What sort of flowering or fruit trees do well in Pittsburgh (buying, maintenance)

[Hopes]

We had a mulberry tree. It wasn't invasive. It was a real tree. Very pretty.

But we cut it down because it was super messy and the birds were pooping mulberries everywhere.

[I_Like_Spam]

I've seen peach trees around here too, on the path down near the river in here in L'ville there is one between 40th and 43rd.

[Tinare]

Originally Posted by Hopes

We had a mulberry tree. It wasn't invasive. It was a real tree. Very pretty.

But we cut it down because it was super messy and the birds were pooping mulberries everywhere.

Ha! I don't know where it is, but someone in my neighborhood has one because I'm always cleaning purple bird poop off of my deck and porch railings.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Tinare

Ha! I don't know where it is, but someone in my neighborhood has one because I'm always cleaning purple bird poop off of my deck and porch railings.

Yep! You've got a mulberry tree in the vicinity!

That's one thing that's nice about my crabapple tree. The birds hate them. They eat the apples as a last resort in January and February. I know food is scarce when my crabapple tree is covered with 50 to 100 birds.

Mulberry trees are nice to have if you can plant them far away from patios, walkways and driveways.

[ferraris]

Thank you for the help again everybody. I think my plan is coming together a little better. Hopes' warnings of planting trees in "r" months kicked my butt into gear over the weekend and I cleared out 90% of the brush and trees that I didn't want. Gave me some sore muscles and a nice pile of stuff to burn in my firepit for the summer.

I ended up ordering from Musser Forests in Indiana County because it seems like younger "bare root" trees are much cheaper than older trees in the burlap sacks. I got 5 Common Lilacs (max height 15 feet) and 5 American Plums (max height 20 feet). The plums are native to Pennsylvania, so I'm hoping they are easy to care for. I should get them in over the weekend and be able to plant them. They'll only be 2 or 3 feet tall, but that's not a problem. It would be a few years until I feel financially comfortable spending money on a privacy fence anyway, and this method is much cheaper and nicer. I definitely want to get an Apple or Mulberry eventually, but regular Mulberry trees can get up to 60 feet tall! So i'll have to hunt down a dwarf. Maybe that place with the Mantis eggs will have them

Right now I have a banged up chain link fence, probably 100 - 150 feet long. Most of the brush I cleared out was along this fence, so I'm thinking of planting Morning Glories or another vine to cover up my ugly fence and hopefully keep the brush at bay. I'm still not sure about that though, it may take more effort than I'd like. I'm certainly not going to prune 100 feet of flowers every week or anything.

[eschaton]

There are a ton of mulberry trees of various sizes in Pittsburgh. A bunch of smallish ones are along the Allegheny Riverfront trail, and I like to harvest them when they are in season (I also do the same with staghorn sumac, to make sumac lemonade).

One thing to watch out for with fruit trees is wasps. We moved into a house which already had pear and peach trees growing up, and if you allow any fruit to rot, you'll have a near constant supply of wasps buzzing around the tree - which makes it that much harder to collect fruit.

Edit: You also might want to get your soil tested for lead contamination. You live pretty far out from the core of the city, but it's still a risk I wouldn't want to take.

[ferraris]

Eschaton, is testing for lead because it might kill the tree? Or because it might get into the fruit (and thus, into your body)? Is there a company you recommend?

Maybe I can just buy a dwarf rootstock and try to harvest a cutting from a mulberry along the trail and try my hand at grafting. It would be an interesting experiment. I'm probably getting way ahead of myself because my previous gardening experience is basically a few hanging pots in the War Streets.

As far as the wasps go, that's not a big change from whatever was going on in all the brush I cleared out. I definitely found a few insect nests of some sort; luckily they were abandoned.

[Hopes]

Plum trees are a great idea! I love plums!

Good luck with your bare roots. Baby them and they should make it. Read up on caring for them.

[groar]

only plant morning glories if you are cool with having morning glories in that spot FOREVER. they are pretty, and basically require no effort to care for, but that means they grow like weeds. i have my vegetable garden along a fence that originally had morning glories growing up it and 5 years later i'm still pulling them up every spring. if i don't pull them up they get all over the place and strangle everything.

i'm not sure what a good alternative is - maybe clematis? or you could go totally edible and plant a grape vine. or peas and beans - peas in the early spring, followed by beans, then more peas. beans especially can have very, very pretty leaves and flowers.

and yeah, testing for lead is because it will get into the fruit. the penn state agricultural extension does lead (and other contaminant) testing.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

Eschaton, is testing for lead because it might kill the tree? Or because it might get into the fruit (and thus, into your body)? Is there a company you recommend?

The main concern with soil contamination is actually just general gardening - getting soil on your hands. Most of the lead that gets into/on produce is from dust from the ground getting on it (which is why they don't suggest leafy greens be farmed anywhere with even moderately elevated levels), but lead can get into the plants themselves to a limited degree. Still, you should probably get tested, just to see if you should replace your topsoil (although if it's high enough, it's considered hazardous waste, and difficult to legally get rid of).

I believe PA has a state lab you can send soil to for $27, but this information may be out of date.