I'm considering planting zone University of Saskatchewan sour cherries in the driveway strip between my driveway and my neighbours, since I think they'd be small enough to fit in the space. We're already getting a good snowpack here in Zone 5.
Last winter this strip got snow piled very high - a wall about 6-7ft tall due to how snowy it was. Although last winter saw the deepest snowpack in about 25 years, we can still get a good amount of snow, so a 4-5ft snowbank would be pretty typical. Last winter I had a Rose of Sharon on the other side of the driveway with a Y junction in its trunk that got split vertically from the snow load weighing down the branches. Since the USask cherries are dwarf trees, they'd basically get completely buried in snow, at least in the first years. I'm wondering how they'd handle that and if they'd need protection from the weight of the snow, especially in the first years?
Also, anyone have experience with how aggressively birds and squirrels go after them? If they just eat a few, as has been the case with my raspberries in the backyard, I don't mind that. But if they go after them big time, as they have with my grapes, or my neighbour's sweet cherries, I'd want to net them, which is less desirable aesthetically for the front of the house, so I might rather plant the USask cherries somewhere in the back. But maybe since they're sour cherries, the critters won't go after them as much?
The last concern would be rabbits and voles. I could try to protect the base of the trunk, but they'd still have access to the branches. I'm hoping there would be fewer rabbits and voles in between the driveways since there's less space to hide compared to the backyard. I see much more evidence of both (ex vole tracks, rabbit droppings) in the back than in the front.
If not USask cherries, are there other fruit trees/shrubs that would do well in this type of location? It gets lots of sun (south side of the house, no large street trees) - from about 7-8am to 5-6pm. We don't use road salt on our driveway, and I haven't noticed the neighbours using any either. I'm in Ontario Zone 5a, with clay loam glacial soil. I already have currants, haskaps, American persimmon, peach, pawpaws, raspberries, grapes and hardy kiwis planted in the backyard. As I said, I'm looking for something that can handle getting several feet of snow dumped on it and recover without too much damage to the limbs, and that will be relatively aesthetic for curb appeal - ie can retain a decent crop without being heavily netted.
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