Lost my lemon & avocado in the freeze. Looking to replace but want to replace with something different. Already have a pretty well established nectarine. Right now I'm leaning heavily toward plum for one but really not sure what I want for the other. In NW Houston (Fairfield) and the trees will be planted along the fence on the side of my house (corner lot). Would get direct sun from noon-ish until maybe an hour before sunset. Based on what I've read on TAMU Horticulture I'm thinking...

Peach - everyone in the house will eat. Not sure I want a peach since I already have a nectarine.
Fig - I like them but not sure anyone else in my house has ever tried them.
Persimmon - seem to be really good producers in TX but I have honestly never tried one.
Orange - not sure if I want another citrus but I do know that my entire family will eat oranges.
Loquat - I love them. My daughter has atleast tried them and liked them. Not sure about my wife & son. There are people around the corner with 2 big trees that I can pick from so I might be inclined to go with something else.

Thoughts, suggests, things to consider?

Also anyone have any good reqs on nurseries near me (Cypress, Tomball, Hockley, maybe Katy) that have quality trees?

If you can find it, get an All Red Plum. Only 300 chill hours. Makes a very attractive dark red leafed tree , heavy producer of quarter sized plums that taste similar to cherries, makes great preserves.

Pears do well. Great for canning and cooking with. Also don't have to worry about cold weather.

Kumquat and blood oranges are my favorite citrus if you wanted variety.

From what ive read pears need another nearby to pollinate. I have room for 2 new trees and would prefer they are different varieties. Not sure i have any neighbors that have pears and/or if they would be the right type.

Bummed to hear about your lemon tree. I think ours survived though it looks like crap. I'm in Pecan Grove area not far from you. If ours were to die we would plant another meyers lemon or an orange tree.

I've been trying to find a Jujubee locally with no luck. I've heard and read good things.

Let's say you live in San Antonio and your yard is essentially two inches of dirt on top of virtually solid limestone.

Do any fruit trees work in that environment?

hellapark said:

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I've been trying to find a Jujubee locally with no luck. I've heard and read good things.

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For some it's an acquired taste, but I can say with certainty I have eaten my weight in Jujubes...Lang (the most common found in Texas, fourth generation in our family), Li, and I now have two Sugarcane Jujubes.

The Fuyu persimmons are outstanding, seedless, non-astringent, but damn...bloom in April, ripe in November!

I live near Smithson Valley. Talked to county agent when I moved here six years ago. He said dig a hole, fill with water, see if it drains because peach trees, in my case, don't like wet roots. It did not drain. I made raised beds using a couple of rows of Pavestone but any raised bed would work so your roots get some relief. It has worked fine but I need a solution to the critters that get my fruit before I do. I have tried several tricks, none of which work. Last year, I started picking the fruit when it started turning red, then putting into a paper bag to finish ripening. Not as good as letting ripen on the tree, but at least I got some.

The first year, I had 13 on my tree. I checked every day but not quite ready to pick. Went out one day and they were ALL gone and only found one peach seed on the ground. If I ever get any, they will be the most expensive peaches (and apples) one can find.

I had a number of citrus and two peach trees when we lived in Manvel. Never had this much trouble there.

One final thought for those in Houston. There used to be an outfit called Urban Harvest. They offered a couple hour seminar on fruit trees and recommended varieties that did well in the area, meet required chill hours, etc. What is sold at HD and Lowes may not be right for the area. Urban Harvest actually had a big fruit tree sale every year at Rice stadium but don't know if any of this still happens

Ditto on https://www.urbanharvest.org/

Really loved our Blood orange.

Ulrich said:

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Let's say you live in San Antonio and your yard is essentially two inches of dirt on top of virtually solid limestone.

Do any fruit trees work in that environment?

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There are a couple of really nice apple trees in my hood off of Blanco, they produce massive amount of apples. Haven't really noticed much else in the hood, a couple of pears that seem to have some fruit. Still holding my breath for my lime and lemon. Thinking my lime is toast still.

Ulrich said:

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Let's say you live in San Antonio and your yard is essentially two inches of dirt on top of virtually solid limestone.
Do any fruit trees work in that environment?

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Try Texas persimmons
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/DIOSPYROSTEXANA.HTM

I thought it was the inverse. That most fruit trees required 2+ but pears were one of the few that only required one tree to fruit. Could be misremembering though. I was looking into them for that reason when I had my place in Richardson before moving back north.

Am I remembering correctly that ornamentals like Bradford Pear can serve for pollination? If so, most neighborhoods have too many of those around.

h1ag said:

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I thought it was the inverse. That most fruit trees required 2+ but pears were one of the few that only required one tree to fruit. Could be misremembering though. I was looking into them for that reason when I had my place in Richardson before moving back north.

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We had one lonely pear tree in the middle of a pasture we leased that was the location of an annual bovine battle royale growing up.

Any suggestions on a nursery?
Best fruit trees ive seen so far were at Enchanted Garden in Richmond but that was over a year ago and they are over 30 miles from my house.

Following. I would like to plant some sort of plum tree. Anyone know where to get a good tree around Bastrop?

Walmart in our area (B-CS) was carrying a bunch of Bruce plum trees, very applicable to central TX.

chjoak said:

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From what ive read pears need another nearby to pollinate.

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it might help, but isnt necessary. ive got 1 that used to fruit regularly on its own.

Consider Calamondin- evergreen vertical shrub to 15' - cross between kumquat and tangerine - produces twice a year. Great medicinal and flavor survived the snow stuff.

Joseph's Nursery in Pearland is a great old soul. Good people.

Asian grapefruit is another winner.