The "other" fruits?

[Catscratch]

I know everyone loves apples, pear, and crabs for their wildlife plantings... but what about the others like: peach, apricot, cherries, plum, blackberry, raspberry, etc?

I personally like a lot of these and wonder what kind wildlife benefits they have.

Anyone planting the "other" fruits and berries? If not why?

 

[chickenlittle]

Nothing producing but I have or will plant persimmon, paw paw, dogwoods, Viburnums, plums, hawthorns, hackberry, serviceberry. Have lots of black gum /tupelo that is supposed to be a high fat fruit. have some native serviceberry and some elderberry. I am looking for diversity for all wildlife.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I can't speak for everyone else, but in MN and WI I have a tough getting fruit trees other than apples/crabapples to survive winter. Pears don't seem to do very well, and peaches/apricots aren't cold hardy enough to survive up here. The one exception to that would be plum though. There are a lot of wild American Plum all over in MN and WI and they're great for wildlife. They naturally form thickets, so you'll want to plant them in an area that they can eventually take over. I've planted a few grafted plums that have done all right, but they're not old enough to produce fruit so the jury is still out on them.

I've also planted service berries, dogwoods, blueberries, hazelnuts, filberts, and hawthorns and they're still alive but not old enough to produce yet.

There's lots of wild blackberries and raspberries growing up here as well, so I don't really need to plant any. If I didn't have them growing wild though, I would definitely plant a few on the edges where they would naturally do best. I think having a variety of fruits available is great for wildlife in general and it won't hurt to plant a pile of different types to see what grows best.

 

[wiscwhip]

Here I thought this thread was going to be about bunny huggers, vegans, cross dressers, and any other number of such crazies as falls under the broad scope of "fruitiness".:(

 

[Catscratch]

Here I thought this thread was going to be about bunny huggers, vegans, cross dressers, and any other number of such crazies as falls under the broad scope of "fruitiness".:(

Lol, wrong "fruits".

I'm in Kansas and I think we have less harsh winters than most of you. We sure don't get much rain though and the summers get plenty hot. We might be able to grow some of this other stuff that you guys can't. Just need to know if stuff like it or not.

 

[Rally1148]

I'm putting in Dogwoods (they've got some berries), am plum, hackberry, chokeberry, shadblow, all sorts of viburnums, and elderberry. I've got a fair amount of wild black and raspberrys, although they never get very tall, and are more of a groundcover. A lot of of these give soft mast in early summer through fall, and many of them are solid or great browse species. I'm also going to be putting in some DCOs and hazelnuts for some additional mast and browse.

Since I'm in an ag area, apples and oaks really make deer easier to hunt, rather than provide them with a very large missing dietary link. That being said, I think that these "other fruits" are key to a well balanced habitat, and in my habitat are one of the biggest things. They are one of the things that are missing in my autumn olive dominated area, and I truly feel that since I'm surrounded by ag and only have 20 acres, the biggest thing I can do for these deer is provide some security, and a very very high level of browse species. They can find their soybeans and corn in about 5 places within a mile of my place. I have water, my parcel is heavily pressured because of the surrounding properties state land and only having access from the West, there are swamps on my property and my neighbors 300 acres, my neighbor plots as well and has tons of different ag fields. The BIG components are there, so for me, I think that these species are as important if not more important for "my" herd's health.

Outside of deer, I think that these species have an incredibly high value to other wildlife. Birds use almost all of these species as nesting, or eat their berries or seeds. Rabbits love them, and they can provide food for them in the winter. Ninebark, dogwoods, viburnums and plum are, along with oak, some of the most important woody plants for our pollinators and the invertebrate ecosystem. Native bees use the hollow stems in many of these plants for their seasonal nests, OR they use the ground near their bases to make their burrows. Most of our native bees don't form hives or colonies, and are solitary... so these are extremely important for them. Lots of butterflies have larva that are only able to feed on certain types of host plants, which are in many cases these shrubs or similar species. I think that al long as you have oaks, and some native prairie (including some flowers), fruiting shrubs are more important to the overall mini-scale ecosystem than anything else. As far as oaks go... they support an incredible amount of life, so I'd put them before everything except a native prairie.... but other than that, I'd put all of these species up there as incredibly important.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Blackberries and blueberries grow at camp naturally. We have serviceberries coming to plant this spring. We also have hackberry trees and a lot of Washington Hawthorn that attract lots of songbirds for the fruits and for nesting cover. Good to have big numbers of birds to eat the bad insects in the fruit trees. ( apples & crabs )

Peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, etc. won't survive here because of bears. We have enough trouble with them in the things we DO plant !! Bears wiped out a patch of elderberry we had growing - tore out the stalks and the whole root system. We'd like to plant DCO's, but not feasible w/ bears.

 

[Dan Wombles]

Don't bother planting peaches, unless you like feeding the coons and possums, as they will beat the other wildlife to the fruit.

 

[bryant]

Added 2 pecan and 2 peaches to this years plantings as some "others".

 

[Native Hunter]

Primary wildlife foods other than apples, pears and crabapples on my place:

Blackberries (covered up with wild ones so don't need to plant)
Serviceberry (wild and planted)
Paw Paw (planted)
Cherries (several domestic planted and wild ones already there)
Black Gum (many wild ones)
Hazelnut (wild and planted)
Viburnums (planted, mostly arrowwood and AC Bush)
Chestnuts (many varieties planted)
Elderberry (wild and planted)
Dogwoods (wild and planted new types such as Red Osier)
Plum (several varieties planted)
Persimmon (many wild and several cultivars planted)
Blueberries (wild lowbush thriving, but all others I have planted fail)
Pecan (a few planted but struggling)
Hackberry (wild only)
Witchhazel (planted)
Oaks are my dominant native forest trees, and I have planted 8 varieties
Greenbriar and Jap Honeysuckle (Vine) are abundant wild here. So is Jewelweed and several other beneficial forbs.

 

[chickenlittle]

I forgot a personal favorite. Teaberry. I don't know if anything eats those but I enjoy the few I eat each year.

 

[SD51555]

We're trying to get a half dozen of everything possible that is native. The idea is that if we can get a half dozen of each going, hopefully they will in time begin to produce and the critters will transfer seed away from the site via poop-dispersal to regenerate. If that works, then hopefully we can ID them and continue to manage for a natural spread of those desireables and become the fruitiest place up north.

We already have raspberry and wild strawberry. We've added cranberry, RO dogwood, plum, wild black cherry, chokecherry, siberian crab, american mountainash, elderberry, and serviceberry. This year we're adding chokeBerry (50 mixed into the bur oaks). I'd like to add blackberry next year and whatever else comes to mind. Then I want to eat a bear and some grouse from it all.

 

[Rally1148]

We're trying to get a half dozen of everything possible that is native. The idea is that if we can get a half dozen of each going, hopefully they will in time begin to produce and the critters will transfer seed away from the site via poop-dispersal to regenerate. If that works, then hopefully we can ID them and continue to manage for a natural spread of those desireables and become the fruitiest place up north.

This is pretty much my plan, but I'm combatting the autumn olive as well. I'll also be using the seed from those plants to propagate some more. Have you had much luck with the Mountain Ash? I think it'd be a pretty neat thing to plant.

 

[Catscratch]

Wow, lots more of the off fruits being planted than I thought. Seems everyone has questions and talks about the apples and pears, maybe the other stuff just doesn't need a lot of attention.

Thanks for the replies, they've opened my eyes to something I had been considering and wanting to do.
Keep posting your favorites, it might help me decide some things.

 

[SD51555]

This is pretty much my plan, but I'm combatting the autumn olive as well. I'll also be using the seed from those plants to propagate some more. Have you had much luck with the Mountain Ash? I think it'd be a pretty neat thing to plant.

I just planted them last spring. So far all six are growing nicely in their tubes. They each put on about 6-12 inches of new growth last season. I have to really keep an eye on all of my fruit trees and bushes. They're all in 6' tubes and I'm pushing the limits I'm afraid, of bottling them up that high. My hope is that I can trim and train them upward to keep the full tube in tact and get them outta the browse line when they emerge.

