Ooh, that is interesting. We eat a lot of avocados. But would it grow in Seattle though?
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Will take a picture:
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Not here in Seattle! Our sun is gentle enough that even in full sun I rarely see any sunburn other than when freshly planted out from growing indoors. The trees I’ve planted in shady spots have hardly grown in summer and then usually were first to freeze and die in winter. I only plant in spots with pretty good sun now.
We haven’t found any that do well here yet, but you’re welcome to join the project and I’ll be distributing the next batch of trees in about a year:
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Oh and to answer the original question, I’ve had good luck with honeyberries in a similar location, though that’s more a bush than tree.
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@swincher that’s interesting. Here in SF Bay Area I will put any avocado that’s struggling or newly grafted under shade cloth and they really love it until they leaf out and then they want sun.
Another option - feijoa?
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Yeah, Winn is the site avocado aficionado. He has grown more avocados than anyone without a farm. And we are both local around seattle.
But I can concur, the average avocado would be sad if the missed the bus stop going north and accidentally got off in seattle. I would not count on that being a good choice.
My bartlet pear has done well in part shade. I forgot about that tree because I hate it. Too gritty of a pear for my taste. My son saved it from the chainsaw. I have since grafted 6 other pears to it that I like. And they seem to be doing well. Mine is shadowed by my neighbors red cedar that gives it rust every year, and blocks the eastern morning sun. It still manages to load up more fruit than we can eat.
The reason I like the stone fruit idea is there are so many different choices that you can graft. You are bound to find one that works for your spot and palate.
But there are almost as many pears.
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My 3 grow well, but not really fruit well. The plant is very attractive. But another one I think it’s fruit is happier a few miles south of seattle. There are some huge ones at woodland park zoo by the penguins, and the whole parking lot of McMenamins in Bothell is lined with them. I watch both these sites when I take my kids swimming or to the zoo and have never seen a fruit.
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I give my brother a loquat tree. He planted it next to a bush and a tree and a fence. The loquat looks healthy for couple of years, but struggle to get enough sun. Then it finally made it and now growing as normal. So a loquat tree should do well. I imagine fig will do well in the shade until it reach the height of the sun ray.
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I think a lot of feijoa is grown from seed. I had an old tree here when I bought the house that didn’t fruit until I started watering and fertilizing it. Seems like many don’t want to make much fruit. But I’m curious if it’s a timing issue with flowering and your seasons
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I haven’t figured out what the problem is exactly, either, but so far my two bushes (with a total of 3 grafted varieties plus some rootstock branches) have only feebly flowered and then the fruit that were set never developed. They hung for many months but never got bigger than a plump raisin, and eventually dropped. I tried hand pollination but I suspect it’s some combination of temperatures and poor pollination that’s to blame.
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You bring up a good point. That is why I grafted over my seedling with cuttings from Marta’s trees via Winn. Then I got a large potted Unique and Mammoth from restoring Eden. I had planned to get more but my wife convinced me to wait until I get fruit. Mine have also flowered and set small anemic fruit that fall. Maybe they just need to be older, but so far are a misfire. But they grow very well and took the cold this winter like a champ. We had a week hovering around 15 deg f.
The ones at the zoo and mcminamins I eyeball closely because if I ever see a fruit I will definitely graft a sprig to my seedling grafted over bush.
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If it can reach full sun, or even 6-8 hrs of it, you could grow an apple tree and if you fear it doesn’t get enough sun to grow to the sun, start it on another part of your property, either in a big pot or ingound bag. My sister lives a block from the beach (or the cliff above the beach) and she grows fine apples- the weather keeps getting sunnier and warmer there as I’m sure it is in Seattle. On her property, apples are pretty pest free and you can grow a long keeping variety that will eventually keep you in apples all winter.
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Alan, do you know which apples have a reputation for cedar rust resistance? This is next/under a cedar tree if I understood the OP correctly.
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I am now leaning toward a plum (Italian prune) or a Stella cherry… apple is also in the shortlist, but I am not sure which variety to pick as there are so many… I would love for the tree to be somewhat ornamental. That area is a little drab looking with old garage and evergreen…
To my knowledge, CAR is not from cedars, it is from juniperus Virginianus that is commonly called Eastern red cedar. I don’ t believe your tree can host it. If in doubt, contact your county extension, but I never even heard of CAR or scab when I was a fruit grower in CA and my sister grows susceptible varieties to both, including Mutsu which is a magnet for CAR.
There are better self-fertile cherry trees than Stella. To harvest cherries you may need to net. There are E. plums that might do well there, but why a Stanley? You might want some advice from growers with real experience in your region. Maybe change your post to a question about best varieties in the Pacific Northwest.
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Ok, I am going to start a new post on plums because I ordered a couple from raintree (for a different location) 2 days ago, There is still time to stop shipping and ask for a different plum. I have not bought the stella. So glad I am checking with you folks.
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That is a cool looking hedge.
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I recommend working through this thread for ideas-
I’ve ended up with honeyberry, currant, elderberry, jostaberry, black raspberry, box huckleberry, and soon to add cranberry viburnum and others to my north side.
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Going through it now… thank you!!
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