Question for fellow Tennessee people. (Kingsport: house, live, gardening)

[eaglecall]

I went to the east TN area, great weather, beautiful land, wonderful people, but something caught my attention. With the amount of land people own there, how come nobody has fruit trees? in the front yard, or the back yard, or maybe a little crop for daily use? My great and grand fathers were farmers and they use to suffer everytime they saw people wasting land full of grass. Besides, different fruit trees look so decorative. You can even save a lot of money having some chickens, corn, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, etc...

Is it because of city restrictions? or unprodective land? something in the soil?

[alleycat]

I can't speak for East Tennessee, but in the "olden days" people in the country in Middle Tennessee often had a few fruit trees. When I was growing up in Montgomery Country we had just about everything; apples (ten different varieties), pears, cherries, plums, and even peach (the peach didn't do very well because they would bloom just a little too early here). We also had grapes. My grandparents had one of the largest cherry trees I've ever seen.

I'm not sure why more people don't have fruit trees now. That's a good question. I guess they just don't think about it, or think they're too much trouble.

I planted two or three where I live now and unfortunately they didn't make it. I think that had more to do with my commercial mower than anything else. I planted them in the far back yard and didn't mulch around them and then came my mower and ended up girdling the trees I believe. I got a few apples off one tree.

There's certainly no restrictions about having fruit trees that I've ever heard about.

[SmokyMountainGirl]

I have fruit trees, plum and peach, and my parents have a small orchard of cherry trees, apple and pear. I remember growing up and when it was time to pick the cherries. I can't answer why others' don't..I have a hard time finding anyone close to me that even likes to garden.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by SmokyMountainGirl

I have fruit trees, plum and peach, and my parents have a small orchard of cherry trees, apple and pear. I remember growing up and when it was time to pick the cherries. I can't answer why others' don't..I have a hard time finding anyone close to me that even likes to garden.

I remember when the cherries started to ripen . . . we would have a flock of catbirds helping themselves. We generally said the top half of the trees were for the birds, and hoped we'd get to pick the bottom half for ourselves.

[jguillot]

What types of cherry trees do you find in Tennessee? Do you ever see bing cherries there? Also, are fig trees prevalent in Tennessee?

I hope to be able to plan fruit trees on my property when I retire in Tennessee.

[kamoshika]

I see a lot of apple, cherry and pear trees on my walks in Kingsport, quite a few plum trees as well. When I was growing up in Kingsport we had an apple tree beside the house, a cherry tree in front and a persimmon tree in back.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by jguillot

What types of cherry trees do you find in Tennessee? Do you ever see bing cherries there? Also, are fig trees prevalent in Tennessee?

I hope to be able to plan fruit trees on my property when I retire in Tennessee.

The cherry trees I'm familiar with were different from Bings. But I'm pretty sure Bings would do okay here.

I've heard of fig trees here, but I've never seen one myself.

[mbmouse]

When I lived in Greene County I planted two apple trees and they grew very well, I actually had apples the second year! The house came with a pear tree and a cherry tree. The pear tree we had to end up cutting down as it was very old and fragile, bad location, it attracted so many bees to the kitchen door that my boys were getting stung. The pears weren't very good either. I was told it was called an "old timey pear" but I don't think that was it's true name hahahha.
I do want to plant blueberries here in my Washington County home eventually, but we have just figured out why I am having a hard time getting veggies to grow. We have more clay than dirt here and there is a nitrogen deficiency. As soon as I can find the right formula for fixing this issue, I will try the blueberries and maybe a few other fruit trees.
When I drive through the more country lane places (which we do quite a bit) I do see more fruit trees than in the more populated areas. I guess it is just personal preference.

[kamoshika]

Originally Posted by jguillot

What types of cherry trees do you find in Tennessee? Do you ever see bing cherries there? Also, are fig trees prevalent in Tennessee?

Bings should fare pretty well wherever you end up in TN:
Tree Details—The Tree Guide at arborday.org

Most of the cherry trees I see in NE Tenn. are ornamentals or the native black cherry.

I've never seen fig trees in this area but from I read in one gardening forum, Sal's & Chicago hardy are two varieties that should thrive in E. Tennessee.

An interesting fruit tree native to TN that you may not be familiar with is the pawpaw, which belongs to the custard apple family. Weighing up to a pound, it's the largest fruit native to America. Might be a neat one to set out once you're settled in:
PAWPAW Fruit Facts

I don't see as many pawpaw trees in the woods as I used to, but the one that grew at my family's old homestead in SW Virginia produced some of the best-tastin' fruit of any kind I've ever had.

[jimj]

MBMouse,
When we lived in GA we were eyeball deep in red clay. We added bone meal and planting mix to bust it up. They also suggested lime, a lot of lime to bust up the clay but the acidity made me a little nervous. Mixing in all three seem to do the trick most of the time, at least 2 times the size of the root ball. I really want peach trees when we finally get there....