I only once had damage to my persimmon trees by deer. It was when I got persimmon plant in a pot from Edible Lanscaping. There were several fruits on this small tree. Deer tried them all when they were still green. Didn't really eat, just bite. With all my other persimmon trees I never had any damage even though sometimes fruits are very close to the ground and I have very heave deer pressure here. I do apply Liquid Fence sometimes, not for persimmons but for some flowers that I have close to persimmons. It still could be the reson why deer don't eat my persimmons. I am in MD, zone 6b. I grow Jiro, Ichi, Hana, Izu, Chocolate, Coffee Cake and Hachiya. The last three are only two year in my yard, so not sure how they will survive long term. Others are here for many years and I never saw any winter damage on any of them. To speed up Hachiya or other astringent persimmons persimmon ripe, I put them in a bag with ripe fruits. It can be apples, bananas or ripe persimmons. It really speeds things up. I put just enough persimmons that my family can consume in 2-3 days. When they get ripe, each time I take some out of the bag, I add the same amount of unripe ones. This way it works for non stop supply of ripe persimmons. Olga

Hi Tony (or anyone else who knows!) I recently moved from zone 9 to zone 6 and left my extensive collection of fruit trees. I'd like to grow astringent persimmon here for making hoshigaki Japanese dried persimmon. Are there any astringent varieties that produce LARGE fruit that will survive here? And where I can order from? I saw starkbros have Saijo but the fruit is small. It may need to be potted for the first year or two until I find a permanent property to put it in the ground. This last winter low temps were in the teens F generally, only a few days in single digits. So I think cold tolerant down to 0F should be ok. Thanks very much!

whats the excavation all about? im not sure you arent trying to fix what isnt broken .... if the tree isnt showing any signs of suffering.. then whats the point of fixing it all and worrying about it ... im more concerned about how deep the root flare was ... and if you plan on putting the soil back ... ken

Sara, good to know! Yes, they're native. I haven't tried them yet, but I will. The leaves look now a bit like the leaves on my cherry trees when they were attacked by a fungus, so I wondered if it could be the same thing. cearbhaill, yes, i'm in the US, and you're right, the extension office here is very helpful! Thank you for the reminder. I'm new to the area and have asked them a lot of questions--not that they ever seem to mind!