Plants that fruit at 1m tall or shorter

[Draak]

Hey all,

As much as I would love to make fruit farm in my suburbia front yard, my wife and neighbors would probably not love it! I can have some trees in my front yard, but good landscape architecture requires that we have a lot of small plants as well. Because of this, I’m trying to compile a list of plants that fruit at 1m tall or less, and are easy to maintain at this height with 2~3 prunings per year. Below is my list so far for my zone 9b. Some of these plants I just don’t know if they will fruit at small sizes; I would love to hear people’s thoughts and experiences for any plants on this list, as well as any suggestions for what I may have left out!

Little to no pruning:
Eugenia neonitidia
Eugenia observa
Pineapple
Low bush blueberry

Mild pruning:
Eugenia calycina
Eugenia involucrata
Eugenia uniflora
Jaboticaba

Unknown:
Araza Johvy
Araza Pera
Araza Johvy
Myrcianthes pungens

[W.]

Eugenia itaguahiensis, the dwarf grumichama, might be a candidate for your short plant list. They are cold hardy into the 20s and can fruit at 1m tall in 3 years. Other than getting one on eBay from Flying Fox Fruits (while trying to outbid a bunch of people), I am not sure where else you could get a plant, but there is probably someone on the forum with an extra one. If not, keep an eye on Adam's (Flying Fox Fruits) auctions and budget about $50 for a small one.

[W.]

Also, I think that you should probably choose red or escarlate (scarlet) jaboticabas over the standard Sabara variety. They fruit in less time and at a smaller size.

[vall]

Feijoa is a slow grower that wouldn't require much pruning to keep it under 1m. It could also be trimmed as a hedge.

I would be wary to grow pineapple in a front yard due to risk of theft.

[Honest Abe]

My Cedar bay cherry fruited at 2.5 ft
Miracle berry is a nice edition and will be nice with your sour fruits, mine fruits at 2.5 ft very well.
I add a second the motion for red jobaticaba.

[RollingInTheWeeds]

I haven't grown it myself yet, but a friend keeps it at 3 feet or so pretty easily: "Chilean guava" (Ugni molinae). 

They have pretty foliage, bell shaped flowers, and not only can you eat the berries, but I've read that some people use the leaves to make tea.

[Plantinyum]

By the pics I have seen ,I would suggest feijoa, maybe strawberry guava and i'm thinking also of surinam cherry since its frequently made into hedges, but not so sure if those will fruit well with the heigh of 1m. .....
Also just now I thought of natal plum, dunno the taste of it but I def will fruit at such heigh and the plant is quite decorative and appropriate for a front yard

[Mike T]

Plenty of Eugenias fit this category and about 4 jaboticabas including aureana. Dwarf ambarella, guava, finger lime,some campomanesias,dward mulchi and potentially a few Annons with a bit of trimming like paludosa.cornifolia and conica. Cherry guavas, brazil guava and come to think of it my Lucs Mexican Garcinia flowered at about 1 m high.

[Draak]

These are all awesome suggestions! Thank you all!

It's good to hear that Guavas will fruit at this height; this has good implications for the guavas that I'm trying to put in now! Natal plum is an excellent suggestion, and now I'm definitely going to be putting in a few Tomlinson (dwarf and small-thorned) Natal Plums! Jabos would definitely be awesome in the front yard.

I'll post more here as I come across them.

[nullzero]

I have had a cutting Tamarillo fruit at about 3ft.

[hawkfish007]

Araza from your list might be a good candidate. Mine is flowering and it is only about 24" high. I am not sure about the variety, the label has generic Araza on it from pine island nursery. However, I haven't tasted the fruit yet, but tree/shrub does look decent for a hedge.

[Draak]

Araza from your list might be a good candidate. Mine is flowering and it is only about 24" high. I am not sure about the variety, the label has generic Araza on it from pine island nursery. However, I haven't tasted the fruit yet, but tree/shrub does look decent for a hedge.

That's excellent!!! Now I'm definitely going to use these to border my neighbor's yard .

[Draak]

I just heard a report from a forum member that their goumi berry is flowering heavily at 3 feet tall! Now I need some of those .

[Draak]

I also learned about the pepino melon (solanum muricatum).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_muricatum

It says ~3' tall, unless you train it to grow higher.

Weird fruit explorer describes them as tasting like honeydew, tomato, and cucumber. A person in the youtube comments describes his as tasting like cantaloupe and tomato. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqImJUnip5k

It might not be a very hardy plant, and I see many people talk about how they either grow it as an annual or bring it inside for the winter.

[cassowary]

randia formosa,
fruits very low.

[Draak]

randia formosa,
fruits very low.

Nice!

Also, I learned that myrcianthes pungent grows quickly and fruits at around 2m tall. It wants to grow huge! That not quite what I wanted for my front yard.