Same climate, same questions--I'm about an hour north of you, on a tiny shady urban lot!
I'm trying to grow
apple and peach
trees, as well as berry varieties, in pots, on my driveway. (Self-watering containers are AMAZING!) Due to the incredible amount of
deer in town, I learned I will have to
fence my property if I want to harvest any berries. I don't know yet if they will go after the trees in the spring!
My grapes and hardy kiwis utterly failed in 2021, but I did not work too hard with them, so that's probably why.
Gardening author Barbara Pleasant has lived in Alabama for many years--I buy every book with her name on it for hints on what to grow and how to grow here in the South.