Edible Landscapes: Ornamental Fruit & Nut Trees & Shrubs
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Adam Chapman, General Manager at Bates Nursery and Garden Center Nashville, discusses fruit and nut trees and shrubs that add ornamental interest to the garden.
Plants Mentioned in this Webinar:
Ornamental Cabbage & Kale
Blueberries/Vaccinium:
Ornamental Value: Good fall color, can be used for fillers and borders
Soil Needs: Blueberries are acid loving, use a fertilizer that has sulfur in it. Recommended fertilizer: Espoma Holly-Tone.
Smaller blueberry varieties for small spaces or containers
Southern Bluebelle: gets 2-3’ tall
Lowbush Varieties
Larger Varieties of Blueberries
Rabbiteye varieties are all 6-8’ tall
Tifblue- 6-8’ tall
Pink lemonade-pink berries
Raspberries & Blackberries/Rubus:
Ornamental Value: Nice fall color, good for fillers and borders
Soil Needs: Prefer a neutral pH, use a fertilizer like Espoma Plant-Tone or Earthmix® Landscape™ to amend soil.
Smaller raspberry varieties for small spaces or containers:
Raspberry shortcake-2’ tall
Larger varieties of raspberries:
Heritage-gets 5-6’ tall
Smaller blackberry varieties for small spaces and containers:
Black Satin-gets 3-4’ tall
Larger varieties of blackberries:
Apache-gets 5-8’ tall
Fig/Ficus:
Ornamental Value: Interesting leaf shape, bush-like
Soil Needs: Prefers neutral soil, a fertilizer like Espoma Plant-Tone or an amendment like EarthMix® Landscape™ will help plants to fruit.
Varieties of Hardy Fig:
Olympian-very cold hardy
Grapes/Vitus:
Ornamental Value: good for trellising, grows very fast and is not prone to disease
Soil Needs: Prefers neutral soil, a fertilizer like Espoma Plant-Tone or an amendment like EarthMix® Landscape™ will help plants to fruit. Must have 2 varieties to fruit.
Muscadine Grape Varieties:
Carlos (good for cross-pollination)
Hops/Humulus:
Ornamental Value: Good for trellising and fences. Hop cones in the early fall/late summer offer ornamental interest.
Soil Needs: Prefers neutral soil, a fertilizer like Espoma Plant-Tone or an amendment like EarthMix® Landscape™ will help plants to fruit. Prefers well-drained soil, so adding something like EarthMix® EnLighten™ expanded shale will help.
Aurea/Golden Hops
Trees:
Soil Needs: Most fruit and nut trees prefer a neutral pH soil. Use a fertilizer like Tree-Tone, and amend soil with EarthMix® Landscape™
Common Problems: Pest and disease pressure is significant on fruit and nut trees in Middle Tennessee. Put your trees on a spray schedule. Never spray while the trees are blooming, as it can adversely affect pollinators. A few products to use:
Dormant Oil
Copper Fungicide
Orchard Spray (contains fungicide and insecticide).
Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry
Ornamental value: Brilliant fall color. Beautiful fall color, 15’ tree. Can be pruned to be bush-form or single-stemmed. Native to Tennessee, and attracts birds to the yard.
Sumner Pecan
Ornamental value: Can get up to 50’ tall, makes a great shade tree. Needs more than one variety to pollinate, and takes several years before it starts producing fruit.
Bonanza Patio Peach
Ornamental value: gets 6-7’ tall and wide. Has reddish attractive foliage, and produces tasty fruit.
Other Fruit Trees to Consider:
Apple-Need two apple trees to cross-pollinate.
Pears-These are the easiest fruit trees to grow in Middle Tennessee. Need two pear trees to cross-pollinate.
Montmorency: tart cherry. Tart cherries are difficult to grow, but do better in Middle Tennessee than sweet cherry.
Lemon and Lime Trees:
Good in containers, but are not cold hardy in Middle TN.
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