East Tennessee fruit trees

What would be some recommended fruit trees that grow well in East Tennessee? We have peach trees that are hit hard by insects that make the peaches weep, then rot. Our apple trees get severe cedar rust. Looking for something that may perform a little better here.

Hi Bob,
Have you considered papaw, American persimmon, Japanese persimmon, Asian pears, European pears, crabapple (they make good pollinators for other apple trees)?

knowing more about your situation (slope and direction, elevation/ are you on a ridge or a ditch, etc) would help.

Angela, we have not considered any of those, thanks. We did have a peartree(not sure what kind as it was already here) but a beaver removed it, along with a cherry tree.

Greg, our orchard area is in a valley between the road and a creek

For apples, you might check into varieties that are resistant. I had a mystery apple in my front yard that didn't have a rust problem. I only discovered apple cedar rust after planting a Gala apple tree.

As to what fruits NOT to plant, anything with pits like a peach. No plums, they'll just have the same problems. That said, I love peaches, so I have kept my tree, and am still trying to get a harvest from it.

Pears seem to do well here. I've seen a number of untreated old trees producing well.

Another potential problem in our are is fire blight. My trees get hit now and then, but they pretty much have shugged it off without treatment, other than cutting reachable branches back to healthy wood. I may have just gotten lucky though.

I'll second everything already said, with the addition that if you really want a stone fruit to thrive here and you don't mind tart skin then wild plums (Prunus americana) do better than domestic stone fruits! Mulberries also do great if you don't mind colorful bird poop on everything.

Allen Ayers wrote:Mulberries also do great if you don't mind colorful bird poop on everything.

Now that's funny! I have one mulberry that is old enough to fruit. I've not seen any problems along this line. But that could be because we have an unpaved drive, no sidewalk, and we park the car under the canopies of a maple and pine trees.

Thanks all! Yes, mulberries and birds do have that effect on things😂