Author Topic: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?  (Read 1373 times)

TheVeggieProfessor

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Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« on: September 17, 2022, 03:06:09 PM »
I'm in SE FL. Interested in adding a shade tree to the south of my house to help to keep my living room a bit cooler. I like for all of the trees I grow to serve a purpose and producing food is the most appealing purpose. However, I'd want to let the tree grow tall to shade as much of the home as possible (1 story only). So harvesting the fruit would be a pain. Perhaps something that drops fruits (such as macadamia) would be worthwhile? Or maybe something that I can trellis yams up. Any recommendations?

tru

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2022, 05:39:13 PM »
Off the top of my head I think of my old house that had english ivy growing up the southern wall, given that it's only a one story house what do you think of a vining plant like passionfruit? Good for your area, One vine gets up to 50 feet, fruits aren't too heavy and can be picked with those fruit picking poles pretty easily, + beautiful flowers
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TheVeggieProfessor

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2022, 06:29:26 PM »
Off the top of my head I think of my old house that had english ivy growing up the southern wall, given that it's only a one story house what do you think of a vining plant like passionfruit? Good for your area, One vine gets up to 50 feet, fruits aren't too heavy and can be picked with those fruit picking poles pretty easily, + beautiful flowers

I was thinking about that. Did you put a trellis up to the south of your house or attach something to the house itself?

1rainman

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2022, 06:36:17 PM »
You don't want large branches growing over top your roof, such as oak, pine etc it will rot your roof due to a foot of rain a day in rainy season and 100% humidity levels. It stays too moist with shade and leaves dropping.

Mango is a good shade tree. Otherwise I don't know why people are obsessed with them. Just don't plant anything so close to the house that it grows on top of it. I did roofing helper for a summer is how I know.

Most fruit trees are bred to be short and pickable or put on dwarf root stock. You can grow a grapefruit from seed. It will grow fast and be a decent size shade tree.

We have a giant oak tree in my dad's yard. Looks like it's 60 years old. Only like 20 years. We dug a huge hole I mean huge filled it with potting soil on top of watering in the dry season stuff can grow at a blitzkrieg pace in Florida. It's mainly the junk sand that slows them down. It just doesn't hold nutrients.

I guess greening is a problem with citrus. Some do well from seed others don't. Probably a sugar bell seed would do real well. Not from seed are smaller trees.

A muscadine grape will quickly cover the house too but you'll eventually need to cut it back as it takes over everything.

Julie

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2022, 10:01:15 PM »
I'm growing passion fruit at my house.  I have 3 vines that covered my entire fence.  They are very vigorous and went into my neighbor's side of the fence too - didn't know that would happen - oops.. In order to get fruit you have to do hand pollination, so you would have to be able to reach the vine.  No need to pick the fruits, they drop from the vine when they are ready.  It's a bad idea to plant a large tree too close to your house.  Think about when we have a hurricane and the heavy branches fall on your roof, and the roots can damage your foundation/plumbing/etc.  I honestly wouldn't plant passionfruit on your house either, not sure if it would have the same effect of shade as a tree.

Galatians522

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2022, 10:09:17 PM »
Macadamia is great in some ways because the nuts fall when ready and the trees can get large. However, we had a huge macadamia that blew over in a hurricane. I wonder if thatvwas a fluke, or if they are more wind susceptible.

tru

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2022, 11:00:22 PM »
yeah you'd probably need some type of trellis

I'm growing passion fruit at my house.  I have 3 vines that covered my entire fence.  They are very vigorous and went into my neighbor's side of the fence too - didn't know that would happen - oops.. In order to get fruit you have to do hand pollination, so you would have to be able to reach the vine.  No need to pick the fruits, they drop from the vine when they are ready.  It's a bad idea to plant a large tree too close to your house.  Think about when we have a hurricane and the heavy branches fall on your roof, and the roots can damage your foundation/plumbing/etc.  I honestly wouldn't plant passionfruit on your house either, not sure if it would have the same effect of shade as a tree.

https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/garden/plants/a33878105/ivy-plant-reduce-humidity-cool-buildings/
This article says ivy can keep houses less humid in the winter and lower temperatures by up to 13F! Not sure how much that says about passionfruit vines though, but the concept definitely works
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Victoria Ave

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2022, 11:39:38 PM »
Consider a pecan tree spaced up to 20’ from your house on the south side. They grow into stately shad trees, provide delicious nuts, and are deciduous so in the winter they allow sun to warm your buns. Idk if you can grow persimmons there, but same attributes but in a smaller tree closer to the house

skhan

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2022, 08:44:51 AM »
You can use most of the common tropical fruit trees for this purpose.
Just don't get a dwarf varieties.

Mango, Jackfruit, and avocado should all be pretty easy.
I would consider mammea americana or starapple, they are pretty trees and the fruit don't make a huge mess.

