home sectionhome sectionThe "Spring Snow" crab apple (Malus x "Spring Snow") produces spectacular blooms and showy fall foliage. This tree works well in borders, screens and small backyards throughout U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 or 4 through 8. Because this tree bears no messy fruit, you can also enjoy the spring blooms by planting it next to your patio, deck or driveway.
Growing your own fruit can be extremely rewarding and there is nothing better than biting into a homegrown, juicy peach. Peach trees need quite a bit of care and attention though to successfully grow in your home garden. One of the biggest problems is damage caused by cold winters or frost. Certainly, you should not attempt to grow peaches if you are outside U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 to 8, as the climate is unsuitable. On average, you would expect to plant about four peach trees to produce abundant fruit for the whole family.
Persimmons are often thought of as a tree for southern climates, and indeed, some varieties grow only in warm regions. Fortunately, a few varieties are well-suited to Ohio. These trees produce abundant fruit within three to five years and also make fine shade trees. Growing 35 to 60 feet tall, these trees have a rounded canopy and hard wood. The secret to growing persimmons lies in choosing a variety adapted to cold winters.
The taste of a freshly picked apple is one of the sweetest flavors of summer and early fall. Although apple trees (Malus domestica) thrive in many areas, it's important to select a variety that is suited to your region's weather conditions. Thanks to it's mild climate, the Seattle area is a perfect place to grow apple trees such as "Honeycrisp," but you'll also need another apple variety for your "Honeycrisp" to bear fruit.
Bradford pear trees (Pyrus calleryana "Bradford") are prized for their masses of attractive -- albeit stinky -- spring blooms. The show the trees put on in the fall is equally stunning. Although prone to breakage, Bradford pears are otherwise hardy and are rarely bothered by insect pests or diseases. Still, the trees are overused, according to the University of Connecticut Plant Database, and are categorized as an invasive species.
The fig is a small, pear-shaped fruit that is native to the Mediterranean. The Texas Agricultural Extension Service identifies four distinct horticultural types of figs. Easy to pick by hand, figs grow on short, thornless trees that can get tall enough to produce fruit out of reach from the ground if the trees are left to grow unattended. Several tools will help you collect ripe fruit growing on the higher limbs of your fig tree.
The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is native to southern Asia, though it has long been cultivated throughout the Mediterranean, with evidence of its use throughout southern Spain and in ancient Assyrian and Egyptian cultures. With glossy, deep green leaves and colorful flowers and fruits, it makes a popular planting, whether for ornament or fruit production.
Pleurotus cornucopiae, also known as branched oyster mushroom, is an edible mushroom used to flavor many types of foods. These mushrooms receive their common name from the white, round caps of their fruiting bodies, which resemble oysters. The undersides of the mushrooms are gilled and oyster mushrooms develop only on wood in nature. Growing pleurotus cornucopiae at home is a simple process with the right setup and a basic understanding of mushroom biology.
The giant persimmon tree (Diospyros kaki “Fuyugaki”) is the most commonly grown persimmon. The tree produces large fruit that turns red when ripe. Giant persimmons are typically grafted onto D. kaki rootstock in warm regions. Growers in the eastern United States have better luck with D. virginiana rootstock, as it is more cold hardy. That said, a root cutting from the giant persimmon tree, depending upon the rootstock to which it is grafted, will produce a tree exactly like the rootstock. Planting a root cutting is one of the easiest ways to propagate a tree.
As a general rule, fruit trees fare best in a sunny location, as extensive hours of sunlight help the fruit to ripen fully. Nonetheless, certain dwarf species can grow well in shaded locations, especially if you aren't growing them specifically for edible fruit. When choosing a tree for a particular location, take all the local conditions into consideration, including pH level and wind as well as sun exposure and available space.
While yellow is the typical color you think of and see when you come across pollen, some trees produce flowers that have white pollen. If your allergies act up when you see a lot of pollen around, that white color can make it easier to identify what’s annoying you, even in spring months like May, when many plants are releasing pollen. However, sometimes what you’re seeing isn’t pollen but seeds.
Some of the roughly 50 yucca species grow tall, woody trunks like trees. These evergreen succulents with spear leaves are native to the Americas. Yuccas, which are members of the lily family, grow in a variety of climates – but mostly in warm, dry regions such as the Southwestern United States. They are planted extensively as landscape plants.
Fig trees are native to Mediterranean climates. They grow well in areas with mild temperatures, such as Texas, California and Florida. Grafting two varieties of fig trees allows you to produce a specimen with optimal growth and fruiting habits. Most varieties of fig trees grow rapidly from seeds and from tissue cultures. Like many varieties of fruiting trees, fig trees accept branch grafts fairly rapidly. Cleft grafting is a common method of propagating fig tree cultivars. The best time to graft fig trees is during the late winter, shortly before they begin their active phase of growth.
