What to put in my side yard?
The south side of our house gets totally BAKED all day. My whole yard is full sun and i already have a few beds that I grow edibles in, zucchini, and tomatoes, and peas, and carrots, peppers, and pumpkins, and etc. I have our side yard fenced off from the dogs so they can't destroy them. Anyway, I would like to put perennial edibles in this portion of the yard. The side yard is only about 7 feet wide but there is another several feet on the other side of the fence and my neighbors don't use this portion of their yard. I live in the Seattle area so my options are somewhat limited. I would prefer not to deal with berries. I have considered peaches, and pears, and and figs. Any other suggestions?
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Sour cherries are pretty low maintenance and are available as dwarfs. Blueberries are easy to grow too (even though you said no dealing with berries, I took that to mean raspberries or strawberries?). Birds don't bother my Alpine strawberries (aka "wild" strawberries) and though the yield is not abundant, they would probably bear most of the year in your climate and make a nice ground cover here and there.
I haven't had much luck with peaches and nectarines (they have the same pests), so I'm trying out an apricot and a green gage plum new this year. You should be able to find an apricot that will grow happily where you are - Puget Gold was a cultivar recommended to me on this board but, sadly, wasn't available here in New England.
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Peaches, for sure. We have 2 different types of ultra-dwarf, and they produce like mad. You could also research what apples work in Seattle (I'm in Southern CA, so the # of cold hours is an issue here, only Annas work). Can you do citrus? We grow satsuma mandarins, which are incredibly sweet and juicy. Our whole growing area is small, but we get amazing yields. How 'bout asparagus (if you're the patient type)?
