I have a roughly 60’ wall on the west side of our shed (faces due west). I am wondering if I could put some fruit trees along this wall? Will it get too hot or not get enough sun? The ground is very rocky so I would either do containers or possibly a raised bed.
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What does “along” mean in feet distance from the wall?
I could go about 24-30”. I was thinking maybe espalier some dwarf or super dwarf trees?
Is that metal siding? If so I would say no. It radiates too much heat in the summer time. IMO.
The horse barn I have my horses in is metal and the heat it radiates is pretty intense if something is close to it. Even three feet is too close to the metal. Metal is a good conductor for heat and cold. I think the temp swings would be too great, IMO.
I don’t totally agree, we have tin sheds that trees and weeds grow nicely up against in full sun; also his is painted white, so it should do even better than ones painted grey like ours.
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Maybe your theory/reason is correct. Weeds grow anyplace and everywhere, lol
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Metal only radiates on the shaded side. On the sunny side it reflects most of the heat. If the trees are intercepting the light it shouldn’t be that much of an issue unless the varieties are heat-sensitive in the first place.
I’d be more concerned with the trees only having 6-7 hours of sunlight and giving low quality fruit.
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I’d say go for it, but maybe plant heat loving species. Something like Jujube, or Che (examples for your zone) or zone push some loquat. Just use that microclimate in your favor. Likely apples or honey berries would be a bad idea however take the heat reflected as a benefit and grow some things which will not harm or even help them. Granted I have no space so I plant in every inch that I can.
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Planting at least 24 feet from the wall will avoid the building heat effect and much of the shadow effect.
Do you ever walk those distances from the shed mid-afternoon to early evening and notice heat pouring off of it?
Those distances are in inches not feet.
I am also concerned with the heat being radiated out after the sun goes down it may make the trees think it is spring time and time to blossom. Then they may get zapped by the cold, freeze, or frosts. Just my thoughts. Good luck to him. Enough of my opinions on this matter. I know what it does around here with metal buildings and barns.
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…never mind.
People’s theories are interesting but not necessarily helpful. First of all, as far as reflecting heat, a lot is dependent on the relative shading of the trees at any given time. Not much shade during the winter, which can be a problem if the structure does not moderate the cold at night in making trees come out of dormancy too soon without added cold protection.
That said, I have apricots on the south and east side of my house and a Spring Satin plum growing on the east side of an unheated Airstream trailer- maybe you should consider the advice of people who’ve approximated your experiment. All those trees are performing well in this experiment that has been going on for over 20 years. My house is painted white, and is poorly insulated because its walls are cement brick where the trees are, so it gets some heat from the house. Buds pressing against the wall flower out at least a week earlier than those a foot away, but they are somewhat protected by escaping heat from the house, apparently. The plum more closely represents your experiment, but it is in an area sheltered well from the wind and east ain’t west. It seems to do better than the same variety grown out in the open, but it is a young tree that replaced an Elephant Heart that died after a decade of much better productivity than any other EH trees on my property. They are tender wherever I plant them and other trees out in the open have died- probably from sudden temp drops in early spring. .
If apricots are not damaged by this and actually greatly aided compared to same varieties growing on my property out in the open you will likely find it will work well and the trees will look a lot prettier than that shed, IMO.
I treat my cots like informal espaliers and summer prune them a lot, but the plum (actually an aprium being Spring Satin) is treated like trees growing out in the open beyond me pruning branches that grow away from the trailer.
You may not get the same results in your different climate and different exposure, but I expect your trees will do fine. The main problem with western exposure is that dew remains on the fruit for a longer time which encourages fungal problems here in the humid northeast. This may affect your choice of species depending on pressure there.
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