Being able to harvest food from the home landscape has always been popular, whether growing vegetables, herbs, fruit or all three. Growing your own food always seems to get more attention during economic downturns, and the current recession is no different.
I routinely write about vegetable gardening, but homegrown fresh fruit also appeals to many gardeners. February through March, while the weather is still cool, is a great time to plant hardy fruit trees, bushes or vines in your landscape.
As a rule, plants we grow for fruit require full sun, excellent drainage and room to grow. To determine how much room you will need -- or what plants you have room for -- it is essential to find out the mature size and proper spacing of the fruit trees, shrubs and vines you want to grow. Take this into consideration when planning what to grow and locating them in your landscape.
Selecting the right fruit tree is very important. Some types are relatively easy to grow, while others are more of a challenge because of the higher maintenance required. This higher maintenance primarily involves more pruning, training and pest control.
Lower maintenance fruit include citrus, blueberry, fig, pear, loquat, blackberry, muscadine and persimmon. Fruit considered higher maintenance are apple, peach, nectarine, mayhaw, strawberry, bunch grapes and plum. Some types of fruit will not grow well in our area at all. Kiwi, cherry, apricot, raspberry and almond, for instance, do poorly in our climate and are not recommended.
Check the 'chilling hours'
For many of the fruit we grow, particularly those from cooler temperate climates, the cultivars you choose must be adapted to the mild winters of the coastal South -- look at how mild we have been this winter.
Always check that the "chilling hours" the plant requires will be satisfied by the cold we normally get. Chilling hours are the accumulated hours below 45 degrees that occur during winter. Generally, choose fruit cultivars that require around 500 chilling hours or less.
You must also know whether the fruit you want to grow is self-fruitful or requires cross-pollination.
Self-fruitful plants will pollinate themselves, and you only need to plant one. Fruits that require a pollinator will not properly pollinate themselves, and another plant of the same type of fruit, but a different cultivar, must be planted for cross-pollination and reliable production to occur.
The fig is one of the most commonly planted and easily grown fruit trees in our area. The Celeste fig is the cultivar most gardeners grow because of its reliability, and the fruit is a great size for preserves. Other good cultivars for our area include Southeastern Brown Turkey (fruit similar to Celeste but more prone to splitting and souring), Florentine (large yellow fruit), LSU Purple (medium-size reddish to dark purple fruit) and LSU Gold (large yellow fruit). Figs are self-fruitful, and you only need one tree.
Fruiting pears produce beautiful displays of white flowers in February and delicious fruit in August. Pineapple is a popular cultivar for its quality fruit (better for cooking than fresh eating) and resistance to fire blight, a bacterial disease that causes flowers and leaves at the ends of branches to suddenly turn black as if burned. Other pears to consider include Baldwin, Garber, Orient, Kieffer, Biscamp and LeConte. It is best to plant two different cultivars to ensure pollination and good fruit production.
Japanese persimmons are low-maintenance fruit trees that rarely, if ever, need to be sprayed. The major problem is fruit drop, which is generally worst the first five years after you plant the tree and then improves as the tree matures. Recommended Japanese persimmons for our area include Taninashi, Hachiya (harvest these two cultivars when the fruit is very soft), Tamopan, Fuyu and Suruga (these three cultivars are non-astringent and can be eaten when the flesh is crisp). Only one tree is needed for production.
The soils north of Lake Pontchartrain tend to be quite acidic, and this is perfect for growing rabbiteye blueberries; however, the south shore's alkaline soils make growing blueberries in the New Orleans area very challenging. Blueberry bushes are excellent for small gardens, as they stay much smaller than most fruit trees. Recommended cultivars include Tifblue, Woodard, Climax, Premier and Choice. Southern highbush blueberry cultivars, such as Cooper, Gulfcrest, Blue Ridge and Cape Fear, may also be planted. Blueberries are self-fruitful, but planting more than one cultivar improves production and quality.
Blackberries -- or brambles -- are relatively carefree to grow, with the major task being annual pruning after harvest. Trailing types, such as boysenberries, dewberries and youngberries, must be trained to a trellis or other support. Erect types include Navaho and Arapaho (these two are thornless), as well as Brazos, Shawnee and Rosborough. Blackberries are self-fruitful.
