While it's a bit late to be installing woody plants of any kind in local landscapes as the prime planting season has just passed, it's never too late. Late plantings just require more attention to get them established in less favorable environmental conditions and help them survive the first summer. That said and you still want to plant something in your landscape, have you ever considered adding some kind of a fruit plant? Perhaps you have never thought about a fruit plant actually contributing to the beauty of a landscape, but there are several such plants (trees, "shrubs" and vines) that have such ability. The trick is to select one or more that will provide the element that will be most pleasing to you. Is it attractive foliage? Could it be colorful flowers? Maybe it's the fragrance of the flowers it bears.
After reviewing these considerations, the next thing to do is see if you can provide an appropriate site. Nearly without exception fruiting plants need a lot of sun to supply the energy required to mature a crop of fruit. Thus a full sun location is needed. Secondly, fruiting plants also require well-drained sites. This means not only surface drainage, but also internal drainage. If you can't offer these two essentials, you might as well forget about plants which bear edible fruits. There is also another consideration. What can you do with a big crop of fruit? Is your family large enough to consume them all fresh? If not, are you willing to can or freeze them? Or will you be able to give the excess to your neighbors or perhaps to a local food bank? Maybe you would like to grow fruits to attract and enjoy wildlife. Or will you simply ignore the fruit produced and let it fall to the ground and rot? As you can see, there's a lot of thought that should go into the decision to choose a fruiting plant before one is actually planted.
Alright, the decision has been made to plant a fruiting plant of some kind. What's it going to be? That may depend on how much time you have to care for it. If time is limited, then definitely you first need to look at low maintenance fruit bearing plants. Included in this group would be figs, muscadine grapes, Oriental persimmons, blueberries and pomegranates. Pears, mayhaws and satsumas may also be good choices. Do stay away from high maintenance fruits such as peaches, plums, nectarines and apples. Blackberries and raspberries could be considered, but have almost no ornamental value and generally would be a poor choice.
With our last few winters being relatively mild, more and more homeowners are planting various kinds of citrus. Most are not winter hardy and must be protected when hard freezes are forecast, but while they are relatively small, that isn't too hard to do. The nice thing about citrus is they are evergreen and not only produce tasty fruit, but also bear flowers that offer a very nice fragrance. The Satsuma is the most hardy while oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes require more protection to survive. The solution to this problem is to plant them in large containers which can be moved to a protected area as needed.
You may have seen in nursery catalogs 5-in-1 apple trees where five varieties are grafted on to a single rootstock. A local nurseryman told me recently that this technique is now being used for citrus and he has stocked some of these plants. These would make ideal plants for container culture.
Mark your calendars for April 20. Dr. Charlie Graham, LSU Extension specialist, will be discussing this subject at the American Rose Center's "Green Thumb" seminar. Call 938-5402 or 294-0642 for information.
Joe W. White is a retired Extension horticulturist with the LSU Agricultural Center. Email him at firstname.lastname@example.org.