North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Alexander Brands <abb7@Lehigh.EDU>]

> Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 11:20:10 -0500
    > From: Gregory Strella <gregory.strella@gmail.com>
    > Subject: [NAFEX] Baltimore City Fruit Tree Plantings
    > To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
    > Message-ID:
    >         <8656f2190912040820p54b86f6dpfa8d21a284f1f9a4@mail.gmail.com>
    > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
    >
    > Hello friends,
    >
    > I was recently contacted by several new and long serving leaders in
    > Baltimore's parks and horticultural divisions who are interesting in the
    > idea of incorporating fruit into their municipal tree planting and
    > maintenance regiment.  This would be an impressive expansion on the
    > successful and ongoing effort to establish schoolyard and  
community orchards
    > throughout the Baltimore and other cities.
    >
    > The central question is this:  Are there two or three cultivars that we
    > could direct these authorities to in order to insure their  
early success and
    > further investment in this important opportunity?  The main criteria for
    > "success" would be these:
    >
    > 1. Species/cultivars that performed fairly (note that  
performing fairly does
    > not mean peak performance) with minimal management (e.g. annual pruning,

- Ignored:
    > annual harvesting, no spraying).  That is to say, the priority here is
    > disease/pest resistance, hardiness and longevity rather than  
production and
    > even flavor.
    > 2. Trees that are able to be harvested without specialized  
equipment (dwarf
    > or semi-dwarf)

    These criteria scream Asian persimmon to me.  There are several
    varieties that are rated as hardy in zone 6, so they should be very
    reliable in Baltimore's zone 7.  They do not get very tall and many
    people grow them as no spray trees.  Persimmon psylla can cause
    cosmetic damage, but does not affect the fruit.  Among the hardiest
    varieties are:
    Ichi Kei Ki Jiro
    Great Wall
    Hana Fuyu
    Tam Kam

    An added bonus is that persimmons are very attractive trees.

    Jujube is another possibility......I think they can get taller than
    persimmon, but their size can be managed by pruning.

    Geraldi dwarf mulberry is another possibility, but the birds will
    probably get all the berries!

    Alex


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