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(125) comments
ornamental fruit trees have got to be one of the dumbest things thought up by man.
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OK, think about this for a moment: the fruitless ones still have beautiful flowers in the spring, but no dropping, rotting fruit for the city to clean up…or you, if you have a yard. Not the dumbest thing by any stretch of the imagination.
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I agree with Mary Guibert. And maybe people won’t eat it but animals do. Me personaly when ever I see fruit in public I eat it. Im mexican I was thought how to identify eatible fruit.
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No, his glass is fine as he raises a valid point. Street and backyard fruit trees act as corridors for fruit fly which, if they get into your major fruit growing areas, will decimate the industry and its export status. You will then be importing all your fruit at higher prices !!!!!!!!!
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I read a article asking why they don’t switch these for fruit trees so no one would go hungry. The answers were the wildlife they would attract with them, added costs for clean up of fallen rotting fruit, and a few others but I can’t remember all of them.
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Street and backyard fruit trees act as corridors for fruit fly which, if they get into your major fruit growing areas, will decimate the industry and its export status. You will then be importing all your fruit at higher prices !!!!!!!!! Not such a good idea after all.
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Maybe not in Canada, but most other warmer climates, yes. In Australia we have inspectors going around checking, also have fruit fly free zones and you wont LYAO if you get caught even with a tomato sandwich in your car as it is an ‘on the spot fine’. Takes the smile off your face quick.
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Laura Guest the zones are in the major fruit growing areas and so they are a bit like a quarantined area. You cannot pass through with any fruit that has not been grown in that area. Any fruit within the area is grown there, or, is brought in from another certified fruit fly free zone. Imported fruit also has to come from a certified fruit fly free zone And Californian grown peaches, nectarines, grapes, etc. are for sale in the supermarkets here in our offseason, but must come from US certifield areas. We also export, hence the need for these regulations. California is a major US Exporter of fresh produce so having uncontrolled planting/grafting of fruit trees compromises that status.
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Ok,how about trees beneficial to bees? Prolific flowering trees like linden,basswood and …
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More Guerilla Gardening, especially of the edible variety. I’m sure the world would be a happier place with a little less concrete and bricks and a little more flowers and leaves.
Might plant a herb on my local roundabout.
Oh yeah we hate fruit flies and rats and since we are accomodated enough to be complaining about it behind our smart phones, who cares if someone needs the free food? That will never be me will it.
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“If it’s on the sidewalk it is publicly owned. ” but the public are not allowed to mess with it.
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Yes, if one does this s/he has to take responsibility for the tree. A lot of half ripe, rotten fruit, on the sidewalk attracting wasp
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I don’t know how “legal’ this is…. but it is far more “moral” than cities arbitrarily deciding to spend our confiscated paychecks ( tax dollars and “federal funding”) to plant trees which are strictly ornamental. Yes, I agree that any tree is a good tree — except maybe salt cedars— but I still like this idea.
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You can graft different types of apples on any apple tree, but you can’t graft them on another type of tree (like cherry).
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I think the idea is brilliant only concern for me is what if the tree used is poisonous will it make the fruit harmful to people.
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Which makes you a silly Swede. Peope have grafted trees for centuries without any harm. You are not changing DNA.
Reply Sarcasm seldom comes across well on the web, but I appreciate the sentiment Sandy. I have a feeling that the same act done in a lab would have drawn immediate ire.
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Richard Ash Berglind well you’d be wrong because grafting is grafting nothing else !
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One problem you must always be aware of is the soil in which food bearing plants are growing. If the soil around a tree is contaminated with lead etc from fuel and paint, then you should consider that the fruit may well contain high levels of the contaminants. In NZ there was a campaign recently to make people who keep urban chickens, aware of the fact that the eggs of their chooks will contain high levels of lead if the chooks are feeding from soil and gardens that have been contaminated by old lead based paints.
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one thing that quite blows me away whilst in s.f is the abundant population of many species of butterfly, bees, hummigbirds and birds generally, I guess that doesnt make foods more edible but some nature balance is working
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Well when your taxes get raised because people are slipping on the side walks and the wasps and rotting fruit are the new Street decor or falling fruit dents your new car you may be singing a different verse.
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Why not try getting rid of totalitarian fascist globalist agenda 21/30 Collectivism and the likes of Obama and Trudeau and Scientism and start teaching the blessing of Abraham once more and stop letting sin rule the world and become a prosperous nation once more instead of a propaganda compliant one.
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There is a reason fruit-bearing trees are no planted along sidewalks. Deborah, above, has mentioned one. Another is the bees attracted to fallen fruit.
Reply The Aramaic uses a word that is related linguistically to the name Noah, who was symbolically “resurrected” from the flood as the life-giver to those who re-populated the earth. Resurrection is superior to life, for life can be defeated and ended. But resurrection overcomes. Life is the power to exist, but resurrection is the power to conquer all, even death itself.
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For crying out loud. Really?? That against hunger?
No wonder the world is messed up.
