Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Harvey Ussery <boxwood@nelsoncable.com>]

> I'm surprised to see pawpaws referred to as higher canopy plants. I 
> had understood that they did well planted under higher trees. That's 
> where mine are planted, anyway. Haven't been in the ground long 
> enough to bear yet, maybe this year.
>
> Liz in SW VA

Paw paws do well with shade. The kicker is that they have to find the 
canopy--i.e. get into the sunlight--before they fruit. The result: 
thickets of long, skinny paw paw trees in the woods that establish their 
crowns (and set their fruit) way up there. Not the best setup for 
somebody wanting to harvest her paw paws without a fire company's ladder.

Actually, paw paws do just fine planted in full sun. I have three very 
nice specimens, and they've been fruiting reliably for me for years. 
They don't go tall and skinny in full sun, maintain a reasonable 
height--nice pyramidal shape, very pretty landscape tree--and set fruit 
within easy picking distance.

Easy fruit tree for the homesteader--no insect or disease problems at 
all for me, heavy production every year. This despite the fact that mine 
are not in low, wetter ground (usually recommended as better for them), 
but in ordinary soil which can get quite dry in the summer. With their 
deep taproot, though, they reach down a long way for the water they need.

~Harvey

--
Harvey in northern Va
www.themodernhomestead.us

"Science without ethics is sociopathology."  (Bill Mollison)