Fruit Trees and Berries that Grow Best in Your Area Naturally- Dry Climate Hardiness Zone 8

I'm very new to fruit trees, only about three years experience total in trying to grow them here.

Zone 8a.  Southern Utah (border of AZ/NV/northern edge of Mojave Desert)  Low humidity during most of the summer (low teens to single digits percentage wise) although we do get some monsoonal rains/moisture for a few weeks of the summer.
I believe it's an average of 8" or 9" of rain on average for the entire year.  105f +/- a few degrees for three months of the summer.

I planted about thirty fruit and nut tree two years ago.  Half of them have died (probably due more to neglect/ignorance than their hardiness here) the other half are hanging on.  

One is thriving though, and it's basically been in the same conditions as all the others.  It's very dense red clay, high alkalinity soil.  I'm doing the deep mulch/wood chips method, and they were close to 2' deep when initially laid out around all the trees.




Li Jujube.
I planted one two years ago, and it is thriving.  Dozens of fruit the first year (the tree was about four feet tall when it was originally planted and grew to about 8' tall by the end of the first year), and at least 100 fruits this last year (with a lot of outward, and upward growth again).  The tree's trunk is bigger by far than any of the other fruit or nut trees I planted at the exact same time.  
No pests I've seen on it, and it just looks happy growing here.  It does get watered regularly by my irrigation, though.
I like the fruit both when it's apple like (tastes like a mediocre sweet apple to me), and it's even better when left to dry on the tree (sponge cake like/date like).  My dogs enjoy eating them either way, and so do the chickens.

Copied and pasted from a website;
"The Jujube originated in China and its fruits are often referred to as Chinese Dates. It withstands wide ranging temperatures; from over 100° F in summertime to -28° F during winter dormancy. Require minimal chill and plentiful summer sun and heat to set fruit. A small, deciduous tree, growing 20-40 feet, it is well protected from late spring frosts by delayed budding. Prefer sandy, well-drained soils and while tolerating many soil types, do less well in heavy, poorly drained soil. Drought tolerant, but better crop with regular water. Winter prune to maintain plant health. Few pest problems. Immature fruit is green and ripens to yellow-green with mahogany-colored spots and becomes red, softening and wrinkling when fully ripe. Most prefer eating before fully ripe. High in Vitamin C. Please note that Jujube trees have thorns. Suggested plant spacing is 10 feet apart.


I'd also ad that grapes grow like weeds here (although I'm having a hard time to get them to fruit which again is I believe to be more my fault than anything).  I'm growing Concord, and a common red (can't remember the name......bought at walmart as a bare root so it's got to be super common.)"


Also, I'm surrounded by neighbors with well established pomegranates and their tree's/bushes are loaded with fruit every year.  They almost grow wild (very few of my neighbors seem to prune, water, or pick the fruit off the trees, it's a shame, but again, they're thriving here).

One more that I've seen grow well on other people's property around me is Mulberry (not sure type).  My neighbor has 20' to 30' tall tree planted in his yard that has delicious berries on it every year.  The street is stained black and sticky for a couple of months when the berries fall from the tree every year.  He says he does nothing for the tree as far as watering, or fertilizing which is amazing.  There have to be hundred(s) of pounds of berries every season (most too high to reach without climbing).  

S Tenorman wrote:I'm very new to fruit trees, only about three years experience total in trying to grow them here.

Zone 8a.  Southern Utah (border of AZ/NV/northern edge of Mojave Desert)  Low humidity during most of the summer (low teens to single digits percentage wise) although we do get some monsoonal rains/moisture for a few weeks of the summer.
I believe it's an average of 8" or 9" of rain on average for the entire year.  105f +/- a few degrees for three months of the summer.

I planted about thirty fruit and nut tree two years ago.  Half of them have died (probably due more to neglect/ignorance than their hardiness here) the other half are hanging on.  

One is thriving though, and it's basically been in the same conditions as all the others.  It's very dense red clay, high alkalinity soil.  I'm doing the deep mulch/wood chips method, and they were close to 2' deep when initially laid out around all the trees.

Li Jujube.
I planted one two years ago, and it is thriving.  Dozens of fruit the first year (the tree was about four feet tall when it was originally planted and grew to about 8' tall by the end of the first year), and at least 100 fruits this last year (with a lot of outward, and upward growth again).  The tree's trunk is bigger by far than any of the other fruit or nut trees I planted at the exact same time.  
No pests I've seen on it, and it just looks happy growing here.  It does get watered regularly by my irrigation, though.
I like the fruit both when it's apple like (tastes like a mediocre sweet apple to me), and it's even better when left to dry on the tree (sponge cake like/date like).  My dogs enjoy eating them either way, and so do the chickens.

