What Fruits Can You Grow on Your Lawn?
Arizona and Colorado do not have the friendliest environment for fruit trees. Because of this, some plants that grow well in most other places in the country don’t grow as well here. But that isn’t to say there are no fruit trees that you can grow in these two states. If you want to grow fresh fruits on your Arizona or Colorado lawns, here are some garden fruits that the experts at Pioneer Landscape Centers recommend you try growing in your garden or on your lawn.
Fruit Trees That Grow in Arizona and Colorado
All Citrus Trees
Believe it or not, Arizona is one of our country’s biggest producers of citrus fruits. The citrus industry in Arizona actually predates its statehood by several decades. This means that citrus fruits are one of the few fruits that actually prefer climates found in Arizona and parts of Colorado. If you start growing citrus fruits in your backyard, you’ll be taking part in an old state pastime.
Citrus trees are perfect for the scenery of your front yard, or they can grow across your backyard. This would also be a long-term project. Citrus trees take years to grow before they begin making fruits, but then they’ll produce fruit every year once they’re grown.
Persimmon Trees
Maybe you want something that’s low effort. Not everyone has the time to grow fruit trees, especially for years on end. Because of how adaptable the seeds are to the soil, they’re able to grow even in the driest parts of the year, with little to no pruning or fertilizing. Though, we do recommend it if you want to increase this plant’s chances of growing to term and producing healthy and tasty fruits.
They also provide lots of shade during the summer before the fruit drops in the fall. Where citrus trees can take seven to nine years to produce fruit, persimmon trees produce fruits after five to seven years.
Apple Trees
Believe it or not, three varieties of the country’s most popular fruit can grow here: Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Anna. Apple trees are relatively easy to grow compared to other fruit trees. You do need to do some pruning and keep your branches to 1-2 apples per cluster to get decent-sized apples. The more apples on the branch, the fewer nutrients they’ll get. If you prefer smaller apples, you can leave more on the branch, but they may not grow to be as juicy either.
Granny Smith
How long it will take to grow these apples depends on which type of tree they’re growing from. For Granny Smith, the popular green and sour apple can grow on standard trees, semi-dwarf trees, and dwarf trees. Standard trees take four to six years to start producing apples, but semi-dwarf trees take three to four years, while dwarf trees can take two to three. The smaller the tree, the shorter it takes, but the smaller the tree, the fewer and smaller the apples.
Pink Lady
It’s similar for Pink Lady apples as well. Pink Lady apples thrive in hot climates, so they grow faster here in Arizona and Colorado than they would anywhere else. They usually take only 200 days to reach harvest time. This makes it one of the fastest-growing fruit trees you can harvest in the state. The trade-off is that these are higher maintenance than other trees, and have to be watered regularly.
Anna
These apples are sweet, crunchy, and semi-acidic, making them absolutely delicious. They’re perfect for cooking and baking, and their trees produce a larger crop than many other apple trees. They also grow well in Arizona since they are bred to tolerate the low chill of our cold nights, and thrive in the warmer climates of the day. Like Pink Lady apple trees, Anna apple trees can bear fruit within the first year of planting. This means that right now is the best time to plant these fruits!
Get the Soil and Planting Tools From Pioneer Landscape Centers
If you’re going to start a big project like planting fruit trees, you’re going to need all the tools for digging, planting, and pruning. Without them, you may not be able to properly take care of your plants. When you plant fruit trees, you do it so you can have something sweet to eat at the end of the season. For help getting started, contact your local Pioneer Landscape Centers today.