Tips on choosing the right backyard fruit tree

Meet Mike this weekend in Leesburg

In search of the perfect backyard fruit tree

Pete in Arlington writes: “I have a 20- by 30-foot space in my yard that gets full sun. My wife and I want to plant a fruit-bearing tree there so that in a few years our 4-month-old son can see where healthy food comes from. We like just about everything, including apples, pears, plums, peaches, cherries — you name it.”

Whoa there, Petey — fruit trees in general require a lot of care. And most also require that you have at least two trees for good pollination. Now, specifically on your list:

• Apples and peaches require the most care, beginning with pruning every year in late winter or early spring and then removing three-quarters of the fruits while they’re still small. Then, they need protection from a host of pests and diseases all season long. Plums are almost as needy.
• Cherry trees are kind of easy, but get really big and hard to pick. And only sour (“tart” or “pie”) cherries grow in this region — not the sweet, fresh-eating kinds.
• Pears, however, are fairly easy to care for and grow very well in the area. Just be sure to choose dwarf varieties and to plant two kinds for pollination.
• But if your fruit doesn’t have to grow on a tree, get some high-bush blueberries instead. Give them highly acidic soil and protect the tasty fruits from birds and they’ll produce loads of fruit with lots less work than even the easiest tree.

Stalking the elusive edible crab apple

Robyn in Herndon writes: “When my father was visiting us recently, he talked about eating ‘canned chestnut crab apples’ over the holidays when he was a boy growing up in Michigan. I thought it would be nice to make some for him as a gift, but no one at our farmers markets had even heard of such a variety. Do I have to plant my own?”

Well, there is a variety of crab apple called “Chestnut,” Robyn. The fruits are so big — a full 2 inches across — that they almost qualify as a regular apple! And that size is why your dad found them so tasty. Any variety with fruits that are 1.5 inches or larger will have good flavor when made into jams or jellies (which is what he meant by ‘canned,’ when fruits like these are cooked with lots of sugar and preserved in Mason jars).

But you almost never see crab apples for sale — there’s just no demand for them. Even if a farmer did have a tree or two around, they wouldn’t take the fruits to market, where people only want ‘real’ apples, which is why most folks in your situation do plant a tree or two.

So yes, either get a Chestnut (or any large fruited disease-resistant dwarf variety) or seek out friends who have trees that produce good sized crabbies.

November is way too late to start a lawn

Louise in Bethesda writes: “We have a shady area of our yard that’s pretty much just dirt with weeds here and there, and want to plant something to improve how it looks and hold the soil in place. A local landscaper recommended adding soil and planting shade seed, but he wouldn’t be able to do the work until the end of November. Is that too late?”

Yes, Louise — way too late. You need to get someone to do the work in the next two weeks, while the soil is warm enough for germination. Seed sown in cold soil will just feed mice, rats, voles and other undesirables.

And be aware that the grasses that can take the deepest shade can’t take a lot of foot traffic, so be realistic about the situation. And if this spot gets less than four hours of sun a day, consider a shade-loving ground cover instead of grass.

Ants + gardenias = aphids

Lisa in Silver Spring writes: “I have two potted gardenia trees that I’d like to bring in for the winter, but they are covered with ants. I’ve tried re-potting as well as coating the leaves with homemade insecticidal soap, to no avail. Do you have any suggestions?”

Yes, Lisa. Cradle the plants with one hand and use an adjustable hose nozzle set to its sharpest stream to blast every inch of the leaves and branches to remove the aphids that are the real problem here. Be prepared to get a little wet when you do this. Wait a few days, repeat, and then bring the plants inside.

Soft-bodied, plant-smothering aphids love gardenias. And those aphids attract lots of ants, who milk the tiny buggers for their sweet “honeydew.” Sharp sprays of plain old water are the best way to evict aphids (better even than chemical pesticide). And without the aphids, the ants will have no further interest in your plants.

(Oh, and soap only works when you spray it on the actual pests, not the leaves. Homemade soap sprays carry the risk of serious plant damage, especially on sensitive plants like gardenias.)

Pruning plants with beautiful berries

Kathy in Columbia writes: “I’m confused about the best time of year to trim back my pyracantha. In the fall, it has berries. In the spring, it has blossoms that become berries. Help, please!”

Pruning plants that produce bright ornamental berries is always a little tricky, Kathy. The best bet in general is to prune as little as possible, and to do it in the late winter or early spring.

But the bright orange berries of pyracantha — also known as firethorn — are produced on old wood