Bush fruits

Figure 4. Netting will prevent birds from feeding on bush fruits and small fruit-bearing trees.

Deciduous fruit plants that lose their leaves each winter and become dormant include apple, pear, peach, prune, plum, cherry, apricot, fig, grape, bramble, and bush fruits. The deciduous nut crops include principally walnut, almond, pecan, pistachio, and hazelnut (filbert). Nearly 11 million tons (10 million metric tons) of fruit come from deciduous plants grown in 43 states in the United States. In 1998 in California alone, 8.9 million tons (8.1 metric tons) of fruits and nuts were harvested (Olds, 1998). Strawberry and pineapple, though not deciduous fruits, are included in this chapter because of triazine use on fruit crops. The major growing areas for the United States are shown in Table 17.1, and these same crops are grown in many countries throughout the world. 

Uses herbicide for pre-emergence control of annual grasses and some broadleaf weeds in cotton, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, vegetables, capsicums, okra, soybeans, groundnuts, tobacco, pome fruit, stone fruit, citrus fruit, bush fruit, strawberries, forestry nurseries, and ornamental plants, shrubs, and trees. 

Bush fruits must be protected from the pressure of snow by training systems of very stable construction. 

Fig. 3.5. Covering bush fruits - an important preventive measure against botrytis.

Under rain shelters, bush fruits are at least partially protected from various diseases (e.g. grey rot) (see Fig. 3.5). In addition, plants that are covered by a shelter produce fruits with better keeping quality, and the time of picking, as in the case of currants for example, can be postponed to some extent. The disadvantages of rain shelters are the very high installation costs, the relatively high consumption of energy and resources in manufacture, and the adverse effect on the landscape. 

R-40244 shows good selectivity on carrots, potatoes, sunflowers, winter wheat, cotton, tree and bush fruits. European field trials carried out in potatoes, sunflowers and winter wheat (Pereiro et al.. 1982) indicate that rates of 0.5-1.0 kg active ingredient/ha are sufficient for a season-long control of broad-leaved weeds. 

Dodonaea viscosa (L.) Jacq., or Florida hop bush, or seringan lout (Malay), is a shrub that grows to a height of 6 m in the sandy shores of the tropical world, including Asia and the Pacific Islands. The leaves are simple, 7.5-12 cm X 2 cm X 3.6 cm. The fruits are 2 cm long, capsular, and dehiscing to expose one to two black seeds in each lobe (Fig. 72). 

Seaweed meal Heips buiid up humus ieveis in soii. Appiy to annuai beds, fruit trees and bushes, and iawns. 

Plants that simply attract beneficial predators and parasites (see opposite, and also pages 98-99) are of course "good companions" in the vegetable patch, and around fruit trees and bushes, to encourage natural pest control. 

While trees, shrubs, fruit trees and bushes, and even vegetables see p.222) can be grown in containers, there is a special case for using herbaceous flowering plants to fill pots and tubs, especially if you live in the city. Wildlife often struggles to find a home, or even a "pit stop," in the urban jungle, and even the smallest courtyard filled with a diversity of flowers is of immense value. 

Enhance the garden Fruit trees and bushes can be attractive garden plants in their own right... 

It comes as no surprise, perhaps, that fruit prefers deep, rich loam that is free-draining but moisture-retentive. You may not have these conditions at first, but much can be done to improve soil structure, open up heavy soil, and increase the water-holding capacity of light soil (see The Soil, pp.34-35). If starting with very poor soil, start to improve it a year in advance of planting fruit trees or bushes. 

It is much easier to improve soil structure and fertility before rather than after planting, and this is crucial to give trees, bushes, and canes a head start. A plant that establishes well soon develops an extensive root system that can forage for water and nutrients more efficiently than a weak plant. Details of appropriate soil improvement are given under individual fruits. Perennial weeds are awkward to remove from growing fruit, so clear the ground well before planting, too (see pp.78-8D. 

If you have only a small number of fruit trees and bushes, you may be able to supply adequate water by watering can or handheld hose. Where this is impractical, the best solution is to install permanent irrigation lines of drip or seep hose (see also p.60). A mulch see below) applied in late spring will help conserve water. Large, established trees should not need watering. 

Left, from top) Caring for fruit Seep hose laid around strawberries mulohing around newly planted fruit trees pruning to oreate an open-centered gooseberry bush a simple beer trap protecting ripening fruits from wasps. 

Apples grown primarily for their fruit are usually grown as bush trees, with a short trunk that branches about 30 in (75 cm) from the ground. Standard trees, with a tall clear trunk, make fine ornamental garden trees, but their height makes them difficult to prune and pick. Apples can also be trained into two-... 

Black currants fruit best on two- and three-year-old branches. The aim of pruning is, therefore, to cut out branches that are older than this to leave a bush made up of as much healthy new growth as possible to fruit the following year. 

Gooseberries can be rather droopy in habit, and it is important to keep the fruit from touching the soil this can lead to fungal infections spreading up onto the plant by rain-splash, or attacks by slugs and snails. If necessary, push in canes around the bush and loop twine around them to keep the outer branches off the ground. Keep the bushes pruned to an open center. 

This North American native plant makes a fine garden shrub with lovely fall coloring. A single plant will crop reasonably well two or more bushes to cross-pollinate each other will fruit much better. Fruiting will start in the second summer after planting, reaching full cropping after five or six years. 

Susceptible plants A wide range of ornamental plants also fruit trees and bushes. Bay trees and citrus are particularly susceptible. 

SOURCE - Extracted from dried fruit of Coyotillo bush(kar vinski humboldtiana), which grows in SW Texas, northern Mexico, and southern California. 

Missang, C.E., Guyot, S., and Renard, M.G.C., Flavonols and anthocyanins of Bush Butter, Dacryodes edulis (G. Don) H.J Lam, fruit. Changes in their composition during ripening, J. Agric. Food Chem., 41, 7475, 2003. 

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