I'm doing the same in front of my western-facing windows, I try to keep the canopy level with my roof, I don't let the branches hang over though.

johnb51

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #9 on: September 18, 2022, 09:55:11 AM »
Consider a pecan tree spaced up to 20’ from your house on the south side. They grow into stately shad trees, provide delicious nuts, and are deciduous so in the winter they allow sun to warm your buns. Idk if you can grow persimmons there, but same attributes but in a smaller tree closer to the house
Pecan trees are beautiful trees, but they don't grow in South Florida.  And the persimmons that do well here are very small trees.
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TheVeggieProfessor

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #10 on: September 18, 2022, 11:07:35 AM »
You can use most of the common tropical fruit trees for this purpose.
Just don't get a dwarf varieties.

Mango, Jackfruit, and avocado should all be pretty easy.
I would consider mammea americana or starapple, they are pretty trees and the fruit don't make a huge mess.

I'm doing the same in front of my western-facing windows, I try to keep the canopy level with my roof, I don't let the branches hang over though.

I planted a jackfruit and red custard apple to the southwest and southnorth repsectively to help with shading the west of my house, but I think I planted them too far to get much of a favorable effect. So I planted some bananas and pigeon peas closer to the house. Time will tell...

I can't plant anything too far from the house, because I only have ~20' to my fence.
I was thinking maybe an avocado, jamaican strawberry, or macadamia (depending upon tendency to blow over; I'll look into that) 10-12' from the house could be a good choice. I'd love to have a breadfruit, but that could be too big. Plus marginal for west broward county (zone 10b). Maybe it would get some heat from my house since it's planted due south? But probably too far away for the microclimate effect from my home.

FruitGrower

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #11 on: September 18, 2022, 12:53:22 PM »
I'm in SE FL. Interested in adding a shade tree to the south of my house to help to keep my living room a bit cooler. I like for all of the trees I grow to serve a purpose and producing food is the most appealing purpose. However, I'd want to let the tree grow tall to shade as much of the home as possible (1 story only). So harvesting the fruit would be a pain. Perhaps something that drops fruits (such as macadamia) would be worthwhile? Or maybe something that I can trellis yams up. Any recommendations?

I’ve done this in multiple locations, despite having heard similar concerns to those expressed in this thread. What changed my mind was seeing the 100+ year old original Pantin mamey tree planted feet from the fire fire station (see pic) and talking to the guy there who said as far as he knows it’s never been a problem.

Most of my trees are just getting to the point of passing the roof, so I can’t say if there will an effect from increased humidity but as far as wind concerns my idea is to keep the branches over the roof low and small and just cut them off if we have an impending storm. This will also allow me to pick the fruit from the top of the roof.

I think if I were to pick 1 tree that would be ideal for this it would be a Sri Chompoo longan or maybe a breadfruit. The breadfruit for me has been more vigorous so you’ll have to work hard to control it, plus the fruit is bigger so it may be more of an issue if it drops on your roof. The SC grows a little slower (but still fast enough) and more upright, plus the fruit is small so less of a concern if it falls on your roof.
« Last Edit: September 18, 2022, 12:56:00 PM by FruitGrower »

FruitGrower

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #12 on: September 18, 2022, 12:54:01 PM »
I'm in SE FL. Interested in adding a shade tree to the south of my house to help to keep my living room a bit cooler. I like for all of the trees I grow to serve a purpose and producing food is the most appealing purpose. However, I'd want to let the tree grow tall to shade as much of the home as possible (1 story only). So harvesting the fruit would be a pain. Perhaps something that drops fruits (such as macadamia) would be worthwhile? Or maybe something that I can trellis yams up. Any recommendations?

I’ve done this in multiple locations, despite having heard similar concerns to those expressed in this thread. What changed my mind was seeing the 100+ year old original Pantin mamey tree planted feet from the fire fire station (see pic) and talking to the guy there who said as far as he knows it’s never been a problem.

Most of my trees are just getting to the point of passing the roof, so I can’t say if there will an effect from increased humidity but as far as wind concerns my idea is to keep the branches over the roof low and small and just cut them off if we have an impending storm. This will also allow me to pick the fruit from the top of the roof.

I think if I were to pick 1 tree that would be ideal for this it would be a Sri Chompoo longan or maybe a breadfruit. The breadfruit for me has been more vigorous so you’ll have to work hard to control it, plus the fruit is bigger so it may be more of an issue if it drops on your roof. The SC grows a little slower (but still fast enough) and more upright, plus the fruit is small so less of a concern if it falls on your roof. My thought.


Sunrisefruit

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #13 on: September 20, 2022, 02:00:35 PM »
grow avocado.. it will grow large enough for shade and the fruit is not a messy when drop

cdin12

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Re: Fruiting Shade Tree - Worth it?
« Reply #14 on: October 01, 2022, 06:33:46 PM »
Ice Cream Bean, Igna, is a excellent shade tree on its own and the fruit is supposed to be tasty. Mine are little, so I can't comment on the fruit charastics your looking for but it is something worth considering.