Fall is a great time for planting fruit trees and berry plants if you can find them in stores. A full-line nursery likely would have a better selection than one of the garden centers at big box stores. Or, you can order from an online supplier like Stark Bros.

Peaches and other stone fruit trees do very well in Oklahoma. However, some years they bloom too early and then the blooms and/or young fruit get hit by a late freeze. Thus, you will not get a harvest every year. For our first 10 years here, I got a great crop of peaches 1 out of every 3 years, a small to medium crop one out of three years and no crop 1 out of 3 years. Lately, I've had a great crop from the stone fruit trees about 2 years out of 3, which could be related to the warmer winters and springs lately.

The peach tree varieties that we grow are RedHaven and Ranger, which are on the OSU-recommended list, which I'll find and link, They performed well for us in Texas, so we planted them here and they've performed just as well, or possibly even better than they did in Texas.

Blackberries do perform well here but I do not know if you can find them in Oklahoma at this time of year. They are readily found in stores bare-root in winter and in containers as spring approaches and arrives. Variety selection is important for best flavor and productivity, but it is hard to recommend a variety without first asking this question: do you want to grow regular blackberries or thornless ones? There are several reputable suppliesr online that ship berry brambles in the fall.

Raspberries, for the most part, need more soil moisture than we can give them most of the time, and they need a lot more cool weather. Some people grow them, especially in NE OK, but the drought years are incredibly hard on them. Blackberries tolerate drought well as long as they are well-watered and mulched.

Blueberries need highly amended soil that is acidic in nature. If you do a search on this forum using the search box at the bottom of the page, you'll find many previous discusssions about the kind of amending they need. They also can be grown in large containers. If you are in a part of Oklahoma that has highly alkaline soil and water, even if you amend the soil or grow them in containers, the plants still have to deal with the alkaline water so take that into consideration. You'll need to feed them with one of the fertilizers labeled for plants like azaleas that need acidic soil.

The linked info from OSU inlcudes a list of recommended fruit tree varieties for Oklahoma.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Garden Fruit Tree Guide

This place is in Arkansas, but I have been pleased with their products. The berry plants were small, but the quality was nice. I had mine in containers and I think I lost them in the heat, but I will buy more to put in the ground. The asparagus roots I bought from them were huge and have done well.

Just thought I would toss in this name in case you don't find your berry plants locally. Great prices.

Here is a link that might be useful: Simmons

Hi Shallot! Welcome, and here's my two cents. We moved to a new house in December and it came with all kinds of fruit trees and bushes - plum, peach, 3 kinds of pear, blackberries, pecans... My vote would be get something really DWARF. The peach tree had basically fallen over due to the previous owner not thinning the tree (and we had another branch come down for the same reason this summer), but it is the only tree I can reach and easily harvest. I will likely never get out an extension ladder and try to harvest the Asian pears. If they are in reach, great, otherwise... no way. I just do not have the time. I would love to, and it sounds great in theory, but still. So, as we look to replacing some of our trees, we are shopping for SHORT.

Good luck!

Mia, Do you have one of these? You mount it on a broom stick and can reach a lot higher. I bought my DIL one and she said it worked great for picking her apples.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit Picker

Thanks, Carol -- I do not have one but I know what I need now! Lots of handy-looking things on that site. It's like my FIL says... the job is much easier with the right tool (usually as he's spending a fortune at Lowe's or Home Depot for the next gadget when he says that, but whatever!)

I have always used a milk jug or similar container attached to the end of a stick. Not the prettiest or most effective, but it does the job for the right cost IMO. That fruit picker sure does look handy though. I just can't bring my self to buy it for the few apple trees I have.

My husband says that he is always reluctant to hand me the Lee Valley catalog when it comes in the mail because it is sure to cost him money. LOL We have both been pleased with the quality of their products though, and I love my stainless steel tools. My DIL says the shovel is so heavy that you don't need your foot on it, you just dropped it from a few inches above the ground and it digs in. I have the steel handled ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stainless Tools

Thanks for the advice. I think we would want thorn blackberries if those would not require something toi grow up? The berry bushes will go along a chain link fence but it is not very high. I noticed that on the sooner plant farm site 'arapaho' and 'cherokee' are sooner select plants, which I guess means they are well suited to the OK climate? Maybe we will go with those.

For flavor, Cherokee is my favorite. Other good blackberry varieties that have thorns are Brazos, Kiowa and Rosborough.

Thornless varieties that do well here are Arapaho, Apache, Quachita and Navaho.

For anyone who has not grown berries and wonders what the difference is, the thorny blackberries tend to be higher producers. That makes up for them being harder to pick.

There's a relatively new development in the blackberry world that involves varieties developed to produce fruit on the current year's growth. Traditionally, blackberries produce berries in summer on the previous year's growth, called primocanes. Three of the new varieties that produce on the current year's growth are Prime-Jim, Prime-Jam and Prime-Ark 45. I have not grown any of them, but may plant some of them in a trial planting next year.

Blackberries, whether they are thorny or thornless get about 5' tall and need something to lean against, if not a trellis, then at least a fence or wall. My brother grew them along the west wall of his house. He enriched the soil really well with lots of cow manure and they grew and produced like gangbusters. I've seen them grown along fencelines, planted about 3' or 4' away from the fence, and I've seen them grown on trellises. If you don't support them, they have trouble staying upright but they're happy leaning against a fence or wall if you don't put up a trellis.

Wow, I had not realized they would get that tall, I do not think the place I had in mind will be suitable. Do blackberries need much sun? We have a free wall on the North side of our house that needs something in front of it (actually that whole part of our yard is a mess right now). Or we could grow them up a fence on the south end of our garden.

By the way burpee has 20% of all berry plants until midnight on monday, although the only blackberries they have are Darrow, Triple Crown, Chester and Prime-Ark 45. The code is TW257. Actually it is valid for all fruit plants.

Carol, I love, love, love Lee Valley Tools. I keep their catalog right there on my nightstand underneath whatever book I am reading. Right now I am reading Greg Grant's new book "Texas Fruit and Vegetable Gardening". The great thing about Lee Valley (other than the quality of the stuff they sell) is their virtual catalog. So, if Al manages to hide their paper catalog from you, you can see it online anyway.

Shallot, Blackberry plants need a minimum of 6 to 8 hours of full, direct sun in order to grow and produce well. They still will bloom and produce fruit in part shade or dappled shade but they'll produce less fruit and it won't be as large and the quality/flavor may suffer. We have native blackberries crawling around on the ground on the eastern edge of our woodland, and they sometimes bloom but rarely produce many berries because they are too shaded by tall, old trees for the majority of the day.

Dawn

On the south east side of Lake Draper is a huge area with blackberry brambles. Full sun.

I hope, now that I found them last spring, they didn't suffer to much from the drought. I really hope to pick some for jam next spring.

Moni

I have grown berries on the south side of my house, on the east side of a north/south privacy fence and in the open garden. The ones on the east side of the privacy fence were thorny berries and I liked them better than any of the thornless ones I have grown.

One thing to keep on mind is that the old canes need to be removed, and if they are thorny and growing through a chain linked fence the job may be unpleasant.

I have a lot of tools, most I have had a long time. There were many great tools made, and still used, that were made before stainless steel was invented. I would suggest getting good sturdy, comfortable tool. My stainless tools may clean up easier but I cant tell they do a better job. Some of my best tools are probably older than I am.

Larry