Beginnings of an Orchard

We've planted a few fruit and nut trees around the old house.  We decided to plant several varieties to see what would adapt to our climate zone and soil.  Some may be problematic, but we are optimists and are willing to nurse some things along to see if they will establish. Below I've listed what we've planted so far. You can click on any of the links beneath the tree varieties to see more information about caring for that particular fruit.

 I had to do some special things when planting to compensate for our rather heavy soil such as adding lots of humus and compost, and elevating the trees a bit higher than the surrounding grade.  The almonds are a long shot because of our summer humidity, but nothing ventured, nothing learned.

Here are the varieties we planted of each fruit. We are in growing zone 8b. You can check here to see what your own growing zone is.

Figs                         
Texas Everbearing 
Brown Turkey
More information
 
Plums                     
Burbank
Santa Rosa
More information

Apples
Granny Smith (2)
Winesap
Anna
More information

Native Fruit
Mayhaw (2)
Paw Paw (2)
More information on Mayhaw
More information on Paw Paw

Pomegranate
Wonderful (2)

Almonds
Halls
Texas Mission.
More information 

Chill hours are also important to consider when choosing which varieties to plant in your location.

Chill hours are roughly the numbers of hours between the temperatures of 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit for a winter in your area. Winter hours above 45 degrees are subtracted from that total.
 
The idea is that a deciduous plant goes dormant in the winter to protect itself from the cold.  The plant needs to stay dormant while the weather is freezing and then know how soon after it gets above freezing it can safely begin growing. It must do this late enough that it doesn't get frozen back by a late frost but early enough so it can get a full season of growth and fruiting in before it must go dormant for winter again.

 You can get some general idea of  the estimated chill hours on the net, but there are no good chill hour maps because there are too many variables such as altitude, latitude, and a myriad of micro-climates produced by lakes and rivers and even cities.

The best advice is to choose varieties which are on the lower side of the average chill hours in your area. This will produce the most reliable fruiting.  If you are adventurous like I am, try some that are near or even a bit above your maximum chill hours.  You will have a few years when these do not fruit, and others when you will get a surprise crop of great fruit.

One of the more frustrating things you will come across is different growers listing different chill hours for the same variety.  That is probably due to the fact that there are currently at least three different methods used to calculate chill hours.

Note that many of the "big box" stores offer varieties that have no chance of setting fruit in your climate. The same is true for some of the large online nurseries. So let the buyer beware.

We also planted three types of thornless blackberries, and although they are certainly fruit, that's for another post.