Return to the Edible Landscape Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Newbie questions about fruit trees
| | |
Posted by janetgia 5 IA (My Page) on Mon, Sep 22, 08 at 11:18
| We just purchased a house that has an apple and a pear tree side by side near the street, then about 100 feet away there's another apple tree. The two near the street are LOADED with fruit that we do not have time to harvest this year. And in the future, we are probably not too likely to spend a lot of time doing so either. My questions are:
1. For this year: what are your best tips for disposing of fallen/rotting fruit? Does composting them draw too many pests?
2. For the future, one thought I had for enjoying these trees was to allow them to blossom in the Spring, then prune back after that to prevent fruit. (I know this is counter to the tree's purpose in life, but we did not buy this property so we could take care of fruit trees - we bought it for many other reasons.) Other than preventing the fruit, what would be the consequences of this for the tree - too many wounds?
3. What are your favorite "fruit tree basics" resources?
Thanks!
Janet
|
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Newbie questions about fruit trees
| | |
Janet, I don't think it would hurt the tree to prune it after flowering, if you don't really want the fruit. Another option is to thin some branches out, and / or to prune off some of the early small fruit, so you have less but perhaps bigger better quality fruit.
If you do let the tree bear some fruit, I would suggest putting a sign or an ad (maybe freecycle or craigslist on the internet) offering for folks to come pick it. You can even charge a small fee and have them bring their own bushel etc.
Laurie |
RE: Newbie questions about fruit trees
| | |
| Laurie, thanks for your suggestions. In fact, I did run across a couple of ads on CraigsList from folks who wanted fruit, so I called them and invited them to come take all they wanted. That should take care of this year. I wouldn't mind enjoying the blooms in Spring, but I sure don't need this much fruit next year! janet |
RE: Newbie questions about fruit trees
| | |
| You might also consider contacting your local food bank. With the costs of food right now, I'm sure that they would be happy to get volunteers over to pick clean your tree to provide fresh fruit for the needy. |
RE: Newbie questions about fruit trees
| | |
| Wow! I so wish I lived near someone with that problem! I just moved to a tiny yard with no fruit trees in the neighborhood. Our last house was across the alley from a large tree and I would clean up all the wind falls in exchange for all the apples I wanted. Great for both of us! Maybe you can find a "fruit nut" that lives near you! |
|
|
|
|