Copied and pasted from a website;
"The Jujube originated in China and its fruits are often referred to as Chinese Dates. It withstands wide ranging temperatures; from over 100° F in summertime to -28° F during winter dormancy. Require minimal chill and plentiful summer sun and heat to set fruit. A small, deciduous tree, growing 20-40 feet, it is well protected from late spring frosts by delayed budding. Prefer sandy, well-drained soils and while tolerating many soil types, do less well in heavy, poorly drained soil. Drought tolerant, but better crop with regular water. Winter prune to maintain plant health. Few pest problems. Immature fruit is green and ripens to yellow-green with mahogany-colored spots and becomes red, softening and wrinkling when fully ripe. Most prefer eating before fully ripe. High in Vitamin C. Please note that Jujube trees have thorns. Suggested plant spacing is 10 feet apart.


I'd also ad that grapes grow like weeds here (although I'm having a hard time to get them to fruit which again is I believe to be more my fault than anything).  I'm growing Concord, and a common red (can't remember the name......bought at walmart as a bare root so it's got to be super common.)"


Also, I'm surrounded by neighbors with well established pomegranates and their tree's/bushes are loaded with fruit every year.  They almost grow wild (very few of my neighbors seem to prune, water, or pick the fruit off the trees, it's a shame, but again, they're thriving here).

One more that I've seen grow well on other people's property around me is Mulberry (not sure type).  My neighbor has 20' to 30' tall tree planted in his yard that has delicious berries on it every year.  The street is stained black and sticky for a couple of months when the berries fall from the tree every year.  He says he does nothing for the tree as far as watering, or fertilizing which is amazing.  There have to be hundred(s) of pounds of berries every season (most too high to reach without climbing).  

Great information S Tenorman!

Fig, Pomegranate, Texas Persimmon, Prickly Pear, Blackberry, Muscadine Grape.

Tyler Ludens wrote:Fig, Pomegranate, Texas Persimmon, Prickly Pear, Blackberry, Muscadine Grape.

Neat Tyler!

Central Texas (8a)
Pecans- various cultivars do great. We have several trees 100+ years old and over 3 stories tall.
Apples- I only have 'Anna' & 'Ein Shemer,' and both have done well. Should begin fruiting next spring. Both of my trees survived the long, hot summer and the plague of aphids in the area this summer, while my neighbor lost her apple trees (different cultivars) that were planted 2 years earlier than my trees.
Peaches- different/unknown varieties have done well. Fruit did have problems with the little worms/maggots this year, which is uncommon.
Pears- my new trees struggled this year, but I frequently see mature trees full of fruit in vacant lots and ditches in the area. Mine were transplanted late, so I suspect that hindered progress in growth.
Native Persimmons grow wild with no issues
Fig- 'Chicago Hardy' is the only one I have, and it produces multiple times each year.
Goji berry does fine with no attention
Beautyberry is an ideal shrub for a shady understory
Mayhaw does well, but I haven't been able to get any seeds to try growing it, myself. Same with Texas Persimmon
Grapes (Mustang & Muscadine) grow wild/weedy, and will form trunks & vines up to 6 in diameter if allowed to grow for years without intervention.
Passion fruit will cover a huge area from spring to fall, then dies down in winter.
Dewberry/blackberry grows wild and forms large patches of brambles.
I've just started with pomegranates and they seem to do well.
I have one olive tree and it thrives in the heat of summer and coldest part of winter. Have never eaten the fruit from it. There's supposedly an olive farm around Huntsville that grows them for oil production.

I'm sure there's many more, but these are the ones I've seen, first-hand, that thrive around here without consistent irrigation and attention.

Zone 11a here (Adelaide plains, South Australia: very hot dry summers without rain, cool rainy winters, zero humidity). Here it’s easy to grow these without any special care:

Pomegranate
Mulberry
Figs
Plums
Peaches
Nectarine
Apricot
Loquat
Grafted passionfruit
Grapes
Olives
Persimmon
Apples
Pears
Strawberries
Prickly pear
Almonds
Walnut

With a little extra care we manage:
Citrus
Blueberries
Cherry
Ungrafted black passionfruit

With very special care we can grow:
Bananas
Avocados
Mangoes
Cherimoya

I think we can grow Babaco, blackberries, raspberries and other berries but I’ve no experience with it so not sure of the difficulty.

Central Texas hill country (limestone cliche soil).
Peaches, and to my great surprise... Loquat!  They are thriving in native soil.  I water them. One more than the other, it helps.  I grew then from seeds and planted when 6" tall.  

Now if I could only get my blackberries to fruit!

West Texas Zone 8a. I’ve had good luck with Texas Persimmon and the Celeste fig variety. I also have a black mission and brown turkey fig, but those usually die back each winter and haven’t put on any fruit so far.

Chris rain wrote:Central Texas hill country (limestone cliche soil).
Peaches, and to my great surprise... Loquat!  They are thriving in native soil.  I water them. One more than the other, it helps.  I grew then from seeds and planted when 6" tall.  

Now if I could only get my blackberries to fruit!

Chris, what zone are you in, and have your loquats produced fruit? I’ve thought about planting loquat, but I read that their fruit starts to form in the fall and a cold winter could prevent the fruit from finishing. Thanks