Landscape

THE BACKYARD FARMER

By Pat Raven, Ph.D., with Julie Hess

Aneighbor asked me recently about planting some fruit trees in her garden. She is a novice gardener and has no clue how to start but was inspired by the earliest of local fruits at a metro area farmers market. I walked her through the first steps of planning.

Helping her to decide what she had room for was the first question. Was she planning a home orchard with multiple rows of trees or just a few plants worked into the existing landscape? As most fruit trees require full sun, her mostly wooded lot was suitable for only one or two fruit trees.

How much time did she want to spend tending these crops? With three small children, not a lot.

Then I asked the stop-the-train question: How “organic” did she want the garden to be, and how much pesticide spraying was she willing to do?

“Completely and none,” she said.

“No cherry trees, then,” I replied.

Most fruits require frequent insecticide and fungicide treatments to keep the plants alive and the ripening fruit free from maggots. Her answer also indicated to me that she, like many folks, misunderstands the legal concept of “organic” gardening in the U.S. Pesticides are still used, but the materials in them come from natural sources and not lab-synthesized chemicals, so “organic” does not mean “pesticide-free.”

Fruit production often requires commitment. Not only does it take time to properly care for the plants, but also some plants take years of growing before bearing a single fruit. My recommendations are to start small and aim for low-maintenance choices.

I have the best success with bramble crops, particularly thornless blackberries. The deer don’t touch them, they are disease-resistant and simple netting keeps the birds away. Rhubarb is another easy dessert crop, with little action required beyond watering in the heat of the summer.

Persimmons are pretty straightforward and undemanding. Some very disease-resistant apples and plums can perform well most years with just low-toxicity dormant oil sprays, but care must be taken in choosing varieties. A special strawberry jar with growing pockets or a vertical garden, used with drip irrigation that keeps the foliage dry, gives you a fighting chance against the deadly mildew that quickly ruins a strawberry crop. Blueberries require soil acidification, but that’s a simple fix.

The verdict is still out on my kiwis. I planted three of them five years ago and have yet to see the first fruit. I’m carefully optimistic, though.

For most everything else, it’s the farmers market for me!