Why You Should Plant and Grow a Persimmon Tree in Your Yard

Persimmons are more than just delicious and exotic fruit. Beyond the several health benefits and numerous perks they offer, they may even work as a conversation starter when you have visitors. Dive into the many reasons why you should plant and grow a persimmon tree in your yard.

What Is a Persimmon?

Many people probably have never even heard of this fruit, but it's time that they do. Persimmons are orange-reddish fruit shaped like a small, flat tomato and are known for their sweet flavor. The two most common varieties of persimmons are astringent and non-astringent.

Astringent

The astringent persimmon variety contains high levels of a plant chemical known as tannins; these give the fruit a very dry and bitter taste. It's best to wait a few days for astringent persimmons to ripen before you eat them.

Astringent persimmons are the sweetest, richest, and juiciest variety as long as you wait until they ripen to eat them. You'll know they are ripe and ready to eat when they're soft and almost mushy. Their sweetness is comparable to maple syrup.

Non-Astringent

On the other hand, non-astringent varieties are also packed with tannins but are okay to eat even if unripe. You can pick them right off the tree and eat them like a crisp apple. However, this variety is not quite as sweet; its sweetness is more mild and mellow, like a cantaloupe or pure sugarcane.

Benefits of Persimmon Trees

Aside from just a tasty fruit, persimmons provide many benefits for your health and yard. Check them out below!

Help Boost Immunity

It's probably no mystery that most fruits contain ascorbic acid or vitamin C. You probably also know that vitamin C boosts immune system strength. Persimmons are one of the fruits containing the highest levels of vitamin C.

A single persimmon contains the majority of your daily vitamin C recommendation. Having this fruit around will surely help you consume the proper amount of ascorbic acid to keep your immunity in tip-top shape.

Aid Digestion

Fiber is an integral part of your diet because it helps your body process food more efficiently. Like many fruits, persimmons are high in fiber. In fact, a single serving of persimmon contains about 20% of your daily fiber recommendation.

Overall, persimmons provide a significant boost to your gastrointestinal system and protect you from colorectal cancer and comparable diseases. The fruit may also help you lose weight by defending you against lipid uptake, which potentially causes obesity.

Regulate Blood Pressure

Persimmons also contain considerable amounts of a mineral known as potassium. Potassium works as a blood pressure-lowering agent, possibly increasing blood flow throughout numerous parts of your body. Lower blood pressure also helps decrease any strain on the cardiovascular system, as well as prevent several related conditions.

Persimmons also contain flavonoid antioxidants and tannins that are advantageous for heart health and blood pressure. Both tannic and gallic acids in persimmons also carry blood pressure-lowering properties. However, too much may lower blood pressure drastically, so avoid continual intake if you are hypotensive.

Regulate Blood Circulation

Proper circulation of healthy red blood cells is crucial for cognitive function, energy levels, muscle tone, metabolism, and even wound repair. Along with lowering blood pressure, persimmons also contain copper, which is essential for producing new red blood cells. Your body can't absorb the vital nutrients it needs for hemoglobin production without copper.

Add Beauty to Your Property

The varieties of persimmon trees range from small to medium size. A mature tree may grow up to 60 feet tall, but persimmon trees are also slow-growing. Therefore, you can maintain your persimmon tree at a more practicable height between 12 and 20 feet.

Planting different varieties of trees add diversity to your property, and a persimmon tree adds beautiful color. They can appear slender, elongated, or round. If you are in areas where the trees are deciduous, you'll enjoy pops of orange, red, and yellow in the fall.

As the year continues and the leaves begin to fall, you'll enjoy the second stage of beauty. This time, there are branches with brilliant orange fruits and a dark, rough trunk. In the spring, fragrant white blossoms and green leaves appear on the tree.

Give Delicious Fruit

Asian varieties are the most widespread in markets and home growth. If you see persimmons in a grocery store, consider yourself fortunate. The trees produce so much fruit, but persimmons are extremely perishable and may not survive the trip to your local stores.

When fully mature, astringent persimmons are very soft. Once ripe, they're great for eating fresh or cooking into desserts such as muffins and cookies. However, if you pick them before their ultimate ripeness, you can wrap up the process in your kitchen by putting them inside a container with a fruit that emits ethylene gas, such as apples or bananas.

Non-astringent varieties are crispy and sweet and are best eaten like an apple once they turn to a deep, rich orange color.

Since persimmon trees will produce many fruits during harvest time, you may feel overwhelmed when deciding what to do with them. If you find yourself unable to use them quick enough, put them in the freezer to use later. The hard fruits turn tender and scoopable after freezing them, allowing you to use them for future recipes.

Planting Requirements

While persimmon trees are incredibly resilient, they have specific conditions for you to follow to ensure they live long as fruitful components of your property.

Before purchasing your tree, you must choose a spot for it that has at least six hours of complete sun and moist but easy-drying soil. Fortunately, persimmons flourish in a large array of soil types and can even adapt to your soil's pH levels.

The trees are even tolerant of droughts once fully mature. Aside from providing fruit and beauty, you can see the many reasons why you should plant and grow a persimmon tree in your yard.

If you're ready to take the plunge and purchase a tree or have questions about the best option for you, visit Plant Me Green's website and take a look at our selection of persimmon fruit trees for sale.

Persimmon trees are stunning embellishments to your yard, and they provide more than just fruit and shade; they also deliver ample health benefits to you and your household, as well as aroma and flair.