Wooden foundation posts aren't as common in building construction nowadays compared to concrete and block foundation systems. However, using wooden posts or piers may still provide a long-term and durable base to build a small shed, rustic log cabin or patio deck. The main concern about the wood used in foundation posts or pier systems is exposure to moisture. Some trees' wood is naturally resistant to rot or has slow decomposition rates, making them better choices for construction use. Fragrant oils in certain woods deter insect damage, too.
Dwarf pear trees are often sought by homeowners for their compact size and ease of care when compared to full-sized pear trees. While they are smaller, either genetically or due to being grafted to dwarf rootstock, dwarf pear trees still require trimming and training like any other fruit tree. Proper trimming and training throughout the life of the pear tree will lead to higher-quality fruits and less overall labor for the home gardener.
Several factors influence an orange tree's fruit production. Young trees don't fruit until they are around three years of age. Trees in poor health that aren't supplied with water and fertilizer may never flower. Climactic conditions, such as freezing temperatures or extreme drought, can also affect flowering and fruit set. Pollination is a key factor as well since all flowers, even self-pollinating ones like an orange flower, need an insect or other agent to aid in pollination.
Horticulturists grow fruit-bearing shrubs for the fruit they produce. Many fruit-bearing shrubs show beautiful arrays of flowers and leaves, making them suitable for ornamental purposes. Fruit-bearing varieties provide shade for smaller plants that need partial sunlight for growth. Most fruit-bearing shrubs are deciduous perennials, which means they live for more than one year and lose their leaves during the fall.
The crabapple tree is a flowering member of the rose family. Considered an ornamental, the crabapple produces eye-catching pink blooms and tiny yellow to red fruit in the spring and summer months. Crabapple trees propagate readily from seed but also grow successfully from stem cuttings. Crabapple softwood cuttings taken from the parent tree just after new growth develops during the months of May, June or July have the highest rate of success.
The Indian laurel fig (Ficus microcarpa “nitida”) is an evergreen tree native to Malaysia and India. This tree has a moderate and spreading growth pattern that features dense rounded canopies and widths typically a little greater than the tree’s height. Indian laurel fig trees grow best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 and 10. These trees are drought-tolerant and require minimal maintenance once established, apart from a trimming periodically to maintain the tree’s appearance and health.
Forcing blossoms is a way to bring some color indoors and cure the wintertime blues. Many gardeners choose to force their crab apple blossoms for the pleasing pink color they exhibit. This can be accomplished in early spring, before the flowers usually emerge. The idea is to mimic springtime conditions, with warmth and low light. Best results for forced blooming occur when you cut the stems close to their true bloom time. Once mid-March arrives and buds are formed, they are ready to be forced indoors.
Sycamore trees are one of the largest varieties of broadleaf trees in North America, according to the University of Florida. Although mature specimens are useful as shade trees in some settings, they can be difficult to kill in unwanted locations. Cutting a sycamore eliminates the need for chemicals. This tree can form new growth from the stump, making it necessary to kill the entire root system. The best time to remove an unwanted sycamore tree is while it is still young and small. Unless you are a licensed arborist, you should leave the removal of large, mature sycamore trees to…
Because persimmons get so large and heavy -- and because wood is quite brittle -- the first goal of pruning persimmon trees is to develop a strong branch network capable of supporting the crop weight. Persimmon trees are generally trained to the modified central leader system. This means that trees are shaped to develop a central leader and up to seven sturdy main lateral branches surrounding it. Once these structural branches develop, the central leader is removed. According to University of California Extension, this pruning style is sometimes also called a delayed open center system. Make major structural pruning cuts…
Fig trees can be interesting and useful landscape specimens, but sometimes they need a new growing spot. Moving your tree can be a difficult feat. Trees larger than 3 inches in diameter may require special heavy transport equipment. This may include tree spades or, for very large trees, cranes. When replanting, fig trees should be spaced 10 to 20 feet apart. Be sure to choose a new growing location where conditions are ideal.
Grapevines bring rustic, rambling charm to home gardens and grow for over 30 years with the right care. They always require bright sunshine, crumbly, rich soil, support and moisture to bear their fruit. They fail without these conditions. Muscadine grapevines come with additional pollination and fruiting complications. Muscadines, or scuppernongs, grow in male, female and perfect flowered varieties. Female vines cannot pollinate themselves, so they cannot grow fruit on their own. To produce guaranteed muscadine grape harvests, plant male and female or perfect flowered vines near each other for pollination.
