Home Sweet Home: Stolen Sweets are Sweeter

I didn't actually steal these. These wonderful persimmons were encroaching onto our common area in the wonderful town houses in Fremont California in which I live. If you happen to have a Sunset Western Garden book, or any other reputable garden or landscaping book, you would know that Fremont California lies in climate zones 15 and 16. In addition, if you are looking to grow persimmons, then Fremont California is an excellent choice. In the West, there are two very well known species of persimmons. There is the Oriental or Japanese persimmon and the American persimmon. Both of these trees are quite hardy and resistant to an oak root fungus. They are very easy to grow, but make sure you only prune the deadwood after the last of the fruit. There was one problem that they have referred to as fruit drop. It's common in young trees. But, if you are consistent in feeding and watering and make sure you have a good irrigation, it should not be a problem. In Fremont, you can probably find a great choice of person and trees at Reagan's nursery on Decoto Road.

You might see in December, a blackish brown tree with large bright orange persimmons left. This is most likely the Hachiya persimon--The Hachiya is the persimmon shown in the photograph above. I am a Fremont real estate agent http://www.tricityhome.com that looks for not just number of bedrooms and square feet and neighborhood and all the rest, but I take into account the landscaping and what types of trees already exist on the property. I recently sold a home in Fremont that had a wonderful Japanese persimmon tree in the backyard.

The persimmon tree is very popular because it is one of the best fruit trees for ornamental use; good garden or small shadetree use as well. It can be espaliered quite easily to show off it's mature structure. Not to mention, mature trees can produce huge amounts of fruit that can be dried and saved for the rest of the year. If you pick them off of the tree, make sure they fully ripen before you eat them. These particular persimmons shown in the photograph will be used for Persimon pudding, A slight twist on Christmas pudding. I hope that Charles Dickens would have approved.

By Jeff Pereyda