Feijoa – A Fine Dwarf Fruit Tree For A Mediterranean Garden
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By Jonathan Yaakobi
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If you’re looking for a small fruit tree to add to your garden, and you live in an arid, mild winter climate, it could be worth your while considering the virtues of the Pineapple Guava, Feijoa sellowiana. It is a plant which produces an abundance of tasty fruit, and as an attractive ornamental, can contribute handsomely to a garden composition.
The fruit of the Feijoa is both delicious and nutritious. It has an intriguing sweet-sour taste and a kind of chewy texture. It is apparently rich in vitamin c and minerals. As a healthy plant produces massive amounts of fruit, you can either make yourself popular with your neighbors by giving a lot away, or you can prepare jams, cakes, wines and liquors. Both the fruit and the plant as a whole are relatively hardy to pests and disease, at least in Mediterranean climates.
Pineapple Guava is basically a large evergreen shrub. As such it functions well as a screen and informal hedge. Needless to say, shearing it as a trimmed hedge will prevent the bush flowering and producing fruit. By virtue of its medium leaf texture, it associates well with shrubs and trees like Viburnum, Pomegranate, Olive and Pitanga. Feijoa can also be trained to grow horizontally on a wall or fence, a technique known as espaliering, and can be shaped into a dwarf tree. In this way, the plant in age assumes an impressive sculptural quality, as its twisted, gnarled branches are exposed.
Care and growing requirements
Actually, Feijoa sellowiana does not originate from a Mediterranean climate, but from sub-tropical South America. It is nonetheless easy to grow in Mediterranean climates. It is hardy to about -3c or so, and has modest water needs, requiring some 300 mm per year of irrigation, possibly less, providing reasonable rainfall occurs during the winter. Feijoa can be grown successfully in either heavy or light soils, as long as they have adequate drainage. The one limiting factor is chalky soil. As the plant suffers therefore in highly alkaline conditions, it will benefit from additions of large quantities of compost, as this regulates the soil pH, making it more neutral in the acidic-alkaline scale.
As gardeners in dry, arid climates, we should always be on the look out for plants that combine together a number of functions. When that plant, also happens to be suited to our sort of climate, and can be grown within the confines of a water budget, you know that you have a fine candidate. The dwarf fruit tree, Feijoa sellowiana, is one such plant.
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Author Bio Box: Jonathan Yaakobi
 My name is Jonathan Ya'akobi.
I've been gardening in a professional capacity since 1984.
I am the former head gardener of the Jerusalem Botanical Garden, but now concentrate on building gardens for private home owners.
I also teach horticulture to students on training courses.
I'd love to help you get the very best from your garden,
so you're welcome to visit me on http://www.dryclimategardening.com
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