Fruit Trees

Actress Sharon Stone has sold a compound in the Beverly Crest area for $6.575 million. Surrounded by walls and gated, the Mediterranean-style estate sits on five acres with pathways, bridges, waterfalls, fruit trees, a meditation garden, a swimming pool and a tennis court with viewing pavilion. The main house, built in 1991, includes a paneled library, a wet bar in the living room and a master suite with dual bathrooms, dual dressing rooms and a terrace. The guest house contains a media room, a gym and two bedrooms, for a total of seven bedrooms, 8.5 bathrooms and four fireplaces.

The chief backyard fruit trees I recall from my Pennsylvania childhood were these: an apple tree that annually bore six or eight stunted, less than half-edible fruits; a peach tree whose promising crop succumbed every June to a gummy mess I now recognize as having been caused by the plum curculio; and a plum tree, the most beautiful flowering object I have ever seen, that in about 18 years of life managed just one summer to produce two unimaginably delicious plums the size of cocktail olives.

Question: I just rented a cottage on a lot that includes fruit trees in the backyard. I was looking forward to living here but the woman who owns the cottage is ruining my peace and quiet. She lives nearby and everyday, without any warning, goes into the yard to tend to the fruit trees. I feel that I cannot go out into the yard because she is hanging around so often, which means I have lost the use of the backyard for which I am paying. When I complained to her, she pointed out that my rental agreement allows her to enter the yard any time she feels it is necessary.

According to Roger Meyer, a nursery owner who specializes in subtropical fruit trees and plants, the jujube (pronounced ju-JU-bee) is a tree for all reasons. Consider its attributes: The jujube is a handsome tree, it bears copious quantities of delicious fruit and it thrives in most landscaping situations, even on lawns, with very little care.

A serene 10-acre retreat, set down like a paradox in the middle of Encino in a well-to-do-neighborhood. The grounds are lush with oaks and pines, roses and birds of paradise, fruit trees and isolated garden paths and duck pond.

QUESTION: I cannot get a straight answer from any nurseryman as to the value of composted steer manure as a mulch or a soil amendment. Aware of its high salt content, I have soaked it in a bottomless trash can before use, or rototilled it directly into the soil. Am I inviting eventual problems? --J.L., Orange ANSWER: You are right about the high salt content.

Things to do this week: Plant bare root vegetables. Roots of artichoke, asparagus and rhubarb are at nurseries this month, and it's an inexpensive way to plant them. You'll also find transplants of many winter vegetables, such as broccoli and lettuce, plus bulbs of garlic, onion and shallots. This is not a good month to sow seed in the garden because the chilly nights make germination difficult. Spray fruit trees again. Spray deciduous fruit trees--peaches in particular--for the second time this winter.

Things to do this week: * Plant bare root vegetables. Roots of artichoke, asparagus and rhubarb are at nurseries this month, and it's an inexpensive way to plant them. You'll also find transplants of many winter vegetables, such as broccoli and lettuce, plus bulbs of garlic, onion and shallots. This is not a good month to sow seed in the garden because the chilly nights make germination difficult. * Spray fruit trees again.