Tired of overpriced and underwhelming supermarket fruit? Have a sunny spot in your yard? You can grow your own fruit, and, if you preserve it, can enjoy your harvest year round.
A fruit tree gives you many more benefits besides tree-ripened fruit. Bees love fruit tree flowers. Trees fight climate change and sequester carbon. Fruit trees have beautiful flowers in the spring, and are often very attractive to look at year-round. They provide welcome shade.
However, a fruit tree does require a certain amount of work, almost like a pet. While you don’t have to walk it, or clean its litter box, you do have to keep it pruned, watered, and fertilized. The fruit has to be picked and leaves have to be swept up in the fall.
When to plant
Winter is the best season to plant a new tree in Alameda. The ground is wet from rain, and much easier to dig. Bare root trees are available starting in January. Although already planted trees are available throughout the year, bare root trees provide the best and least expensive selection. Your new tree also has the best opportunity to adjust to the soil in which you are planting it.
Climate considerations
Alameda is in USDA Zone 9, which means we only get a few frosts and the ground never freezes. Many varieties of fruit trees will not do well here, because temperate zone trees need a certain number of chill hours (defined as the cumulative number of hours that a deciduous fruit tree experiences temperatures between 32°F and 45°F during its dormant period) to set fruit. Per research by Alameda Backyard Growers, Alameda gets an average of 500 chill hours per year, which may be decreasing due to climate change.
Many varieties of fruit trees were developed for areas that get more chill hours. Bing cherries, for example, need 700-800 chill hours. A bing cherry tree planted in Alameda will grow, but you won’t get many – if any – cherries. On the other hand, blenheim apricot trees will be happy with 400 chill hours, making this tree a good choice for Alameda. Check with a local nursery for varieties that will thrive in our climate.
Where to plant
A fruit tree needs full sun and good drainage. For this reason, avoid planting your tree in the middle of your lawn. The lawn can interfere with soil breathability. If you water your lawn every day or every other day, soggy soil can lead to fungal diseases. It is best to dig the lawn away from the tree.
Buying and planting your tree
It is a good idea to dig the hole for the tree before you go out and buy it, so you can plant it immediately after you get home. Dig a hole about 18 inches wide and deep. If you have clay soil, do not amend it, since the tree will adapt to local conditions. If you are gardening on a sand dune, like me, adding organic compost, worm castings and/or planting mix to the sand will aid in nutrient and water retention. At the bottom of the hole, form a cone with the soil you dug out (with amendments added if you are adding amendments).
If you are buying a bare root tree, look for healthy, moist roots with no cracks that are relatively even in length, and a thicker than average trunk. Many varieties of bare root trees should have the top of the tree cut to the level where you want the tree to start branching. A big, healthy tree can pump out a lot of fruit, which will take days to can, dry, or freeze. Unless you are a committed homesteader, you want a smaller tree. Nursery staff will make this first cut for you, if asked.
Spread the roots of your bare root tree over the cone in the bottom of the hole and tamp soil around the roots. The graft (a thickened spot a few inches above the roots) needs to be two inches above the ground. Once you have your new tree planted to your satisfaction, water it deeply. For the first few months, the soil should be kept moist. If it isn’t raining, you will have to water frequently.
Come spring, your new tree will branch out with loads of sweet smelling blossoms, and birds will sing in its branches
Much of the information for this article came from Alameda Backyard Growers, which also runs “Project Pick,” a project that allows volunteers to pick fruit from your property and take it to the Alameda Food Bank.
Margie Siegal is a long term gardener in Alameda and a supporter of Alameda Backyard Growers. Reach her via [email protected].
