Edibles in the Landscape

Fruit bearing Trees and Shrubs for your Landscape

A few years ago my wife and I were out in Beverly Hills, CA and stayed with her cousin who has a beautiful terraced garden full of edible fruit trees. I was able to wake up in the morning, walk down to the garden and pick fresh fruit for breakfast. Since then, I have always wanted the ability to do that here in Massachusetts. Although our climate is not as ideal, it is still possible to have great edibles growing in your garden/landscape and here are just a few proven winners:

McIntosh Apple

The McIntosh apple is a early and heavy producer. The flesh is white, soft and fine-textured. The flavor is distinctively sweet and aromatic. The McIntosh has a rather tough skin that has mixed red and green coloring.

It's a favorite apple for eating out of hand but also is widely used in salads, sauces, and pies. It is a mainstay in fresh cider and an all-time favorite for fresh eating and salads. It has a large fruit and is used in juice, pies, and eating raw.
The McIntosh is partly self-fruitful, or suggested pollinators are Red Delicious, Gala, or any other apple tree.

Chinese Apricot

Apricot - Chinese, Prunus armeniaca 'Chinese', is an early bearing, heavy producing variety that is recommended for difficult climates prone to late spring frosts. Cold hardy, frost hardy, and sets heavy crops of small to medium size sweet fruit. The fruit is of good quality with a yellow to medium-orange skin and flesh. Chinese Apricot is one of the earliest ripening fruits and blooms very early; needs well-drained, moderately fertile soil. It is best to thin fruit early in season to maximize size and quality.

Thornless Arapaho Blackberry

Blackberry Arapaho Thornless, Rubus 'Arapaho Thornless' PP#8,510, is the earliest Thornless Blackberry in existence. An important characteristic is its small seed size. The berries are large, very firm, and tasty with excellent flavor, and the berries are a favorite of songbirds and butterflies.

Berkeley Blueberry

Blueberry Berkeley, Vaccinium 'Berkeley', is a late midseason blueberry and carries attractive powder blue fruit with a pleasing light flavor and good dessert quality. 'Berkeley' is the most popular home garden varieties.

Rainier Cherry

The Rainier cherry tree produces sweet, large, yellow fruit with a red blush. The fruit is firm and the flesh is fine-textured and clear to light yellow. Fans of the Rainier appreciate the creamy-yellow flesh, which gives the blush of the skin a sunny undertone. The sweetness is what keeps them coming back for more. It is a very productive tree that resists cracking, spurs and doubles.

Consort Black Currant

The Consort Black Currant, Ribes nigrum 'Consort', is an extremely productive, self-fertile variety, ripening late in the season. Its soft rich green leaves turn bright orange, yellow or red in the fall. The black fruits have a strong flavor, are medium in size, and borne in clusters. These rounded, juicy, sweet fruit, 1/4 inch in diameter, have a blackberry flavor and can be used for jelly, jam, or sauces.

Concord Grape

The Concord Grape, Vitis 'Concord', is a well-known, high quality blue-black grape that is delicious for fresh eating, juice, jelly or jam. Its berry size and clusters are medium to large. Good for home gardens because it is a reliable producer and vigorous grower.

Comice Pear

The Comice Pear produces a large pear with a very juicy, melting flesh. It has an outstanding flavor. Grow these and put them in your own gift boxes. The giant, juicy, rich-flavored pears are golden with a trace of red. It’s also blight-resistant. It is sometimes referred to as the "connoisseur’s" pear.
The Comice Pear is self-fruitful in most climates of the western US or can be planted with a Bartlett pear for better fruit.

Heritage Raspberry

The Heritage Raspberry, 'Rubus 'Heritage', has medium-sized red berries that have very good flavor and quality. It is exceptional for fresh eating or for making pies and jams. The medium sized fruits have good color and flavor, firmness, and freezing quality. Heritage is an outstanding everbearing variety that produces a crop in mid-July and then again in early September. They are disease-resistant, highly productive, easy-to-grow and will bear fruit the first year.

Allstar Strawberry

The Strawberry Allstar, Fragaria 'Allstar', a spring planted herbacious root, produces consistently large, light colored strawberries year after year. The Strawberry Allstar is a June-bearing strawberry that is very disease resistant. It produces sweet, extra juicy berries and is very hardy.

Methley Plum Tree

The Methley Plum Tree produces juicy, sweet, red flesh with a mild flavor. This early variety has reddish-purple skin and blood red flesh. The Methley plum tree is very attractive in appearance and vigorous. The Methley is self-fruitful so no pollinator is needed. This early variety has red-purple skin and soft, juicy, blood-red flesh. This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and birds and the flowers are fragrant. It is drought-tolerant and is a regular bearer.

For help adding edibles to your landscape...

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