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Have a mini orchard of 15 trees...about half Apple, the rest Plum, Apricot, and a Nectarine...planted about 30 years ago...still going strong (need some pruning with tasty smallish fruit). Wondering how much longer these trees can live?
What types of backyard fruit trees do you have, how old are they, and how long can they live?
Prune them much. It is typical to take out a third of the mass. ( excluding the main trunk) Your fruits will be bigger and healthier. I have trees here that were way old when we got the place in the 60's.
I have a fig tree my grandfather planted here back in the early 1970s. It has froze down to the ground a few times, but always comes back from the roots. I also have a few blueberry bushes that I know have been here at least since the late 80's.
Plum and peach trees don't seem to be as long lived, if you get 20 years from those you're doing good.
I planted a dwarf orchard of Garden Sun and Garden Gold peach and nectarine in 1980 in a great location (for Canada, White Rock, BC near the beach) Soil was sandy, well drained, protected, and the roots did well. Sunny location, built up loam. BUT the varieties lasted about 15 years of good production and then pretty much pooped out. BYut those memories: true tree ripened half size nectarines. You couldn't buy them for ANY price in Canada.
my parents' property, we had a peach tree but it never made good fruit. lasted about 20 years before it was cut down.
We had an avocado, but avocados are sexual reproducers, they need a male + a female tree within bees-flight distance. German neighbors moved away, new family cut down their avocado, ours died in lonely-ness and sympathy.
There is an invasive fig tree, my nephew and I take turns trying to root it out. stringy bastard grows fast.
Had a thick-skinned lemon tree that produced majestic fruit, lasted 40+ years but it hasn't produced fruit since the invasive fig above premiered.
Lastly, the jewel of the property is separate Mandarin + Navel, and Tangerine orange trees. Tangerine (who I loved my whole childhood) called it quits at age 40, but the Mandarin + Navel have been pumping out insane loads of oranges for 50 years, no joke. I just ate a half dozen 2 weeks ago. Those trees go back so far, that the medfly-survey people would come and put traps in our branches. Those orange trees, are like the one strong irreplaceable memory that I will regret when I sell the property.
my parents' property, we had a peach tree but it never made good fruit. lasted about 20 years before it was cut down.
We had an avocado, but avocados are sexual reproducers, they need a male + a female tree within bees-flight distance. German neighbors moved away, new family cut down their avocado, ours died in lonely-ness and sympathy.
There is an invasive fig tree, my nephew and I take turns trying to root it out. stringy bastard grows fast.
Had a thick-skinned lemon tree that produced majestic fruit, lasted 40+ years but it hasn't produced fruit since the invasive fig above premiered.
Lastly, the jewel of the property is separate Mandarin + Navel, and Tangerine orange trees. Tangerine (who I loved my whole childhood) called it quits at age 40, but the Mandarin + Navel have been pumping out insane loads of oranges for 50 years, no joke. I just ate a half dozen 2 weeks ago. Those trees go back so far, that the medfly-survey people would come and put traps in our branches. Those orange trees, are like the one strong irreplaceable memory that I will regret when I sell the property.
Also have a few Meyer Lemons, Valencia Oranges, and a few Satsuma Tangerines (awesome eating) at Mom's down in coastal South OC...not quite enough summer heat for Navel Oranges but the others do pretty good.
All of those other 15 trees (Apple, Plum, Apricot, and Nectarine) are in the San Bernardino Mountains (about 5,000 foot elevation)...harsher weather with winter snow, so late bloomers do the best up there...especially Apples (Red and Golden Delicious varieties) and Plums (European Varieties). Crazy that I planted them around 30 years ago (wrapped all the roots in chicken wire so gophers couldn't eat them)...hear Apple trees can easily live 60 years or more.
Last edited by Fisherman99; 02-07-2021 at 12:14 AM..
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,712 posts, read 58,054,000 times
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Sep 10, 2020
just lost our local 'heritage' Apple tree... (In a very difficult climate for Apple trees (Western WA)
(CNN) An apple tree thought to be the oldest in the Pacific Northwest has died this summer at 194 years of age. The Old Apple Tree in Vancouver, Washington, was planted in 1826 when fur traders of the Hudson's Bay Company settled in the area. -Sep 10, 2020
I helped propagate a heritage orchard at local National Historic site.
My own orchard had ~ (30) - trees ~80 yr old and some stone fruits older than that (still producing very hardy). Pears and plums were highest producers but we pressed hundreds of gallons of apple juice / yr.
I was systematically replacing with dwarf 'High density orcharding' (9' max height. branches no longer than 30cm (~12") at annual pruning.) 5 ft grid placement Much more fruit per acre than a large canopy. Better air circulation, better sunlight, easy picking and pruning and spraying.
My best and least troublesome edible landscape are my 100+ yr old Blueberries. ~ 300 - 500# crop per yr
Good organization in PNW, has WW membership (Now in limbo, but forum is still active, lots of good info, very knowledgeable growers) https://www.homeorchardsociety.org/
I planted a mango tree, about knee-high, at my parents' house in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 1981. 40 years later, it now engulfs half the backyard. My parents moved before it started setting fruit, so I never got to try it. To all the northerners migrating to the warmer parts of Florida, plant a mango tree! Hard to find a nicer shade tree, the fruit is heavenly, and they are so easy to grow.
When we lived in CO we had a small orchard with 25 apple and apricot trees. The whole thing was neglected by the previous owners and most of the trees were overgrown and too tall for producing fruit. We had to savagely prune them and even then the results weren’t good. Unless you are serious about growing fruit, cut them down and plant ornamentals. The business fruit farmers in the area will thank you (fewer pests) and you can often get free fruit tree replacements or a credit from the local ag bureau.
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