What would stop you planting fruit or nut trees in your garden?

Question

With rising food bills would you consider planting fruit or nut trees in your garden?

If not. What stops you planting them?

Answer 1

Right now I can't plant trees since I live in a tiny apartment with a very small balcony that is soon to be home to a composting bin. What I am doing instead is growing fruits and vegetables that can grow in containers out there. This way we can reduce our carbon footprint, save money, and eat better. Everyone wins.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

Answer 2

it makes good sense financially as well as from a health standpoint to grow as much of your own food as you can.   by harvesting food exactly when you need it and at its peak freshness, you do yourself a favor.  by not having to pay increasing shipping and storage costs involved in the food production and distribution industries, you save money and cut down on the pollution these activities can cause.  the sense of satisfaction that comes from providing for you and yours while cultivating the earth is only an added bonus.  local wildlife will also thank you for your efforts!

but you ask, why would someone NOT do this?  here are some potential reasons why not, and possible rebuttals.

"it takes up too much space/time."  false.  your crops can be grown on as small a parcel as you like, and in some cases grown simultaneously on the same plot.  the corn/squash mix the native americans used is an example of crops grown together.   so far as taking up too much time, a well-designed plot using existing land contours and native plants will thrive with far less attention from you than a poorly designed one filled with exotics.  plan wisely.

"i don't know where to begin."  true, but there are countless resources from your local garden center to excellent websites that can steer you toward crops that will do well and supplement your needs.  search native crops, permaculture, usda hardiness zones, county extension sites... see what's recommended in your area, or better yet, explore existing communities that practice permaculture, local plots of community gardens, and talk to the people who tend the land.

"it will take too much effort to cultivate."  false, if you use sound design principles and add strategies such as composting and seed gathering, your land can flourish without a major reinvestment of money by you.

like any new (actually this is a very old concept) idea, it takes time to come into general acceptance, and for the benefits to come to fruition.  but armed with the proper knowledge, you CAN supplement your family's food supply with healthy, rewarding alternatives!

Answer 3

I've already got some fruit trees planted here.  Cherries and plumbs.

The birds get ALL of the cherries....bummer.  The plumbs produce every other year, and are very tastey.  

I nearly cried when my new neighbor moved in next door, and ran out first thing with a chainsaw, and cut down 90% of their apple tree orchard the former owners had planted.

Being in such a rotten plant zone is the only thing that stops me.  I'm in plant zone 4, borderline 3.  In other words, we have loooong, very coooold winters.  There's just a ton of stuff that will not grow here.  I've only been here three years, so I'm still learning.

By the way, along with the perminant type plantings/gardens that fruit and nut trees are, people should not forget rubarb, artichockes, asparagas, many herbs, berry bushes and plants, and a smattering of other perminant type garden plants.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 4

Permaculture Bella! I guess you don't want to be told to browse Permaculture!

I'm in West Yorks. As I am also a Permaculture fan I already plant fruit trees. A grafted apple tree (2' approx) costs me aprox a fiver. When the tree fruits it takes me less than a month to pay back the initial cost. After two or three years I have apples every year. No maintenance. Easy to do, I dig a hole, stick the tree in and forget about it until I harvest the fruits.

Yorkshire Orchards near Pocklington East Yorks has some great varieties.

http://www.yorkshireorchards.co.uk/cgi/n...

Answer 5

Space and climate.  I have a green apple tree, tomato vines, and a walnut tree.  I would like a blueberry bush but wouldn't know how to fit it.  I also want  to grow cashews but they don't grow well in North Carolina.

Answer 6

critters

Answer 7

Here are my links for that foreign bloke who has seen nutting  yet

http://byderule.multiply.com/tag/5.susta...

http://byderule.multiply.com/journal/ite...

http://byderule.multiply.com/

What would stop me from planting fruit and nuts is

climate

if i run out of space

or become dead i guess

Talking about dead.

I think we should plant fruit and nuts on graves instead of stone crosses http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

I got Bananas,Papaya,Guanabaña,Mango,

.To hot for for Nuts,

you people in England can go nuts

if you haven`t already

Answer 8

The only thing that would stop me is not having enough space.

Answer 9

1. Climate: potential for frost would damage the fruit

2. A few of the fruit trees in the neighborhood have black rot from high humidity.  I wouldn't plant until those trees are properly pruned free of the infection.

Answer 10

Even though I have a small plot of land, I've just started planting veggies and citrus trees, though many of them are in pots. Mostly I have native plants because I live in the hotter parts of Southern California and so water is scarce out here, but you wouldn't know it by all the green lawns out here. I harvest rain water when I can, but it's not quite enough to sustain a good sized veggie garden.

I can guess why no one else out here does it, all my neighbors are the kind to "need' those perfectly manicured totally fake looking yards and they'd complain its too hot, then run inside and blast the AC. They really don't get it out here, but then again, most of them make enough money to pay for rising food costs and so it doesn't bother them....yet.

Answer 11

I definitely wouldn't put them in my garden. Creates too much shade for the tomatoes and corn, etc. Also, when I dig up the other veggies in the fall, it would likely damage the roots to the trees.

Answer 12

Yeah we've got a lemon tree already and have planted a dwarf mandarin, pomegranite, and will hopefully plant a peach tree soon.

We're not planting them due to food prices though - more for convenience, but free fruit is certainly a bonus!

Answer 13

I live on a small farm in Northern California USA. I spent the last week pruning all of my fruit trees and any of my neighbor's trees that needed pruning.  Every year I try to plant a few trees, this year I planted 5 table grapes and another apple on my place as well as a plum along a public road. And that last is a point...check this out... some times I just plant trees (usually plums) out in the woods along a stream, or like I mentioned... sometimes just along a road in a roadway fence line, out of the range of road mowers of course... It costs so little to plant a tree. In my area I can now drive down several roads and see trees I planted... flowering... people pick the fruit, later, when it comes ripe, or wild life eats it. Most people around here don't know where the trees came from... that is OK with me planting them is just a way for me to care for posterity. The flowers enhance the spring beauty of my area and do a bit to increase land value. It gives me a good feeling to see the trees and that feeling is pay off enough for me to keep planting them. I encourage more people to plant trees in unlikely places, it is really pretty easy..

Answer 14

I don't think fruit or nut trees would grow well in the sand or survive the freeze/thaw cycle of this region.  I could be wrong.  Any suggestions?