Honeycrisp is a variety of apple tree developed in 1960 and produces fruit in the early to mid-fall months. The apples are red skinned and have a diameter of between 2 3/4 and 3 1/2 inches, according to the University of Minnesota Extension. Growing your own Honeycrisp apple tree is just like growing any other variety of apple in the home landscape. It is hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture growing zone 3b. Wait until the fall or the very early spring to plant the Honeycrisp tree.
When it comes to fruit trees, the terms “dwarf” and “miniature” are often used interchangeably, although dwarf frequently refers to small orchard trees, while miniature often describes small, potted trees that are grown as ornamental patio plants or houseplants. Fruit trees require grafting to make smaller varieties. Very small varieties tend to grow slowly, while standard-sized trees generally grow larger and live longer than the smaller trees.
Growing fruit trees in your landscape provides an attractive addition to your landscape, as well as a method of obtaining fresh fruit. Commercial growers often select their cultivars based on the size of the mature trees. Standard size trees are trees in their original form, while both semi-dwarf and dwarf trees consist of grafted trees. The rootstock determines the size at maturity.
A crab tree — or crab apple tree — is a deciduous species that flowers in spring and produces small edible fruit in summer. Like a relative, the full-size apple tree, crab trees may display nonproductive growth such as water sprouts and suckers. According to the Virginia Cooperative Extension, such growth tends to crop up following a significant pruning, but they also may appear periodically throughout the life of the tree for no discernible reason. Water sprouts siphon vital nutrients and water that otherwise would be used by the tree to produce flowering and fruiting branches. Their removal is a…
Pears are America’s number-two fruit, second only in overall popularity to apples. Because they take some skill and effort to grow – and because pear trees aren’t as cold hardy as apples – homegrown pears aren’t for every home gardener. But most people can grow them without too much trouble. When you plant pears depends in part on your climate, and also whether you plant bare-root or young potted trees.
Grapes bear long, trailing vines, dusky foliage and juicy crops every year for home gardeners, and require specific conditions in home gardens. These warm-season crops enjoy long frost-free seasons, generous sun exposure and good nutrition, and cannot bear their fruit without these conditions. Mustang grapes are wild Texas natives and bear highly fragrant, sweet fruit in the face of extreme heat and drought. If your mustang grapevines refuse to produce, take some specific steps in early spring to encourage them.
Persimmon trees come in a variety of cultivars. The Fuyu persimmon belongs to the Ebenaceae family of plants. The fruits of this tree are less astringent than some other varieties of persimmons. Grafting is a common manner of propagating this type of fruit tree. Whip-grafting along the rootstock is the preferred method of grafting persimmon trees, according to the University of Hawaii Extension. Grafting is an inexpensive way of increasing the number of Fuyu trees in your persimmon orchard.
Nectarines are close relatives of the peach, with the main difference being that the skin is smooth without the furry texture of peaches. The Snow Queen variety is a white-fleshed nectarine that ripens slightly earlier than other varieties, typically in May. The flesh of this variety is also much softer than that of other nectarines. Although you can purchase a Snow Queen seedling, you can also grow a tree from a pit.
The Fuji variety of apple tree produces dark red apples with a crisp texture and sweet flavor. Fuji apple trees are not self-fruitful, which means the tree needs pollination from another apple tree variety and a pollinator to set fruit. Without pollination, the tree will flower, but the tree will not set fruit. After pollination, the tree will have mature fruit ready to harvest in September.
The fruit of the Korean pear tree — which is a hybrid — is known by many names, including Korean pear, Asian pear, Chinese pear, apple pear and sand pear. According to the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the fruit was introduced to the United States in the 1800s, and the commercial growth is concentrated in California and Oregon. The trees are planted much like other pear trees — except for a difference in spacing which depends on the rootstock, soil, location and the grower's preference.
Ultra dwarf and semidwarf fruit trees are grown by grafting one variety of fruit tree to another variety of fruit tree. Grafting the trees causes a dwarfing effect, but the size of the tree doesn’t affect the size of the fruit grown on the trees. Ultra dwarf trees are ideal container plants because of the size at maturity.
If you've ever bitten into an unripe persimmon and puckered up, you may not care if any persimmon tree anywhere ever produces fruit again. If you've sampled the ripe fruits, and want to grow your own, it requires some detective work to sort out which persimmon trees need pollinators and which do not.
Black fig tree varieties include Italian black, black Mission figs, black Jack, black Celeste and Beer’s black. Figs are indigenous to the Middle East and are one of the earliest known cultivated crops. The black Mission fig was brought to California by Franciscan monks in the 18th century and to the East Coast in the 17th century. They are easy to grow and flourish in a variety of soils with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5.
Kindness-tree crafts are perennially popular and can take many forms. Essentially they are a display of bare branches ornamented with paper leaves recording acts of kindness that children perform. The activities foster positive behavior and build a sense of community. They offer an opportunity to be creative and can be an attractive and inspiring focal point for a classroom or home. Kindness-tree crafts are an engaging activity for any age, from small children to teenagers.
