I had to take down a large tree recently which was shading my house. Now I want something to replace it, and also produce edibles while it’s standing there.
Most fruit trees seem a bit on the short side, and even pears may not have the kind of spreading canopy that would really cut down on my AC bills. I’m here for the long haul, so I’m ok with something that’ll take 10 years to really start throwing shade.
Any suggestions? Euro Chestnut?
Mulberry trees sound like one option. Get a non staining variety. The roots are pretty invasive so plant far from house
Standard sweet cherry?
Well in that case I’m all set. But all the mulberries around here seem to range from medium to medium-small. I’ve trying to cast shade on a 2-story house.
In my climate, my Morus Alba (Pakistan) grew from 4 feet to 10 feet in one season. I see them 30-50 feet tall all the time.
Nut trees. A walnut of some sort or you could gamble on a northern pecan.
What makes pecan a gamble? Is 6b borderline hardiness for it?
It may not be, at least for some varieties. I will leave it to those more expert on pecans to advise what will or won’t do well there. I just wanted to be sure that you you knew that not all pecans can do well as far north as PA.
not a fruit tree but hybrid poplars can grow 8-10ft. a year. probably one of the fasting growing trees I’ve ever seen! they have big leaves that cast a lot of shade. northern red oak is fast growing also. not as fast as the polar but longer lived. montmormency cherry is a fast growing large fruit tree but i don’t know it will get big enough.
Plenty of pecans that will thrive in PA…but you’ll need at least two with compatible pollen shed/nutlet receptivity patterns in order to get consistently good nut crops