LANDSCAPING WITH FRUIT

BEFORE YOU PLANT

CHOOSING SITES FOR FRUIT PLANTING
Choosing a site for a fruit planting involves several things. The location should be fertile and near the house. Fruit plants thrive best in fertile soil but will give good returns in average soil, especially strawberries and other small fruits. The soil should be well drained because most fruit plants cannot tolerate wet roots. With home fruit, you have a limited choice of locations to plant but winter injury problems are usually less important since home landscape locations are normally sheltered.
DECIDING WHAT TO PLANT
Select only high quality varieties that have proven. Remember that many varieties that are not suited for commercial production may be perfect in the home garden.
To prolong your harvest you may want to plant several varieties of the same fruit that mature at different times. Everbearing strawberry varieties give you fresh strawberries all summer. Fresh tasting apples and peaches can be had almost all year if you plant the right varieties and store them properly. Consider whether your varieties are adapted for freezing, canning, or for jams and jellies.
Withstanding cold is important because many fruits are prone to winter injury. So, consider both summer and winter climates when you select varieties.
The advent of dwarfed fruit trees has opened the way for successful tree fruit growing by the urban homeowner. Dwarfed trees produce the same quality fruit as the larger standard with a few advantages:
o They fruit much sooner
o They bear less fruit per tree.
o The fruit is usually larger and more highly colored.
o You can reach all parts of the tree easily.
o Smaller, less expensive spray equipment is needed.
o Dwarf trees are easier to prune, train, or espalier.


LANDSCAPING WITH FRUIT

In choosing what fruit to plant at home, you want to consider not only how it will taste but also what it will look like. While commercial fruit growers try to attain maximum yields, the homeowner has multiple goals and should be willing to sacrifice some of the harvest for the aesthetic effect.
The first step in evaluating plants for landscape use is to classify them into groups according to their growth habit as you would ornamentals. A general concept of comparative shape is an important aid for choosing locations.


USE IN LANDSCAPE SPACING BY FOOT

GROUND COVERS
Strawberry 1 ½ x 2

LOW SHRUBS
Gooseberry 3 x 6
Currant 3 x 6

TALL SHRUBS
Blueberry 4 x 9

CLIMBERS
Grapes 8 x 12
Blackberries 8 x 12

HEDGE – LOW TO MEDIUM
Red Raspberries 2 x 7
Gooseberry 3 x 8
Currant 3 x 6
Blueberries 4 x 9

TALL SCREEN
Dwarf Apple Depends on variety
Dwarf Pear 12 x 20

SMALL TREES (under 20 ft)
Dwarf Apple Depends on variety
Dwarf Pear 12 x 20
Plum 12 x 20
Cherry 20 x 24

LARGE TREES (20 ft +)
Apple Depends on variety
Pear 30 x 30
Cherry 20 x 24
Peach 18 x 22
Pecan 50 x 50
Chestnut 40 x 50
Filbert 15 x 15
Hickory 50 x 50
Black Walnut 50 x 50
English Walnut 35 x 35

SUITABLE FOR ESPALIERING
Dwarf Pear 6
Dwarf Apple 6

As you plan your landscape, feel free to mix edible and ornamental plants for a pleasing effect, but be sure to consider the maintenance requirements of each plant.
PLANTING FRUIT

MAPPING LOCATIONS

You must have a planting plan showing where different varieties will be planted. If you do not, you will probably forget what is planted where. After the paper plan is completed, put stakes in the ground where the plants will be set.
PLANTING TREE FRUITS
Keep the tree roots moist and protected from the drying effects of the air at all times during planting. The roots may be kept in water or covered with straw. Make the planting hole large enough for the roots to fan out without crowding, and deep enough so that the roots are properly covered. Cut off all broken roots at a point back of the break. Use a slanting cut on the underside so that the root will shed water better and heal more quickly. Separate roots that are twisted together even if you must remove one of the roots.
Set standard-size fruit trees at the save level or slightly deeper than they were in the nursery. In planting dwarf trees, take care that the graft union is above ground. If it is below ground, the part about the graft will develop roots and destroy the dwarfing rootstock.
PLANTING SMALL FRUITS
Plant brambles and bush fruits in the same manner as trees. Set strawberries with the crowns flush with the surface of the soil. If planted too deep or too shallow they will not do well.
PLANT CARE
SOIL
A fruit plant needs special attention to the soil before and after establishing the planting. Soil tests should be taken the season before planting to indicate fertilizer, lime, or sulfur requirements on the planting site.
MULCH
Fruit trees are often grown in grassy areas and mulch is used at the base of the tree to improve appearance and keep the tree healthy. Mulching is an excellent way for the home gardener to reduce weeds and to keep lawnmowers away from the trunk. Mulch conserves moisture, keeps the soil cool, and adds organic matter.
Mulching around small fruit is very important because weed control is essential for successful small fruit production. Maintain a heavy of 4 inches in blackberry or raspberry plantings. Straw, used to mulch strawberries during the winter, may be pulled to the side or between rows when no longer needed in the spring.


FERTILIZATION
Because fruit plants are perennials, they require a different fertility program from that of annual plants. In perennials, fertilizer applied during the current season affects winter hardiness and production the following year. In most fruit plants, nitrogen should be at its highest level during the spring and summer, and low in the fall to slow growth and reduce winter injury. Strawberries are an exception since they initiate flower buds in late August and early September.
IRRIGATION
Irrigating small fruits will increase production of large, high quality fruits more than any other practice. You can get excellent results with an ordinary lawn sprinkler or soaker hose. In general, if the rainfall is less than one inch per week, add the amount of irrigation water needed to bring the total to one inch.

GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN!!