Greetings, I have room for 6 fruit trees in a sunny, protected and warm area. I would like to plant the area as a mini, fruit-producing orchard. Ideally I want a variety of fruits, so I have chosen the following: 1 black fig (Ficus 'Black Mission'), 1 green fig (Ficus 'Desert King'), 1 apple (either 'Jonafree' or 'Liberty'), 1 pear ('Anjou' or 'Bartlett'), and 1 plum (not sure which variety). Here are my questions. 1. As you will notice, I have only listed 5 plants. I am wondering if it is better to have two of each apple and pear (2 apples, and 2 pears, 2 figs, and no plum) in order to get better pears and apples. Does anyone have experience with the above listed varieties? Can I get good fruit from just having one of each apple and pear, or is it strongly recommended to get 1 'Jonafree' and 1 'Liberty', and 1 'Anjou' and 1 'Bartlett', for cross-pollination and therefore better fruit production? 2. If having 1 of each is fine, I'll have room for either one more pear or one more apple in addition to a plum tree. Any suggestions if having: 2 pear trees is better than having 1 apple tree, or if 2 apple trees is better than 1 pear tree? Or does it just depend on which fruit I want more of? 3. If I have room for 1 more plum tree (i.e.: I won't need 2 pear trees and 2 apple trees) can anyone please suggest a good fruit-producing plum tree variety? Thank you. Any insight will be much appreciated.
Everyone seems to have good luck with the Italian plum, Prunus domestica. It keeps on going even in old neglected yards. http://www.gardenguides.com/75619-italian-plum-tree-characteristics.html I personally had good luck with the Shiro plum, Prunius salicina, both on Lopez Island and here in Anacortes. It's a very early yellow one. Then there is alway the good old Santa Rosa plum. Which btw is said to be a good polinator for the Shiro. My favorite apple is the old King David apple. It's sweet, firm and makes great pies because it doesn't mush up when cooked. It's another survivor in old yards tho it may be hard to find. Have fun doing your research. The big thing is to find out what polinates with what. barb
Thank you for the plum suggestions, Barbara. Can you, or anyone else, confirm if the Apple and Pear trees, respectively, are self-fruit producing? i.e.: If I have one apple tree and one pear tree, will they still produce apples and pears, respectively?
Sabaf, I have to admit I don't know. The King David and the Summer Rambo have continued to produce pretty well. My Dad planted the orchard on Lopez 40+ yrs ago. I haven't much to do with it. Since he passed I've pretty much ignored it because I don't live on the property now. Most of the trees are still producing so he must have chosen well. Be patient, someone on this forum that does know will chime in. barb
Regarding apple and pear trees, some are self-fertile and some need a pollinator. It's easy enough to do a Web search to find out if a variety you are interested in needs a pollinator or not. Regarding plums, I agree that Italian prune plums are very reliable and productive, as are some yellow plums. However, I would never recommend the Santa Rosa for this area, since it normally only produces very small amounts of fruit.
