My Satsuma mandarin tree. Best mandarins I've ever had.
this post was submitted on 06 May 2025
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Nature and Gardening
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And the tree doesn't get too big and out of control?
Just west of Pittsburgh, PA - Region 6. I was pretty young but my grandfather's garden and orchard were legendary.
The garden bore nothing too exotic. Tomato, cucumber, zucchini, beans, cabbage, potato, lettuce, carrot, onion, radish. The usual suspects.
His apple trees (maybe 12) did fantastic. Unsure of type but it was a baking apple. There was always a glut of apples in the fall. They had a grainy flesh as compared to a non-baking apple. They were still quite delicious to eat right off the tree.
He also had a plum and a pear tree that both did well for many years. Again, I am unsure on the breed. The pear I remember in my head looked a lot like a bosc. It bore pears that were smaller than a grocery stores. They were brownish not the standard yellow or green. Very sweet though.
Not trees, but Pennsylvania grapes, rhubarb, black raspberries, red raspberries, blackberries and strawberries were also quite productive for many years. Particularly the red raspberries of which he had like 30 bushes, so you could eat your fill and take a to-go bag. Mind the Japanese beetles. So good and such a good memory.
Peaches though wrecked my grandfather. If it wasn't blight, it was disease, birds, bugs, bores or drought. All he wanted was an unmottled peach. Never did ever happen despite his best efforts.
Cherries did a number on him too. The birds were just too hard to beat. Chaotic little shits would eat the unripened fruit.
Eight years ago my wife and I planted a variety of apple trees and they still have not produced. Thus, I can't answer your question.
classic fruit tree story, lol
Diversification is key to any successful investment strategy.
I planted two black walnut trees at the same time as those apple trees. They haven't produced yet either. I live in rural Maine so it makes things grow slower.
Just so you know, being planted near black walnut trees also makes things grow slower. But yeah, I imagine that Maine would depress just about any tree...
walnut is overhyped juglone can prevent seed germination but it has little effect on plants over seedling stage. I have a massive shade garden under my Juglans Californica, and there’s plenty of mustard and grass growing under wild ones, so even the seed germination thing isn’t 100%.
Good to know. Different plants probably have different sensitivities to it also.
I did not say they are planted near the black walnut trees. The black walnuts are isolated from everything else I plan on planting. I'm aware of their natural suppression method.
Ah. I didn't want to assume anything about your level of knowledge/experience. Apple trees and most nut trees can take a long time regardless, so time will tell how they perform...
I planted spicezee nectaplum- it’s a beautiful tree- dark purple leaves, self pollinating and has made it to fruit production faster than plums I planted a year earlier. Excited to taste the fruit this year.
Any everbearing citrus. It’s amazing that they fruit year round. The convenience of always having a lemon, can’t be beat.
Loquat. It just grows so well where I live, even if you don’t water it. Basically you can ignore it, and it fruits in a season when there’s nothing else. I just made a batch of loquat butter in my slow cooker.
Southern Maine, US. USDA zone 5a, Trewartha Dca
We got them as whips 2 or 3 years ago so they're not at production age yet, but american persimmons (Diospyros virginiana) have been particularly low maintenance so far. At this age they're no good for shading anything out, but planting them with Monarda has hidden them from the deer and kept them from being eaten (so far).
fun fact: mulberry trees have edible leaves, they're not amazing but it's something you can enjoy in addition to the berries!