Grow Native Fruit Trees | Karen Beaty | Central Texas Gardener

Let’s get growing native fruit trees! Horticulturist Karen Beaty from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center plucks a few for big and small gardens to feed us, the birds, and beneficial pollinators. Host: John Hart Asher.

[@MrsMika]

Please more of this type of content! Maybe a nursery that sells these would be wonderful as well.

[@AustinTexasGardening]

Love it!!! On my property, my policy is that if a tree does not produce fruit, cut it down haha

[@stacywoodruff4165]

Can we get a video about native non-tree edibles? My husband loves making jelly from agarita, mustang grapes, dewberries, and prickly pear. He does wine from all as well.

[@lichotropical3350]

What a beautiful LOL from Karen there at the end.

[@RPostVideos]

Now I'm curious about this whole "partied with Prince" thing! 🤣

[@coltonp7149]

Really enjoyed the banter & overall vibe between the two of you. Would love to see y’all do an episode for each season!

[@srercrcr]

My elderly Mex Plum drops its fruit leading to a thicket of new trees.

[@plant-basedgardener7104]

When the paw paw came on screen my one year old pointed to the screen and said "knee boo-boo". Lol!!

[@lukehebert6207]

Well now I want to try my hand at a paw paw tree, thanks!

[@deincecoinson483]

Karen Beaty!!!! It's so good to see you! This was a great and interesting discussion. If you plant these fruit trees, do you have to fence them in until they get big enough so the deer do not destroy them? I live in the country so have to contend with deer in my yard. Also curious if the fig tree is considered a native Texas tree? I love to hear you talking and appreciate your expertise!

[@kapers88]

Thanks, Denice! Yes, I would definitely cage any new trees you plant on your property to protect them from deer. I just make a cage out of welded wire fencing, much like a homemade tomato cage but a little bigger. I stake them in the ground with a piece of rebar or a t-post. Also- fig trees aren't native to Texas but they are well-adapted to it!

[@CentralTexasGardener]

@@kapers88 Thanks, Karen!

[@ScottSlooper]

Thank you for this interesting interview! What about pecan trees? I wonder if I can grow one in my rocky-clay'y soil in full sun and with 0 maintenance or watering off Bee Caves Rd.

[@hay12347]

Seems like half of these are native to eastern Texas rather than central Texas. Any plans to do a video about native fruit trees for central Texas specifically?

[@jessalynncarnes5489]

So can I safely assume these grow well in South Texas (near San Antonio) as well?

[@changoelectrico]

• Texas persimmon
• Mexican plum
• Red mulberry
Richer soil, more moisture
• Chickasaw plum
• Eastern persimmon
• Black walnut
Moist, well-drained, calcareous soil
• Texas crabapple

[@GardeningWithMunawar]

3 like

[@philomelodia]

Y’all need to warn people about walnuts though. Those things will poison the soil around them to such an extent that not just any thing can grow around them.

[@coltonp7149]

Girl

[@coltonp7149]

Please explain to me, without googling it, how it is that walnut trees are able to grow in forests. If they “poison the soil” to the point where “nothing will grow around them”, how could their native habitat be areas with solidly dense foliage?
To truly damage soil, you have to do much more than plant a native tree. Remember, these plants are adapted to live here, you & I are not. Don’t assume anything, and don’t spread poisonous rhetoric about native plants when you don’t have the information or knowledge to back yourself up. Blanket statements might as well be called “blank statements”, since they often mean nothing at all.

[@jinxtacy]

​@@coltonp7149 I don't remember specifically, but I think there is something about certain types of walnuts do something to the soil beneath them that prevents grass from growing. So they poison the competition. Not in an unhealthy way but probably not ideal for a yard tree.

[@jessegrider5301]

Is the pawpaw related to the persimmon?