Citrus trees are commonly planted in New Orleans and are self-fruitful. Satsumas and kumquats are the most cold-hardy, tolerating temperatures in the low 20s. Oranges, grapefruit and tangelos are not quite as hardy, while lemons and limes are the most susceptible to freeze damage. Easily grown, citrus have a variety of pest problems, but none are generally too bad.
Muscadine grapes are native to our area and require a moderate amount of maintenance. Support must be provided for the vines, and the annual pruning, in which up to 90 percent of the previous year's growth is removed, can be quite a chore. There are a number of recommended cultivars. Self-fertile types can be planted individually and include Carlos, Cowart (considered one of the best), Dearing, Magnolia and Southland. Pistillate (female) cultivars, such as Fry, Higgins, Scuppernong, Hunt and Jumbo, must be planted with a self-fertile cultivar close by for pollination.
In many instances, proper pruning and training begins from the first year a fruiting plant is planted. Proper training from an early age will create the best, most productive plant, so get the information you need for the type of fruit you intend to plant.
Louisiana Home Orchard, an LSU AgCenter publication, is a free publication available at your local LSU AgCenter Extension office. It is also available online. Do an Internet search using LSU AgCenter Louisiana Home Orchard, and click on the link.
DAN GILL'S MAILBOX
I am so confused. It's early February, and my trees are budding out, my grass is green and tall and my Baby Wing begonias are almost in full bloom. Do I proceed in my garden as though it is the beginning of spring? Can I prune my Knock Out roses and crape myrtles? Can I fertilize everything? Should I wait? What are you doing about all these signs of spring? Will you wait or go forward? If it will be a very early spring, what could our summer be like?
I'm getting many emails about the mild January weather. Relax. There is absolutely no need to be confused. We live in the Deep South, where winters are often mild. We should not drastically change the timing of what we do based on the variability of weather from one year to the next. Spring is certainly here, no question about that. But, then, spring always arrives in February. Despite that, there is still a chance of a killing freeze this month. So you would generally be cautious about planting tender bedding or vegetable transplants. As to your particular questions:
Roses are pruned in late January or early February, as normal. Try to get this done before Valentine's Day.
You may fertilize your trees now. It is way too early to fertilize the lawn. This is done late March or early April. Wait to fertilize shrubs until next month. You may also fertilize cool-season bedding plants and cool-season vegetables growing in beds now.
I'm not doing anything about the signs of spring. Some things are blooming early (Indica azaleas, for instance), but I'm used to seeing lots of signs of spring this month. This is normal. I will neither wait nor go forward. I will do what I do at about the same time as I always do from year to year.
Again, everybody needs to relax about the warm winter weather. It is not an issue. What we should be concerned about in February is what we are always concerned about in February: the possibility of a hard freeze. That's what has me concerned. Spring is here, but the danger of frost will persist for a number of weeks.
What will summer be like? It will be hot. Very hot. Miserably hot. Nothing new there.
Thank you for all of the advice and help that you give to the general public. I would like to know the best edible crabapple trees that will grow in this area. Which are most disease-resistant, what are the flower colors, what size do they grow to be, and where can I buy them?
Unfortunately, our climate is too mild (there's not enough cold in winter) for the crabapples you want to grow to do well here. You don't see crabapple trees in anyone's yard, and you won't find them at the local nurseries. The LSU AgCenter has no recommendations as to best varieties. If you decide to pursue this and go online to order one, try to find crabapple varieties that will do well with about 500 hours or less of chilling and are highly disease-resistant.
When should I put something on my yard to prevent summer weeds in my lawn?
Weed preventers, or pre-emergence herbicides, are applied before weeds become a problem. They act on germinating weed seed, killing them before they have a chance to grow. It's best to apply pre-emergence herbicides no later than late February to control warm-season annual weeds that grow during the summer. Look for products like Greenlight Crabgrass Preventer, Hy-Yield Turf and Ornamental Weed and Grass Stopper, Scott's Halts, Sta-Green Crab-Ex and others. These can also be used in flowerbeds and around shrubs, following label directions.
Dan Gill is extension horticulturist with the LSU Ag Center.
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