Most almond cultivars need more winter chilling hours than Studio City can provide.

There are at least two, however, that should do okay for you: 'Garden Prince' and 'All-in-One'.

And fyi: squirrels like almonds, too.

Joe

I can't speak to your zone because we're in SF East Bay where winter is colder. But our Almond tree is low maintenance (or no maintenance). It gets all day sun, and only very rare watering during drought. The army of squirrels outside do not care for it because its flesh is dry and not very tasty. It's about 20 years old, under 20 feet tall and very easy to pick.

I grow "All in One" in Thousand Oaks and it is a reliable bearer. It also does not require a pollinator. The nuts are large and flavorful. I highly recommend it.

i) I like almonds! but not sure about growing them
ii) yes, gotta prevent those pasty squirrels

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LA Forum

Hi, I'm also in LA (western SFV) and perhaps also interested in planting an Almond tree. We removed a very old and dead one from our property when we bought it a few years ago, and I've wondered about replacing it. A few questions - what time of year is the fruiting season? How much work is involved in using/ preparing raw almonds? I have seen them at the persian market with a green fuzzy outer shell so I assume that's what we'd harvest from say the All In One variety. Also, I assume the next few months is time to plant an almond, correct? Thanks sb

Hey neighbors, I'm up in Tujunga/Sunland. Also interested in growing some almonds.

I suppose winter is a good time to plant, so they have time to put down roots before the hot summer.

Dave Wilson's has a useful calendar that includes harvest times for various fruits and nuts.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.davewilson.com/homegrown/promotion/chart/harvest_dates2010.pdf

Hi - I'm a bit further south - San Diego coastal, but have 2 almonds - All-in-one and I think - Mission. The first one has developed fire blight (from an infected pear), but am in hopes of spraying after winter rains with recommended half/half peroxide/water. It did produce a few, however.

The Mission did quite well - even tho we had almost no chill hours - although better than most winters on that score. It bore quite a few nuts that I harvested, dried and preserved for cooking purposes.

The Mission has a leathery hull that splits when on the tree. At this time, it is best to go into "squirrel-attack-mode." They seem to sense when this event is about to happen. The nuts need to dry and will usually extrude themselves.

This year, I tied mylar balloons onto the tree branches, which bounce and dance in the wind. It worked, but I'm not sure whether it will do so again next year. In conjunction with the balloons, I also tied old computer discs to my surrounding fruit trees - apricots mainly, and we enjoyed a decent harvest this past year.