Stacie Bird so true. blessings of Abraham? let’s sacrifice 45 to God to show our devotion
Reply Debbrah Elizabeth Buyers, I am seeing some of us are more drawn to concrete and glass and some of us miss the nature that is getting less and less in city centers (Toronto for one!!! — down with the old, you can’t have too many condos (or tax revenue) and density in a small area!). I believe in bringing more nature and shade back into the cities. I think gardens and the land is still very much in our psyches, and as the density grows and we start to rub and agitate on one another trying to move about in our daily lives we may start to react — I wonder if there is a little locust in ea of us? I definitely feel it from time to time, but to have more garden beauty and interesting grafting about would be a joy to my eyes.
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Kenneth Barrow Our bees need all the help they can get, we are dead without them. What is wrong with bees?
Reply I have to surmise that you all would be out there picking the fruit on the trees and cleaning the streets while the trees are buzzing with hornets… no one disagrees with parks or even farms in the downtown do they? Of course you then have to deal with farm smells and big slow farm equipment and by the way do you remember when Mary poured the expensive perfume over Jesus and Judas Iscariot was upset that the money from the sale of it could be used for the poor. Well the Creator of the Universe did not come into agreement with Judas. So there are good ideas and God ideas and they are not necessarily the same thing. Just because you think it is a good idea from your rocking chair does not mean it is in reality.
Reply Oh and it is only one branch then why do it all and put the original tree at risk….the entire idea from start to finish is absurd.
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Have you got any advice on what flowering plants or herbs (like lavender) I could plant at the base of street trees in London? I have no clue and want to make my street a little prettier. Thanks
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Lavender, nasturtium, petunias, pansies, gerberas, salvias, freesias, well…any bulbs. Add garlic and marigolds for bug deterrents. Mint, basil, oregano, thyme, sage, chives.
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Marigolds! They are lovely and they reseed themselves if you crumble the dried blossoms.
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Rosemary – especially prostrate Rosemary might be suitable in some situations… Or the bush variety might also be suitable. It cannot only be useful as a herb, it is very hardy, Evergreen, and when it flowers the flowers are pretty little purple ones… I have often seen it used in Street plantings successfully and it is so hard I saw it growing wild clinging to Rocky outcrops in the north of Spain when I walked the Camino.
Reply Parsley can also be a nice plant for Street plantings – and it will reseed easily if allowed to go to seed. It is so “pretty” like something you would plant for the flowers. But it can make for a very attractive soft green covering and a nice backdrop for flowers.
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More complete rubbish from this fake news site. I worked in the nursery business for 15 years after horticultural college. First you can only graft onto the same kind of tree. Second you need to do it with very carefully chosen scion stock. Third, only for a couple of weeks in the year. Fourth, it is a skill art to get them to succeed. This just does not work.
Reply I love the idea – guerrilla gardening/grafting, but if the soil might be contaminated is there an easy way to test it. also a note to say do not throw butts near plants etc.
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Can the ficus tree support the grafting of fruit bearing plants ? I have 200 ficus making a natural boundary on my roof garden ? Love to know!
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There are reason fruit bearing trees are not planted in those locations. Fruit require clean-up, can be a slip and fall hazard , and atracks bees (stinging insect). This is one of the most ludicrous posts ECOSNIPPETS has posted.
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Can’t wait for the lawsuits from people sick from fruit tainted by dirty city air and water and psycho idiots lacing it with bad stuff.
Nice thought though but people are assholes
City trees are purposely chosen to avoid liability. Fruit and nut bearing trees can damage property and cause health and injury risks.
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The population has dumbed down and become so egotistical. When people slip and fall on the rotten fruit on the sidewalk they should be sued.
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In the town I live near, there are volunteers who will harvest unwanted fruit for the food bank, I am pretty sure someone could figure that out in a city. Peace.
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Kim Scobie Massive additional insurance to protect people against the dangers of falling fruit. Not to mention the dangers of mad fruit disease. People who go CRAZY at the sight of fruit. This whole ruit tree thing needs to be nipped in the bud till it threatens national security. THE FRUIT TREES ARE COMING
Reply Kim Scobie Yeah. Is that why cities are already generally clean places? All those volunteers running around picking up the trash that’s already everywhere?
Reply Brad Adcock -you must be fun at parties. An organized group at harvest time is different from a daily pickup.
Reply K. Again, then explain why those volunteers don’t organize and pick up all the trash thats already out there? They don’t because nobody wants to. Because selling something which relies on volunteers to do shit is a farce.
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In our area trees have enough trouble just surviving….people keep destroying them.
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Baiting the roadside for wildlife. Get your fruit and a little roadkill, almost a complete meal.
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Is that a one way street ?
I don’t think so, so one of those cars is breaking the road rules, those rear red light reflectors are there for a reason, Sunshine.
The fruiting of trees (as it were) is great, but I think we should address road safety first.
Stephanie Torgerson this is awesome…although I find it funny that their reason for not doing it is that people could slip on fruit…come on, let the folks graft some trees already
Reply Helaree Tzoost Right, that was too funny. I wonder if there are a few ornamental apple trees around? I have too many sions for my little trees.
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