These pictures are AI generated
I have this dream of a Arbequina Olive tree and a Pineapple Guava tree in front of a shop. I am in zone 7b NE Oklahoma so the actual care and fruiting of the trees would be a certain challenge but if I mound them and place them on the south side, they should be aight and fruiting. As for the ornamental aspect, they are both evergreen and I believe provide a good contrast. At least according to the following pictures.
What are your thoughts, is this likely an inaccurate representation of what this may look like? Should I consider a different olive or guava/feioja variety? I’ve included a tree and bush option for the Pineapple Guava.
Hi Richard, thanks for providing that image. Do you think by pruning low and keeping high branches, the pineapple guava could achieve a look similar to the first image I’ve shared as well as pair well astethically and ornamentally with the Arbequina Olive? Thanks.
@Fiddle
No. The top side leaf color of Acca sellowiana is not dark green and the underside leaf color is light gray. It is a shrub that can be trained into a tree form but will sucker incessantly from the base. It will not meet deciduous fruit tree expectations of branch and trunk composition, nor pruning or fruiting seasons. It is a near-tropical evergreen that tolerates USDA cold-hardiness zone 8.
I’ll also point out that the AI version of an olive tree is unrealistic in your lifetime. Here’s an image of a 10 year old in-ground olive in USDA cold-hardiness zone 9.
There is a vast difference between zone 8-9 where olives may survive and zone 7.
Pineapple guava is also unlikely to make it in the open in zone 7. Maybe possible in protected microclimates.
Ramv, I understand it’s not just a level or two difference in zone can mark the difference between even having frosts or not. However, in your expertise would you say I should drop the idea of the two trees? I really would like to have a sort of project or challenge in a way as I feel it would be so much more rewarding to go against the status quo as is said is possible with the correct steps and protection. Unless you and many others genuinely know it’s unfeasible as I’ve had a few sources tell me it’s doable with the right efforts. For example, when you speak of the microclimate, what I personally had in mind was this: several feet of elevation, planted on the south side of a warm in the winter shop, heavy mulching, constant watering, (especially in the cold as dry roots are more vulnerable that wet ones) incandescent or a heating sort of Christmas lights setup, obviously wrapping the tree, and having late frost protections. Now obviously this is a lot of work to have it in the ground but is this what you meant by the microclimate needed? If I attempt to go through all this and still likely get no fruit most years then I would certainly be a little less lenient towards taking as big of a risk.
Yeah I’ve unfortunately just learned that the hard way.
Again with the help of the image rendering, I figure the trees would look just like this for several decades.
While the vision is good, this poor sight for long would be too much of a sacrifice for the view I could only potentially catch nearing the end of my lifetime especially considering just one bad year would kill them. I would certainly be much better off planting faster growing native evergreens for visual appeal and stick the trees away elsewhere. Thanks for sharing your experience with these trees and the realistic reality of the situation.
@Fiddle
If I were to relocate to NE Oklahoma, I’d be delighted with the selection of award winning fruit and nut tree cultivars I could plant – and never grow at my current location.
Many of the measures you are taking into consideration beg the question of why not just throw up a lean-to greenhouse on the end of the building and use some of the heat that is being lost through the wall of the shop.
Yeah I will definitely consider that but I’ve now pivoted to planting the troublesome trees as pictured here, sorry for the use of AI for visualization I am not artistic
Kind of like that I guess, I have plans it on a patio, which that section has no roof in place for a fireplace and outdoor kitchen/oven. I hope by placing the trees pretty dang close to them, along with other amendments, I can create a zone 8 microclimate, plus it’s closest to home to make easier to baby the trees.
Are you planning to try to heat the area around the trees by keeping a fire burning whenever the temperature is low enough that they could sustain damage from the cold?
Well no the fireplace and kitchen would be on the opposite side away from the house, plus there is a porch on that side of the house, ai can be kind of finicky when it comes to image prompts. There is a porch between the patio and the house, it’s kind of hard to explain, I would provide a picture but I also don’t wanna self dox. Anyways there is a parking space between the patio and house, the fireplace and kitchen area would be well away from the house. My question is how well would something like this work planting them in a mound, in front of the patio near the fireplace & chimney this sounds like it maybe be a zone 8 climate. If unlikely to succeed I may just say to hell with it and do a greenhouse.
