Fruit-producing plants offer garden beauty, good eating

Backyard Bounty
If the warmer temperatures, increased hours of daylight and tinges of green in the grass have not convinced you that spring is just around the corner, there is one more item of proof that is undeniable. It is the avalanche of garden catalogs arriving daily in mailboxes all over Northwest Ohio.

They began trickling in in January but now, as the weather takes on its spring attitude, gardeners can begin to use them to plot and plan for the garden season ahead.

March is a great time to start planning any changes or additions you may want to make to your yard or garden. Many new, exciting, plant varieties are becoming available for the upcoming season and could add just the right accent or feature to your landscape.

A very interesting concept that has come to my attention this year is the idea of adding more food-producing plants to our yards. These are plants that are not only attractive and interesting in the landscape but also are valuable as food-producers as well.

Not long ago, the following question came in to me: 

“I would like to add more fruit-producing plants to my back yard. I have an average-sized yard and I would like to be able to grow some fruits that can be eaten fresh or frozen or canned for later use. I have a dwarf pear tree that has grown to about 10 feet tall now. Are there any fruit trees that are lower growing and easier to pick the fruit from? I am also interested in trying some now or unusual fruits.”

Growing fruit-producers in the back yard is a great idea and, with the wide variety of fruit-producing plants, anyone can do it. Recent news releases of expected food price increases also make this a project that can help each of us cut food costs as well.

All of the kinds of fruit that can be grown in your back yard can be eaten fresh and many can be frozen or canned for later use. Many of the shrubs and some of the trees I will mention are suitable to grow in a small to average-sized back yard and some can be grown in containers or against a wall, etc. I will try to give any specific growing instructions for growing the different varieties and general instructions would come with the plant and should be read carefully before planting.

What to choose?
The following are small and low-growing shrubs and plants for back yards:

• Strawberries are easy to grow in pots, hanging baskets, flowerboxes, as well as in beds and gardens. Strawberries come in June-bearing and ever-bearing varieties. The June-bearing produce their fruit in June and are excellent eaten fresh or frozen for winter use. Ever-bearing types produce a large early crop and then continue to produce fruit through the summer.

Some excellent varieties of June-bearers are “Earliglow,” “Jewel,” and “Honeoye” (best for freezing). Ever-bearing types include “Ozark Beauty,” “Fort Laramie” (ideal for pots or hanging baskets) and “Tristar.” There are many other types but these are good producers, tasty fruit, cold hardy and dependable.

• Another easy-to-grow, backyard producer is rhubarb. Rhubarb can be eaten fresh, cooked in sauces, used in pies and frozen. The plant takes up very little space in the yard and can be grown in a bed with other annuals or perennials.

The variety “Canada Sweet” is a sweeter type; “Victoria” is the rhubarb that grandmother’s used to grow, and “Valentine,” which is also a sweeter kind, retains its red color when cooked and is excellent used in pies.

• Blueberries, which grow on very ornamental shrubs, can grow in any backyard but they do prefer acid soil. In alkaline soil, it would be best to add aluminum sulfate to the soil for best results.

The types of blueberries determine the size of the shrub, which can vary from a few feet to six to eight feet tall. For small to average-sized yards, the lower-growing varieties would work best. “Blue Jay” is an early maturing type that produces large, sweet, berries in July and it grows only to three to four feet tall. “Semi- Dwarf Northland” produces very large, delicious berries that also mature in July. This shrub grows to three to four feet tall as well. “Dwarf Northblue” grows 20 to 24 inches tall and bears its crop in June. This is an especially attractive type and its leaves turn a bright red in the fall.

“Dwarf Tophat,” which can be grown in a pot, produces a heavy crop of berries and is a very attractive ornamental plant as well.

• Raspberries can be of the summer-bearing or ever-bearing type and produce black, blue, red, yellow and pink berries. Summer-bearing raspberries produce fruit in June or July, while the ever-bearing types begin to produce fruit in August and September and continue on until frost.

Raspberries need special pruning, depending on the type. Popular varieties include “Latham,” a red, summer-bearing berry that is vigorous, disease-resistant, cold-hardy, and produces delicious berries good for fresh eating, freezing or being made into preserves.

“Jewel” is a black raspberry that produces fruit in July, and has large, sweet berries that are excellent for eating fresh, freezing or cooking.

“Anne” is a yellow variety that is super sweet, a dependable producer, and very hardy.

Two thornless varieties that are good for backyards with children and pets are include “Mammoth Red” and “Nova Summer Bearing.”

One other berry worth mentioning is “Heritage.” This red raspberry produces a good crop in July and then produces fruit again in August on until frost. “Heritage” does not need special pruning – just mow all the canes back after the frost, mulch for the winter and it will re-grow fruit producing canes the next spring.

Think grapes
Do you have a sturdy fence or trellis in your yard? If so, you may want to grow grapes. One grapevine needs about eight feet of fence or trellis and one vine can produce up to 15 pounds of fruit each year.

Grapevines do require special pruning and they need a warm, sunny location. Grapes are self-pollinating and, in a small yard, only one vine would be needed. Of course there are many types of grapes and they are usually grown according to what use the grower desires.

The following types that produce grapes which are good for eating fresh or made into jams, jellies, or juice.

“Mars Seedless” is a variety that is very disease-resistant and produces large clusters of sweet, blue fruit.

“Freedonia” ripens in early September is very vigorous, has a large, blue-black fruit which has a sweet, spicy flavor.

“Reliance Seedless” produces large clusters of very sweet, red grapes. The vine is very resistant to most common grape diseases.

“Marquis Seedless” is a white grape with a delicious, rich flavor. They are the hardiest white grape type.

“Reliance Pink Seedless” is a pink grape with a super-sweet flavor and no seeds. Delicious eaten fresh, this type is also very cold-hardy.

Adding fruit-producers to your yard or garden can not only add interest and attractiveness to your landscape, but also a source of delicious, nutritious “good eating.”

If you have garden questions or tips for other gardeners, send them in to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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