Yes, You Can Grow These in Your Existing Garden
- Jennifer McDonald
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
BY: MaryJo Broussard, Mobile County Master Gardener, www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org
Don’t have a large garden area, yet you would love to have fresh fruit at your fingertips for special recipes, drinks or just to snack on? Not to worry, I have the solution to your dilemma—add some edible fruiting plants to the area you do have. There are many to choose from for our climate.
You don’t have to have an orchard to add one or two smaller citrus trees, a delicious fig or one of my favorites, thornless blackberries. Think about plants that produce edible fruits, seeds or berries just as you do when adding new shrubs or small trees to your landscape. You will be creating an edible landscape right in your own garden. The joy of picking food that you grow year after year is beyond pure pleasure, it’s pride and achievement too. And it’s very doable.
Evergreen citrus and other fruit
Evergreen citrus such as satsumas, oranges, tangerines, kumquats, lemons, and limes all make wonderful additions and can be kept small enough to harvest readily. Our choices are exceptional:
-Owari satsumas are super sweet.
-Navel oranges are juicy and gorgeous.
-Meiwa kumquats, so tasty and sweet you can pick them off the tree and pop them in your mouth, rind and all.
-Meyer lemons, tart and sweet, and limes for those Mojitos (I use them instead of lemon in my water),
-Loquats or Japanese plums are beautiful evergreen trees that produce a small oval golden fruit that tastes like custard, blooming in winter with a vanilla-like fragrance.
-Pineapple guava, with blooms that are exotic and edible as well as the delicious fruit, have unique grey leaves with silver backs, a beautiful small tree needing no pruning.
Berries
Let us not forget our favorite berries:
-Blueberries have beautiful burgundy fall foliage with enough varieties to accommodate all three blooming times.
-Thornless blackberries are the best thing to happen for those of us who adore the fruit but not thorns. They make lovely shrubs, can be trained on fencing or just left as a mounding shrub and the fruit is beyond delicious and plentiful. I planted mine along my driveway so I can harvest from my car window, what fun!
And finally, don’t forget the possibility of adding plums, pomegranates, quince, rose hips for tea, figs and pecans. Think creatively and choose some edible fruiting plants that will provide you with year-round interest, either evergreen foliage or fall color, and fresh produce from your garden’s existing beds. You will have improved your life and your property value.
The Cooperative Extension agents and the Master Gardener Helpline can answer your questions and help you choose the best plants for our climate and give you advice on pruning, fertilizing, and diagnosing any problems you encounter. This is a free service with gardening information that is research-based.
Look under Garden Events for your Calendar for dates of the Spring plant sale at the Mobile Botanical Gardens where you can find most of the citrus and fruit mentioned here, including lots of blueberries.
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Editor’s Note: In July 2025, Regional Extension Agent Jacob Kelley wrote a column for Ask a Master Gardener about a current citrus quarantine which we excerpt here:
Currently, Baldwin County is under quarantine for four of five major citrus diseases and pests. As a result, no citrus plants, fruit, seeds, or cuttings can be moved out of Baldwin County unless they come from a USDA Certified Clean Citrus Nursery.
Mobile County is under quarantine for three of the five threats (excluding citrus canker), so citrus can be moved into Baldwin County but not into the rest of the state. The rest of Alabama is only quarantined for the Asian citrus psyllid.
Key rules to remember
Do not move citrus plants or plant material across county or state lines. Look for the USDA Certified “Clean” Tag when making a purchase. Do not bring citrus trees from other states, even if purchased online. Do not take your citrus trees with you if you move to a different county or state. Violating these laws can result in fines up to $60,000 and even jail time.
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