Fruit trees , in suburbia

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bergkamp, Aug 4, 6:56pm
I have transformed our quarter acre section surreptitiously ripping out rose bushes etc from her indoors to 4 gooseberry , 6 grape ,4 feijoa , 2 apple , 2 pear , 2 apricot , 3 raspberry , 1 persimon , 2 orange , 2 mandarin , 2 cranberry ,1 nectarine , 1 lemon ,2 blueberry , 1 plum 3 cranberry., vege garden and glasshouse. Free fruit and possibly very beneficial after an EQ

Why do we not see more of this ?
lalbagh, Aug 4, 7:05pm
because most people are ripping out gardens and planting houses. You can get at least four to the quarter acre in auckland and it is far more profitable.
oh_hunnihunni, Aug 5, 9:53am
Fence it well. Our fruit trees in suburbia are regularly stripped overnight by opportunist thieves. Currently planting very prickly roses to curb the incursions lol.
eljayv, Aug 5, 10:02am
How did you manage to fit in so many trees that can grow quite large?
jan2242, Aug 5, 10:18am
Am looking to extend mine now to eliminate the lawn plus there isn't enough room in my veg garden any more. Will add chooks for eggs as well.
amasser, Aug 5, 10:44am
Why do we not see more of this? People don't have time but will spend hours on social medium seeking ideas to save money? Very good work by you but wonder if 4 feijoa trees may be a bit much.
cleggyboy, Aug 5, 10:57am
I can't for the life of me think why these stupid councils don't plant fruit trees on grass berms, instead of deciduous trees that grow up into the power wires and need trimming. If there was enough citrus, guava, maybe on wider berms feijoa etc there would not be much pilfering as each would have a tree close by and the public would police them seeing there was a reward from them.
retrogold, Aug 5, 11:17am
We have alot of fruit trees in public places and parks in Nelson. If you have a small section plant the dwarf fruit trees. I think lawns are a waste of space.
oh_hunnihunni, Aug 5, 11:21am
The Leisure Centre park in Brown's Bay has fruit trees planted by council. Every year they are stripped before they ripen. They do require more regular maintenance too, than your average small suburban street tree which might be another reason. I was delighted to see a team harvesting our street olives though, a year or so back, and I've been known to take a bucket to the crab apples not too far from my place when the fruit starts to drop. Amazing jelly, those fat crab apples make.
lythande1, Aug 5, 12:39pm
Because they get bigger. Really big. Then you see you have far, far too much and a jungle to boot.
I have 1 grape, we probably got around 50kg off it last summer. 1 passionfruit, 350 off last summer and it was it's 2nd year, first with a decent harvest, 1 orange, dwarf. 1 lemon and it's big so 90% goes to waste.
A strawberry patch, enough for us, grandchild, jam and still give some away.
vege garden is 3 x 3 metres and far too big for us really, we grow corn, potato, peas, beans, zucchini (one), capsicums (I freeze and use a lot in winter), radish, cauli, spring onions, 3 x tomatoes, enough to make relish and puree every year too. I know a few people with fruit trees for africa like you have and they don't use it all. You can't.
richs, Aug 5, 1:53pm
Aye but where is the love?
bergkamp, Aug 5, 2:15pm
one other reason i did this was becouse its healthy . with young kids its a battle to fight the sugary treats . want to show them how to grow and pick when ripe etc .
bergkamp, Aug 5, 2:17pm
its a quarter acre section , so about 150 lineal meters of boundary
ianab, Aug 5, 7:49pm
Yes the trees could get big, but they are fruit trees, and can handle some pretty heavy pruning. I can get a small bucket load of feijoas from a bush that takes up about 1 sq metre. An apple / pear tree / persimmon might need more like 9, but still not out of the question.When it starts getting too big, break out the loppers. Grapes can be grown down the sunny side of the boundary fence etc

The post is still valid, you CAN grow some fruit and veges in your back yard space, assuming you have an actual backyard, and have the time to manage it.

Heck even if you don't have much space, you can grow some strawberries and chillies in pots on the back back steps. Nothing beats FRESH strawberries right off the plant, even if it's picking a couple each night when you get home from work. And fresh chilli or other herbs is great for cooking.

Point is, it takes time to manage that garden / lawn whatever around the house. With a bit of planning you can have it produce some food, for no more work than having rose bushes. Heck feijoas are easier to grow than roses! And Feijoa and Chilli chutney is a tasty treat.
junie2, Aug 5, 8:15pm
Well done OP. We didn't set out to make a mainly-edible garden; it has just evolved over 35 yrs to include two apples, two feijoas, two b'boy peaches, currants, figs,a mulberry tree, very bountiful lemon tree and a tiny cumquat, all mixed in with the vegie garden on 762 sqm very close to the city. There's a 3-chook run too, so there aren't a lot of "pretty" plants, but it is a great lifestyle IMO.
trade_menow, Aug 6, 12:38am
1 pear , 1 apple , 2 manderin , 1 lemon and a huge grape vine which really needs cutting back all the excess gets taken around to the local primary school who are very appreciative
its not as big a task as it may seem
cantabman1, Aug 6, 8:59am
You forgot The Golden Queen Peach Tree! Oh dear.
cantabman1, Aug 6, 9:05am
On a very small 380 sq metre section we have , I Grape, i Fejoa, i Black Boy,I Golden Queen Peach, 1 Almond tree,2 red currant and two black currant.
Plus over 1500 Swan plants to sell in the Summer. :-)
bassmo1, Aug 6, 9:36am
Fruit trees, if not carefully looked after, drop fruit which rats are attracted to, they create slimy footpaths and they die too often. Remembering my large loquat tree at night with the rats running in the branches.
samanya, Aug 6, 10:41am
Good on you bergkamp . I wonder at 6 grapes though, I only have one & last year I had so many I couldn't give them away. The birds got their share & I made jelly, juice & even froze some whole & probably the chooks will get those eventually.
Your children will love picking & eating fresh fruit.
As junie said, it's amazing what can be grown in a suburban section if you are motivated enough.
junie2, Aug 6, 12:51pm
Edited to say - I forgot to mention the loquats and the beehive. On paper it looks like a lot of work, but it's actually not.
junie2, Aug 6, 4:00pm
Gotta agree with samanya about the excess grapes - but yes, they're not wasted if the chooks get them. Samanya - our chooks haven't gone off the lay at all - are we lucky, or what?
holmda, Aug 6, 6:33pm
Wellington city council will give you a free fruit tree if you ask to be a "guardian". Basically, you contact them asking them that you would like to plant a particular type of fruit tree in a particular area and that you will be its guardian. If they approve of type and place, they give you the tree (not sure if they give anything else) and then you feed and water it. Fruit is for the community. It's all part of their resilient city plan.
bergkamp, Aug 6, 9:01pm
thanks , my philosophy was to plant away to my hearts content . if there is too much then just rip it out !
jollyroddy, Aug 11, 9:51pm
So far I have 2 kinds of pears, 1 nectarine
(thinking of espailaring that) , 2 kinds of apples and 2 kinds on m9 (drawf rootstock), 2 feijoas, 1 meyer lemon, a thornless blackberry, a fig (not sure if we like those), 2 plums and black boy peach.

I also got a black current to put in and was hunting for some cranberries to make a small hedge. was thinking pomegranate - but not sure how they do in chch - 400m or there about section :)