Two Perfect Trees for Your Southern California Garden
One of the reasons many folks move to, or stay in southern California is our remarkably pleasant climate. It seems to always be pleasant here; where else can you wear shorts for a jog on Christmas day? And likewise, need a sweater for a summer evening when much of the country sweats out a summer night in stifling heat and humidity. Our weather is so good we sometimes lose track of the seasons. But it is spring after all, and many of my friends are doing spring planting; and quite a few are asking what they should plant. No small number are planting fruit trees.
I attended a terrific lecture by Nan Sterman last month at the Mission Hills Garden Club on drought tolerant edible landscapes for southern California. Nan reminded us of two of the best fruit trees for southern California: the olive and the pomegranate. Both trees have been in California for quite a while. Both of these trees were transported and planted here by the Spanish in the late eighteenth century as they established the string of missions throughout the state. Both trees are from the same climate zone we enjoy, the Mediterranean zone.
They are both extremely drought tolerant, very easy to care for, and here is the best part, they are very precocious. I love that splendid word: precocious. It sounds like an adjective used to describe a bright, or prematurely developed child, but botanically and horticulturally it denotes a tree which will bear at an early age. If you have planted fruit trees, and I sure hope you have, you understand why being precocious is such a marvelous attribute. Trees take a very loooooonnnnnnngggg time to come to bearing age. The older I get, the more important purchasing precocious trees becomes. Lao Tse is reported to have said "if you want to make yourself happy, plant a garden; if you want to make your grandchildren happy, plant a tree." He reminds us that trees grow relatively slowly, but they can bless not just our life, but the lives of our progeny.
Most fruit trees don't really bear to any degree until they are about five years old; and honestly they won't really begin to pay off for ten years or more after installation. Some nut trees don't begin till they are about ten. I am feeling older already! Here is the great benefit of olives and pomegranates, they can bear in 2-3 years; you might even get a few fruits the first year.
To sum it up, here are the attributes of olives and pomegranates: they are very drought tolerant, will grow well throughout the state on the coast or in the hot inland valleys, they are very ornamental, not prone to pest problems, very forgiving of bad pruning, bear fruit at a young age (precocious), bear a tremendous amount of fruit. They sound like the perfect tree. Ashleigh Brilliant, the writer and artist behind "Potshots", wrote "I may not be perfect, but I just might be perfect for you". Olives and pomegranates might not be perfect trees, but they may just well be the perfect tree for someplace in your garden.
In the next blog entry, I'll review pomegranate varieties. Stay tuned, you might find one that is perfect for you.
I attended a terrific lecture by Nan Sterman last month at the Mission Hills Garden Club on drought tolerant edible landscapes for southern California. Nan reminded us of two of the best fruit trees for southern California: the olive and the pomegranate. Both trees have been in California for quite a while. Both of these trees were transported and planted here by the Spanish in the late eighteenth century as they established the string of missions throughout the state. Both trees are from the same climate zone we enjoy, the Mediterranean zone.
They are both extremely drought tolerant, very easy to care for, and here is the best part, they are very precocious. I love that splendid word: precocious. It sounds like an adjective used to describe a bright, or prematurely developed child, but botanically and horticulturally it denotes a tree which will bear at an early age. If you have planted fruit trees, and I sure hope you have, you understand why being precocious is such a marvelous attribute. Trees take a very loooooonnnnnnngggg time to come to bearing age. The older I get, the more important purchasing precocious trees becomes. Lao Tse is reported to have said "if you want to make yourself happy, plant a garden; if you want to make your grandchildren happy, plant a tree." He reminds us that trees grow relatively slowly, but they can bless not just our life, but the lives of our progeny.
Most fruit trees don't really bear to any degree until they are about five years old; and honestly they won't really begin to pay off for ten years or more after installation. Some nut trees don't begin till they are about ten. I am feeling older already! Here is the great benefit of olives and pomegranates, they can bear in 2-3 years; you might even get a few fruits the first year.
To sum it up, here are the attributes of olives and pomegranates: they are very drought tolerant, will grow well throughout the state on the coast or in the hot inland valleys, they are very ornamental, not prone to pest problems, very forgiving of bad pruning, bear fruit at a young age (precocious), bear a tremendous amount of fruit. They sound like the perfect tree. Ashleigh Brilliant, the writer and artist behind "Potshots", wrote "I may not be perfect, but I just might be perfect for you". Olives and pomegranates might not be perfect trees, but they may just well be the perfect tree for someplace in your garden.
In the next blog entry, I'll review pomegranate varieties. Stay tuned, you might find one that is perfect for you.
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