Bought a place in the Chicagoloand area with this gorgeous pear tree. It has a lot, and I mean a lot of fruit on it. They are pingpong/golfball sized and staring to get longer "fingers" on top. Tree has just a ton of fruit on it. Anyone know what I might have on my hands? I have a 2 year old boy so I just want to make sure everything is safe (or maybe delicious?) when I find one of these in his mouth down the line. Thanks!

Sorry for the terrible photos, it's hard to show what I am trying to show. Both have branches growing up against the hardware cloth I put up to protect them.

I am on the border of 6b/7a (it varies by year). I am new to growing apples (intentionally, I have some random sprouted apple seeds that are nigh unkillable).

These are two young apple seedlings I planted earlier this year. One is "Pristine", one is "Liberty". Both are on g41 rootstock. They were purchased small and cheap from a nursery because it was available with the rootstock I wanted, and didn't have a years long waiting list. They were about two foot tall upon arrival.

My plan was to get them established this year, and next year bud graft 2-3 additional varieties (most likely Gold Rush and Crimson Crisp). That should give me a few branches across every bloom group.

They've grown about a foot since they were put in the ground in spring.

We have active rabbits and groundhogs in our area which have a habit of topping and defoliating plants, so I put each in a 4' tall 1' diameter hoop of hardware cloth.

Over the past month, both started branching out some side growth, much more than I expected. I had figured they'd grow a bit more vertically rather than bushing out immediately.

I was hoping I could get some advice from a more seasoned grower about next steps. Should I trim the side growth? Should I remove the hardware cloth hoops and hope bunnies and groundhogs don't get bad ideas? Just leave it as-is?

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

We bought a house in December and found out we have a peach tree.... Literally when we saw the green fuzzy things starting to grow...

One branch broke over a weekend away and another snapped today! turned out to apparently be more than we bargained for (new VERY busy job, first house, life, etc.). I had no idea this could happen 😓 is there anything we can do to save the fruit on this tree? I feel like the fruit is still too firm to pick and be any good. How far do I cut the branches? I'm feeling awful about this but constructive criticism is welcome.

I've since read up that we should cull early in the season and support the remaining branches.

This seems to have come on quite quickly, I came back from vacation and it seems to be all throughout. All signs point to fire blight from what I can tell.

has anyone had any success controlling S.W.D.? I lost my entire cherry crop this year. so did pretty much all my neighbors.

I’ve read spraying insecticide every 5 days is bas the only option. there are some less effective biocontrols as well.

I’m in Western Oregon, 8b. we had a very dry and mild winter so maybe there were extra due to lack of winter kill?

I just started my BYO with about 15 trees in the suburbs but come to realize it seems everyone has pest issues; rodents stealing fruit. No matter what kind of traps, nets, etc? Am I missing something. Is the only option a full enclosure?

Feeling frustrated for my future self who will lose harvests.

Just trimmed off the fire blighted branch but this is right at the trunk. Does this mean it's a dead man walking?

I’ve done minimal pruning over the years. And I need to manage these better. It’s time to identify pruning for next February (New York)

A). Pictures 1&2. 3 High bushes 6 ft tall under a Japanese maple that is now shading them several hours per day. No longer good producers
Q: if I want to move: trim down to a manageable ht over 2 years & cut out the older main trunks?
Or, trim out 2-3 of the oldest branches to the ground + any old stuff at the top and they will recover some vibrancy with new growth

B). Pictures 3+4…. Unbelievable this year, had not been a good producer.
Q: do I take one branch out to the ground to force new main sprouts? … and give it a better shape

C). Pictures 5-6. 2 more high bushes. Slightly falling off in production.
Q: Do I take a main trunk out of each and trim out old stuff next Feb?

D). Pictures 7-8. 2 Solid lower bushes early season performers that are producing a bit better…. But not like before.
Q: Too much foliage? Hack away at these to open them up?

It's quite early for figs in SE PA so I was taken back when I saw this fig starting to droop a few days ago. This is from an unknown tree that's been potted and over-wintered in an unheated garage for many years. While this could be a breba, I think it may be a fig that remained on the tree from last season that started to grow again when the weather warmed. Is that eveb possible?