 

[SD51555]

Wow, lots more of the off fruits being planted than I thought. Seems everyone has questions and talks about the apples and pears, maybe the other stuff just doesn't need a lot of attention.

Thanks for the replies, they've opened my eyes to something I had been considering and wanting to do.
Keep posting your favorites, it might help me decide some things.

I think the natives are easier because they take less work and care.

 

[Rally1148]

I think the natives are easier because they take less work and care.

I'd have to agree. Pretty much get them established and they're set.

I won't be tubing my stuff other than my DCO's and some other oaks that I'm planting. I'm going to fence them, and depending on my "study's" results, I'll know whether I need to keep them caged or not. I'm fine with them being browsed, as long as they aren't killed, so I might just put a 4' cage around their base so that they can't be mowed to the ground.

 

[Rally1148]

Wow, lots more of the off fruits being planted than I thought. Seems everyone has questions and talks about the apples and pears, maybe the other stuff just doesn't need a lot of attention.

Thanks for the replies, they've opened my eyes to something I had been considering and wanting to do.
Keep posting your favorites, it might help me decide some things.

I'd say try them all out. For this stuff, IMHO, diversity is king. A lot of these will get their berries at different times (just look at the variation between dogwoods). Likewise they'll be browsed at different times. IMO, this stuff is more fun than the apples and food plotting because I tend to have a lot less invested (e.g. maintenance time etc...).

 

[Native Hunter]

I thought of some more I forgot to include in my list above:

Red Mulberry (Morus Ruba) is a native in my area, but I had few of them on my land. So, I have planted some more, and I got these from just digging them up at other locations. They are extremely hardy here.

White Mulberry (Morus Albia) is not a native to the US, but has been here for many years, having been brought over in colonial times for the silkworm industry. I have heard that this plant can be invasive in some areas, so I would use caution with it. However, I've never seen that here. Actually, I don't have any pure white mulberry plants but have planted some hybrids at my home for experimentation. Fruit from all species is great, and in the summer when mulberries are falling, deer will come and devour them.

At home I am also experimenting with some European Filberts (hazelnuts). Almost any hazelnuts that you buy in a grocery are the European variety, since the nuts are superior. The problem for growers has been that the EFs are generally prone to Eastern Filbert Blight. Oregon State University has been a leader in developing strains of EFs that are blight immune. I have about 5 or 6 of those cultivars growing at home right now and will eventually add them to my farm planting. The ones I have are just now getting to bearing age. The customary way of propagating these is with layering plants (bending over lower limbs and covering with dirt) to form clone plants. I have been successful at that and have a few to transplant in the near future.

Probably some other things I have forgotten about but will post up if anything else comes to mind.

PS: I have no idea about the USDA Zone hardiness of anything I have mentioned, so for anyone else planting anything I have discussed that would be something to check.

 

[Native Hunter]

^^^mulberries are great trees, both for browse and fruit. Every old timer who could grow one had a mulberry or two. They provide a "decoy" of sorts by drawing birds to them and away from other fruits. A big mulberry tree cranks out a LOT of fruit over a good period of time.

I'm hoping my IL Everbearing mulberry made it through the winter. It shows green from a fingernail test, but I've had trees do that before at this time of the year and still die later in the spring.

I hope it makes it for you Stu. I have one and it has outgrown any other tree I ever planted. The tough part with IE is getting to the fruit before the birds. Best thing I have found is go out early in the morning and grab the ones that ripened during the night.

My tree is now so big that I can climb up into it. I didn't keep records on when it was planted, but I think only 5-6 years ago. The birds won't even leave the tree when I climb up. They see me and just hop up on a higher limb and raise cane because I guess they think a bigfoot is after their berries...LOL.

Just remembered the 2 weeping mulberries I have. Fruit is much earlier than IE and good, but not as good as IE.

The drooping form of these allow me to throw a net over them to help with birds. At least so far. Not sure how much bigger they are going to get. Net is still possible but getting to be a trick for just one guy to do by himself.

And yes on the browse!! When one comes up in my yard I have to get to it quickly if I want to transplant it, because deer will come in at night and eat it to the ground. That goes for any type mulberry.