacation for a week at my parents' friend's cabin, which was a lovely A frame. I had never seen one before, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever! And what a mean and rude thing to say about the light! Even if she did hate it, she didn't need to say that. There's no pleasing some people.