Just found out that I have a persimmon tree in my yard. Once the leaves fell off I noticed three distinctive fruits. The tree has usually served as a place for bird's nest that we would not notice until all of the leaves are gone in fall. The tree actually shades one of my favorite sitting/swinging areas. My husband immediately said cut it down because it will draw snakes to the rotting fruit on the ground. I must say that if it truly is a persimmon tree it is in the worst of places. Of course it is a young tree that must be a special delivery by nature. This is the first year it bore some fruit. So, should it stay or go? I don't want the fruit, but it is my best shade tree. Is the worst yet to come? I don't want a mess on my hand. Does anyone else have this particular fruit tree?
I couldn't have a persimmon tree in my garden as they can grow to 25 feet tall and the same in width. They are really attractive though so maybe let it stay as long as it's pruned to a manageable size.
i will not have a problem with size so it can have at it growing. It seems to be somewhat of a slow grower. It is the fruit that is my cause for concern. It will attract unwanted scavangers. I think opposums eat the fruit and the funny thing about it, that is the one animal I have not seen in my yard. Anyway, I will keep thinking about the situation and my course of action.
Snakes could be attracted by the small critters that do show up to eat the fruit if you don't pick it up quickly. You probably have two of them, both male and female are needed to produce fruit. They don't fruit until the 6th year and after fruiting begins the overall growth slows down but they do live for about 50 years so that would mean a lot of fruit to deal with. The flowers are produced at the tips of one year old branches so you might check into whether keeping the tree pruned will keep it from fruiting and at the same time not harm the tree.
Hey thanks toni for so much info on the tree. i have not even noticed if it blooms. And it has a mate somewhere very close. I will keep a close eye on it the upcoming year before I decide what to do with it. But I know that I will not like the idea of cleaning up the fruit constantly but won't mind pruning it to keep it from producing fruit.
My grandmother and aunts made jelly in their hey-day, but never persimmon jelly. Which other jelly does persimmon jelly taste like? I have eaten persimmons before and guess that it is a light tasting jelly?
Here in Tenessee it's pretty much a trash tree. Mine are kind of scrubby and slow growing and attract possums more than anything else. :-D
Persimmon is one of the types of fruit that I would avoid. I do not consider it a healty fruit because it is a strong "acidifying" food, like the effect of eating meat. See my post: http://www.gardenstew.com/about8136.html