Semidwarf and dwarf fruit trees are grafted onto standard rootstock to start growing. The trees have more of an ornamental value because of their small size compared to standard-sized trees. The most common dwarf and semidwarf fruit trees are the apple and pear tree. Other fruit trees such as cherry and peach trees may be offered in dwarf or semidwarf versions at some nurseries, but these varieties are not popular because of their short lifespan due to disease.
In general, flowering plants typically need to be pollinated before they will bear fruit. Some varieties of orange trees and other citrus fruits, however, offer an interesting exception. These trees are parthenocarpic, meaning they can yield fruit without sexual fertilization. Since fruit produced in this fashion are seedless, parthenocarpy is considered a desirable trait for the most part.
Persimmons are slow growing trees that need little pruning once they mature. However, if you have just planted a persimmon, or if you have a very young tree, you have an opportunity to shape the tree and encourage fruiting as the persimmon develops. Typically, the tree bears fruit after four to six years. Tree shape may be left to its own accord, trimmed to contain its size, cropped to a bush or even grown as an espalier -- trained so it will grow against a flat plane, such as a wall, fence or trellis.
Black rot on persimmons is caused by several different fungi that thrive in hot and humid conditions, where there is an abundance of rainfall or irrigation. Black rot is detrimental to persimmon crops and can persist for several seasons. The fruits, leaves, shoots and trunk are all affected by black rot disease. The fruits form on the bottom black spots that enlarge until the entire fruit is black and shriveled, but still clinging to the persimmon tree. The leaves form purple flecks that grow in size and turn brown in the centers. Dark, sunken, water-soaked spots on the shoots and…
Flowering crabapple trees, members of the Malus genus, are enjoyed for attractive blooms, edible fruits, generally low maintenance requirements and a wide selection of varieties that offer different growth habits. Dwarf crabapple cultivars grow between about 4 and 10 feet tall, depending on the specimen, making them suitable for landscapes with limited available space or in containers. Dwarf crabapple trees benefit from occasional pruning for shaping and maintenance.
The fuyu persimmon is an oriental, or Japanese, variety of persimmon tree. Oriental persimmons were brought to the United States by Commodore Perry after his expedition to Japan in 1852. Widely planted in Japan, the fuyu is popular for its nonastringent fruit and ease of cultivation. Like other nonastringent varieties, the fruits are sweet while still crisp; you do not have to wait for the fruit to soften before you eat it. Oriental varieties of persimmon thrive in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 7 through 10.
Bark grows in a wide variety of colors, textures and forms, from rough and thick, to thin and lustrous and shiny and exfoliating. Some tree bark changes with age, such as the paper bark birch, which has white, exfoliating bark that peels away to reveal an orange under layer. Though shiny bark adds color and texture to the landscape year-round, it’s especially desirable in winter when deciduous trees lose their foliage.
European pears come in several varieties, but they can be difficult to grow because of fire blight infestation. If you are going to grow them in your home garden, select disease-resistant varieties and dwarf kinds, which will reach up to 10 feet and are much easier to maintain than full-sized trees. You will need at least two trees so they can cross-pollinate. Plant them in winter or early spring while the roots are dormant.
Ornamental and fruiting pears are an attractive addition to any garden, producing masses of blooms in spring. The trees thrive in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 to 8. Pears produce the best flowers and fruits when they grow in full sun and well-drained soil. Although you can transplant young pear trees from their nursery containers any time of year, doing so in winter or early spring, while the trees are still dormant, gives the trees more time to establish themselves in the yard before new growth begins in spring. Moving a young pear tree from one part…
Flowering crabapple trees have to be planted in a very specific way. Learn how to plant flowering crabapple trees with help from a certified horticulturist in this free video clip.
Whether it is smooth, rough or shaggy, tree bark serves several important functions, including protecting the tree from damage, aiding in moisture retention and guarding against temperature extremes. Many saplings begin life with smooth bark only to develop distinguishing furrows and ridges with maturity. However, a few trees retain smooth or nearly smooth bark throughout their entire lives.
Sea Grape (Coccoloba uvifera) is a shrub or small tree widely used in tropical landscaping. The plant adapts to the poorest of soils, requires little care once established and provides a habitat for birds and sea turtles. In the wild, sea grape is found growing in agrarian abundance on sea cliffs and sand dunes. Fiddle-leaf figs (Ficus lyrata) also grow in tropical climates. The plant has an upright growing habit and will reach up to 6 ft. at maturity. Fiddle-leaf fig is often used as an indoor houseplant and is the most common and largest leafed of the houseplant fig…
