Why grow fruit trees in metro Houston?
You thought the answer would be “to eat fruit”? Right you are. Metro Houston is a great place to eat fruits and to grow fruits. We are in a climate, which is ideal for figs, pomegranates, persimmons, jujubes, blackberries, blueberries, muscadine grapes and citrus; while we are close to tropical enough to grow some tropical fruits such as hardy avocados, bananas, papaya, guavas and star fruit. And to top it off, there are varieties of colder climate fruits that work well, such as apples, pears, peaches, nectarines and plums. You could argue that we are in a fruit tree grower’s paradise.
Everyone with at least five hours of sun can easily grow fruits, and they are easy to grow, with very little care; however a little knowledge in how to plant and care for the trees is required. It only takes a couple of hours reading or attending one of the Urban Harvest classes on care of fruit trees, and you are ready. And most fruit trees require only an hour or two of care per year.
Urban Harvest’s annual one-day fruit tree sale is in January, and now is the time to get ready, to start deciding what fruit trees you want to grow based on what you like to eat. Now is the time to walk around your yard and decide where fruit trees can be planted. So here are some tips. The reason why Urban Harvest has the fruit tree sale is to allow you to purchase varieties that actu- ally produce and work well in our climate. They are not always easy to find and it is not apparent without some knowledge which varieties work in metro Houston and which will never or rarely produce fruit. Urban Harvest makes it easy for you.
The easiest fruit trees to grow, meaning least care, least pests, longest lives and most productive include figs, pomegranates, persimmons, jujubes, kumquats and tangerines. The next easiest are oranges, pears, grapefruit, blueberries, blackberries, hardy avocados and lemons. The next are peaches, nectarines, plums, apples and grapes. The one that require the most care are tropical plants that need a lot of protec- tion in winter, such as star fruit, papaya and banana; and I recommend growing these only after you have the easier fruits established.
Most fruit trees require full sun. Citrus require only 5 or 6 hours of sun, and blackberries and blueberries can produce in even a little less sun.
Fruit trees grow to different sizes based on variety of tree. Blueberries and blackberries take up only 3 feet of diameter space each, kumquats and jujubes need anywhere from 4 to 8 feet of space, and most others at least 10 feet.
Fertilization is needed the first few years, and mainly in the spring. Watering is needed about once a week for the first few years, unless it rains; and in the winter much less often because evaporation of water from the soil is less.
Trees need to be planted where there is never standing water after rains, so some observation of where you plan to plant is needed; or they can be planted in a raised area.
Some fruits can be in containers, such as lemons, limes, kumquats, blueberries and blackberries; most others have bigger root systems that appreciate being planted in the ground.
So get prepared, get confident, look for those places where you can have fruit trees, and get ready to enjoy one of the great taste pleasures of harvesting and eating your own home grown fruit.
I want to mention an opportunity for those of you who are interested in starting a community garden or who know someone who is interested. Fiskars Project Orange Thumb (http:// www2.fiskars.com/Community/Project-OrangeThumb) is a community gardening initiative that is awarding 30 applicants across the U.S. and Canada each with $3,500 in cash and tools to create beautiful and productive community gardens. Applications are being accepted now through February 1, 2016.