Can anyone help me identify the problem, and hopefully the solution, to what's ailing my asian pear combo? First two photos are of the top of leaves; the third shows the underside. The tree is continuing to grow new leaves, but they still seem to get infected. All the four different varieties on of pear are affected. I'm in the Puget Sound area of the Pacific NW (USA).

Some research suggests Pear Trellis Rust (Gymnosporangium sabinae) but the underside doesn't have anything growing out of it. So maybe Fabraea leaf spot? Does that look right? And if so, how would you recommend treating it?

This is the tree's first year in the ground. I removed the fruit to support root growth so the only impact so far has been the leaves. Thanks for any advice!

I have very sandy soil (9a Texas) which requires frequent watering as it just doesn’t hold water. I ran 4 1/2” mainlines and then drip rings around each tree then covered with mulch to preserve as much water as possible and to reduce risk to lines when mowing. I have seeded clover and I cover under the tree (not root flare) with compost each spring as I know more organic material will help with water retention (as well as general health).

I have great pressure from my well, BUT the well water is really high in iron. I use filters on each mainline and clean them regularly (not a lot of debris), but my drip line is clogging (I can see rusty accumulation, plus likely sand playing a role). Unfortunate I can’t tell there is an issue til a tree starts to look crispy, because the drip is buried.

What can I change over to from drip rings off my 1/2” mainlines that would be less clog-prone? Risers with spray jets? Thanks

Moved into a house last August with an apple tree, get all kinds of excited about starting a large garden and planting more fruit trees. Have multiple trees now and I have been watching the apples grow all season for them to simply vanish over night. No apples on the ground, none rotting on the limbs. Now I worry about someone jumping my fence and stealing my corn, watermelon, strawberries, tomatoes and everything else.

These buttheads couldnt even leave me with a couple to enjoy?!

I have less than a 1/3 acre in central AL, zone 8b. My front yard is mostly grass (sunny) and my backyard is where I garden, some sunny spots but fruit trees would need to go in areas that are more dappled sun. I thought we wouldn't be here long enough to bother with fruit trees but since we are what are some recommendations for fruit trees that would be compact but give me enough fruit to eat fresh or preserve? I thought maybe mulberries? I have some blueberry bushes in pots I might try in the backyard. I'd rather fruit that I can grow organically without pesticides and preferrable something that will fruit relatively quickly. I anticipate living here for another 5 years.

I have a Cortland tree planted 6 years ago, and a macoun planted 2 years ago. I know i made a mistake getting them both because they aren't great pollinators, but im not sure if thats the problem here. This spring we pruned them, gave them compost, and they both had a ton of blossoms that turned to fruit, but in June probably 80% of the fruits dropped off. Whats left looks healthy, but is there anything I should do to gain higher fruit retention?

We have a solid heat wave coming for the second time this summer where we’re going to be pushing 100 degrees in very dry humidity. I just planted my apples a couple days ago and I’m told that you should provide some sun protection for freshly planted trees especially. That said, I’m not sure the best way to set up a sun shade or anything like that. I considered trying to set up a PVC frame to build a canopy but I’m not sure how reasonable that is.

What contraptions/methods have you used to shade your trees? Is it actually necessary or just an extra precaution?

We planned this granny smith apples tree a year ago in spring. When it can our of dormancy this year it started leaves at the bottom but appears to be dead at the top.

What can I do to help this?

I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. How do I get rid of it?

Saskatoon SK Canada.

We’ve had this peach tree for 3 years now. It came with 4-5 main leaders off the trunk that I’ve maintained and kept the center open but I was under the impression that it would grow taller and it hasn’t. It’s more of a peach bush than a tree lol. Should I pick the most upright stem and treat that as the trunk and remove the others and start over or is there a better way to make this better?

It’s not in a spot where it needs to be a tree so I don’t mind the bush but obviously a tree would be better for looks. My neighbor suggested opening up the middle more and treating the branches each as a “new tree”. Any help is appreciated.

https://imgur.com/a/LrFjd2f