shade tolerant tropicals/subtropicals?

[venturabananas]

I'm sick of watering my very small front lawn and plan to replace it with fruit trees/shrubs.  The lawn doesn't look great and the water would be better spent on plants that make fruit for me.  The challenge is that it has heavy dappled shade from a large tree on the verge that I can't legally remove.  The area is shaded by the big tree only during winter, and gets pretty much full sun during summer.  Summer is humid and relatively cool where I live (averaging highs of 70's F).  Winter gets down to mid to high 30's F sometimes.

Anyone have suggestions for trees/shrubs that might be happy in this spot and produce fruit?

[fyliu]

surinam cherry will work. I think many things will also work if they get summer sun and don't mind winter shade.

The way to get rid of trees you can't chop down is to poison them. I heard that's what they do in China.

[venturabananas]

Thanks for the suggestion.  I have a Surinam cherry in a 15 g pot that is looking for a spot in the ground, so that would work out well.  I also have a grumichama in a pot and I suspect it would do alright, too.

[fyliu]

I have a Chinese Elm on the west side of the lawn and it doesn't get sunlight afternoon. Of the trees I have in the lawn close to that tree, the persimmon is slower to emerge than my other persimmon. The figs and guavas are fine. I'm not sure if they're slower or not since I just planted them last year and I got a few fruits anyway. The white sapote, pomegranate, surinam cherry, pakistani mulberry, papaya, michelia alba are 5 ft farther so maybe sunlight until 2pm. I think mulberries will work too.

I had Passiflora incarnata (maypop) pretty much right under the shade of the tree and it grew well. It kept getting covered by scales in the winter and I had to prune the vines before that happens.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

carambola, jabo, loquat. (3 of my favorite shade fruiters)

[Cookie Monster]

what part of ventura u be livin in. I'm from santa paula. We had lots of oak trees there that couldn't be removed without paying a big fine.

u be havin mangos trees?

[venturabananas]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.  I feel better about this project already!

[venturabananas]

what part of ventura u be livin in. I'm from santa paula. We had lots of oak trees there that couldn't be removed without paying a big fine.

u be havin mangos trees?

I live down near the college, a few miles from the beach.  Often, it's pretty cool and foggy during summer because of the proximity to the ocean.

I wouldn't really claim to have any mango trees.  I have one pathetic Manilla mango hanging on in a 5 g pot.  When I potted it up to a 15 g, all the roots rotted off.  I know of a couple of mango trees within a mile of me, but they don't look anything like the happy trees you guys with lots of heat are able to grow.  I think it's just too cool, but I'd be happy to be proved wrong!

[FlyingFoxFruits]

today I was very surprised to see a Ross sapote flowering heavily in deep shade...has anyone else seen a Ross or Canistel flowering or fruiting in lots of shade?

[KarenRei]

Coffee's an obvious choice, it tolerates shade well.  Doesn't do much when it's shaded, but it won't die on you from shade.

[plantlover13]

Just a thought, if it gets cold, a large tree will create a microclimate where it is a bit warmer in a very small radius around the tree.

[Hollywood]

Keep in mind that you may be within your rights to request that your neighbor trim their tree so that it doesn't put your yard in such deep shade. You can often do this if you're willing to share the cost. Check your city ordinances.

Katuk is a good perennial vegetable tree (6'-8') that likes shade.

[PltdWorld]

My grumichama appears to want full sun - seems kind of stunted in partial shade, but those may just be my results.

My atemoya gets a lot of shade in the winter months because of where it's planted, and it has been doing just fine.  The Cherimoya is another 20' away and also gets a good share of shade in the Winter.

I actually have Bananas almost completely under a canopy of California shrub oak, and they do fine (but like water).  I have a fig in the same location that is coming along now after 5 years of stagnation.

I saw some very healthy jaboticaba in Brazil that were all well-shaded under the canopy of the rain forest - someone like ASaffron could tell you better if the same applies at our latitude.


Anyway, good to see fellow Venturans on here -- even if I am in San Diego now.

[LEOOEL]

I know, I know, I know!  Monstera Deliciosa, just make sure you read the instructions. Never eat the fruit when it's not ripe.

[venturabananas]

Thanks for the replies.  Since the original post, the lawn is gone, bark mulch covers the yard, there's a Surinam cherry, a Grumichama, and a Naranjilla in the ground, with some figs and a mandarin to follow.  Oh yeah, and coffee and tea plants.  I view it as a long term experiment -- things that can't hack it will end up in the compost and I'll try other plants.  Regardless of what fails or succeeds, I'm not wasting water on that sad excuse for a lawn anymore!