Native Plant Gardening @mander.xyz SlippiHUD @lemmy.world 10mo ago

Southwest Ohio Native Fruit Garden

I'm currently hunting down pawpaw trees, Blueberry bushes, black raspberry, and other native fruits for my garden.

Looking for suggestions.

I looked into black cherries, but they get too large and too easily wind damaged for the proximity I'd have to plant them to my house.

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idk if theyll be suitable for your situation, but here's some native ohio fruits im aware of:

definitely seconding the pawpaw trees! the fruit tastes so good and im looking on getting some trees myself

diospyros virginiana (american persimmon)

amelanchier arborea (common serviceberry) and amelanchier canadensis (canadian serviceberry)

prunus virginiana (chokecherry)

prunus pensylvanica (pin cherry) is another native cherry, but probably has the same issues black cherries give you

(the ohio pawpaw festival is coming up this weekend btw! theres always people selling not just pawpaw fruits, but pawpaw trees and other native plants there.)
- Serviceberries are honestly one of the most underrated native fruits - they taste like blueberries with almond notes, stay managably sized (15-25ft), and the birds dont completely decimate them like they do with my cherries.
- I got 2 saplings at the festival. From different vendors so it's incredibly unlikely they're related. They're already planted and doing well, they survived the windstorm from Helene undamaged.
  
  yes! that's awesome and i hope you had fun!
Do you have plum blight in your area? Something to be aware of if planting native Prunus species. If you don't have problems with fungus there, then I definitely recommend Prunus americana.

I also second the suggestion of Diospyros virginiana. I've heard praise of the 'Meader' cultivar in particular.

Are you familiar with Amelanchier laevis? It should be native to Ohio.
- I ended up with 2 pawpaw saplings, and a bunch of berry bushes. At this point I'm out of space for any more trees and probably anything that doesnt climb. Im thinking of filling out my fences with milkweed and/or grapes.
  
  There's never enough space! Have you looked into nearby lands where you could guerrilla plant some things? At least you got some pawpaws planted already. That's probably the most important thing.
It's not native but I remember my grandparents had a pear tree that did well and stayed relatively small in Eastern PA.

And if space is the only issue for the cherries, you could look into Espalier, training it to grow flat against a wall or fence.
- I'm specifically looking for native fruit. I already have 2 apple trees and a lapin cherry tree.
  
  Ok, but cherries and apples aren't native; colonists introduced them. I think the pawpaw is the only native tree with edible fruit and you already listed it.

18 comments