Theres a ton of fig and dates in socal people don’t pick. That being said its hard to pick these trees. They might be located in clumsy areas like by some razor wire in a parking lot. You aren’t sure when its time to harvest unless you know this tree well. Harvesting might not even be practical considering the best fruit is picked not dropped and picked up, and these trees could be huge. Then of course these being unsprayed trees the fruit is going to be full of wasp larvae at least for the figs. Then the rats will eat most of whatever is there thats worth eating anyhow before you realize its there.
Commercially its a different story. Trees are planted and pruned to maintain easy harvesting. They are sprayed and rodents managed, as well as being overall outproduced by the yield on the farm. Fruit trees are a lot of work. Even literal money growing on trees would be work, against what the saying might imply.
Spain has plenty of oranges growing in the middle of a public street, most of them are perfectly edible. If fruit trees are a common presence in the city, people learn when to pick what, it becomes common knowledge, it’s not rocket science.
> You aren’t sure when it is time to harvest unless you know this tree well.
This is a big issue. Every bush and tree I've added to my yard is a learning experience about what "ripe" means and when to harvest. The bright red plums are enticing to the eye but bitter and chalky. Perfect blue blueberries that taste like lemons.
Unattended apple trees can create rotting apples on the ground, certainly. Those are admittedly not pretty, but in Central Russia (and, presumably, in Estonia, which is not that far off climate- and fauna-wise) they’re just one more layer of soil by spring. Do hotter temperatures or different wildlife make them a bigger problem in the US somehow?
Here in Antwerp there's a long street (the Markgravelei) lined with cornelian cherries (Cornus mas).
I think most people around here don't know that they're edible and anyway that fruit is somewhat of a hassle to pick and prepare, but anyway once they're ripe they fall on the sidewalk and on cars, staining everything red, making the sidewalks slippery and leaving seeds behind. And there's no wild life to speak of, maybe some rats but not many, and birds don't seem to eat the fallen fruit. Wasps do, but it's not a positive point.
There's no soil (except a ~1m² square around each tree) because it's just a street in the city so although I don't find them a bother and I can pick a fruit from time to time while walking, I can well understand why people who live in this street would complain about it.
I can't understand what went through the mind of people who chose to plant these trees here. I think it's almost as bad as if those were mulberry trees (relative to staining power).
But it's just a remark on how fruit trees can be annoying to some people, for my part I used to live in another city where I was able to pick blackberries and raspberries on my way to work or to the supermarket, sometimes pears, and it was great. And in autumn I pick chestnuts here. Not too often because of PFAS pollution.
There is a mulberry tree right next to a bus station where I live. Between the people waiting for the bus and birds I almost never manage to eat the fruit and there is none on the ground.
Probably a situation with stuck up neighbors most of the time. If you’ve heard of the homeowners association problem in the USA, this could be the cause. Having rotting fruit is fine for the soil and everything, but the stick up the butt neighbors or HOA probably would complain or ban the practice. US Americans are pretty separated from nature in their big suburbs.
HOA's can actually work really well, they just seemed to have taken a horrible turn somewhere in the USA. "HOA"s in South Africa are called "Sectional Titles", and they're pretty reasonable. They allow for (if you ask me) more efficient use of common resources (garden services, security, etc). Do they have politics, drama and the occasional Karen? Of course, but every grouping of individuals has that as it's just human nature.
I'd be ok with something like that, but I think I'd need neighbors who were interested in having common resources in the first place.
Where we've got it wrong is that only thing we have in common is a shared interest in how the market perceives us, and since markets are batshit crazy, we end up doing crazy things like maintaining a lawn in a drought just for the aesthetics of it. If there were actually something we had in common, like I dunno a lathe or something, there would be something with practical considerations around which to anchor HOA policy.
(bias note: I don't live in an HOA, but my friends seem to hate it an I'm offended by the lack of character/sense in the HOA-governed neighborhoods that surround mine.)
Easy just live in a neighborhood built before 1970. Odds are if you work in a city these are available in spades in a reasonable distance to work. Nicer homes and neighborhoods than the newer plastic siding stuff thats come since too.
It depends on the state. Some seem to love them (coughFloridacough) and others dislike them.
Afaik, most of them are vestigial instruments left over from master planned development financing, that gave the developers X years of voting control in order to recoup some part of their investment.
> Do hotter temperatures or different wildlife make them a bigger problem in the US somehow?
In many places, people worry about bugs and rats eating them, and the ones that don't get eaten start to rot and grow moldy. Generally just things people don't like in a dense city.
Any rotting fruit that falls on the ground will attract many animals and bugs. Lots of flies and wasps, as well as bigger animals like rats or raccoons. Depends on the city for the specific animal, but seems like there are plenty of animals in big cities (at least here in the US) - NYC famously has rats, for example.
It is more likely to be seen as messy, just aesthetics. Another big reason for chopping down fruit trees in urban areas is they mess up cars that are parked under them.
There's a spot in St. Paul, MN that I drive by sometimes that has had treefall apples all over the sidewalk for the last few weeks. I'm surprised they're left on the tree for that long, since it's in a pretty busy area.
Yeah, I guess. People are spoiled by the appearance of grocery store produce. We have a bunch of apple trees that produce delicious fruit. I just eat around the worms and bug-bitten spots.
Not sure if it is really sanitization issue. But certainly perceived one - it can be mess.
This was not unique to US. I remember on the other side of the Iron Curtain we planted in cities mostly just male dioecious trees.
Finally no fruit ...just pollen everywhere. (Good luck with allergies)
> "I presume that Americans always take the poo of their beloved pets from the streets."
They're supposed to by law (and just good old-fashioned manners), and many do clean up after their pets, but anywhere you go there's always gotta be at least one jerkwad that doesn't care one little bit about anything beyond the tip of their own nose.
