You can go to this link for some pretty good help. It is the sister site to this forum and has some people pretty dedicated to gardening. There is a section dedicated to fruit trees. You'll recognize several of the people on this site over there.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/index.php
You can contact your county extension agent, in the phone book under county government. They should have a tremendous amount of information about what fruits grow well in your area and how to care for them. Your state land grant university, which I assume is NC State, should have a tremendous amount of information on their website. They work hand-in-hand with the extension service.
It is not just what fruit trees would do well in your area, it is what varieties. Some trees, like citrus, will not survive your winter. Some types of fruit or some varieties may not survive your summers or may not get enough chill hours to fruit. Defining chill hours can be a bit complicated. I don't remember the numbers but it is so many days below a certain temperature but with a reduction if some days are over a certain temperature. Different varieties of fruit, like apples, have a different chill hour requirement. That is one reason certain varieties of apples do well further north while others will do fine in your area.
This link may help explain zones and such, but I still think your county extension agent is the best source for what grows well in your area.
http://www.garden.org/zipzone/
Different fruit trees bear at different ages. The fruit trees grafted on dwarf stock generally bear earlier than those grafted on semi-dwarf stock, while semi-dwarf are earlier than regular sized trees. When they first start to bear, there will probably be very little fruit on the tree. It takes a bit for the tree to grow and mature enough to bear lots of fruit.
There are some fruits that have male and female trees, but most are not. Where the problem comes in is that many fruit trees are not self-pollinating. Some are, but these usually (not always but usually) produce better if there is a different variety around. It is not a male-female thing, just for some reason they want a different variety for pollination. For example, a Granny Smith apple is not self-pollinating. You need another variety of apple (Crabapples work too for apples) that blooms at the same time to pollinate a Granny Smith. Looking at my Stark Brothers catalogue, you can find a very few varieties of apples that are self-pollinated, but you really have to look hard. A Methley plum is self-pollinating but will usually bear quite a bit better if another variety of plum tree is around to pollinate it. I also have a Santa Rosa plum planted so they can pollinate each other.
Peaches cannot pollinate pear trees. They have to be the same type of fruit to cross-pollinate.
Most fruit trees cannot be grown successfully from seed, even if they self-pollinate. There are so many different genes in play that you cannot tell what kinds of fruit you will get. For example, if you grow apples from seeds, you will probably get a small gnarly, twisted apple that is totally worthless. It is pure luck if you get a decent apple (all our different apple varieties did start this way) but the odds are tremendous you will not like what you get. Most fruit trees are grafted onto a rootstock. That becomes important to know when you plant the tree. The graft union has to remain above ground where the tree cannot root above that graft and you have to prune off any branches that come out below that graft union.
Nut trees normally take quite a bit longer to bear than than fruit trees. It varies quite a bit by type of nut tree, but going by memory, it takes a pecan tree somewhere around 12 to 15 years to start bearing and probably 20 years to bear well. That's going to vary by your growing conditions.
I can't help you on selling those pecan trees. They are almost certainly nut grown, not grafted, although they do sell grafted pecan trees. They should make good nut trees and I would certainly keep some for myself.
I've probably made it sound more complicated than it really is. It is really not that hard if you start out with some of the basics and do your research before you jump in. Good luck on the journey.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/index.php
You can contact your county extension agent, in the phone book under county government. They should have a tremendous amount of information about what fruits grow well in your area and how to care for them. Your state land grant university, which I assume is NC State, should have a tremendous amount of information on their website. They work hand-in-hand with the extension service.
It is not just what fruit trees would do well in your area, it is what varieties. Some trees, like citrus, will not survive your winter. Some types of fruit or some varieties may not survive your summers or may not get enough chill hours to fruit. Defining chill hours can be a bit complicated. I don't remember the numbers but it is so many days below a certain temperature but with a reduction if some days are over a certain temperature. Different varieties of fruit, like apples, have a different chill hour requirement. That is one reason certain varieties of apples do well further north while others will do fine in your area.
This link may help explain zones and such, but I still think your county extension agent is the best source for what grows well in your area.
http://www.garden.org/zipzone/
Different fruit trees bear at different ages. The fruit trees grafted on dwarf stock generally bear earlier than those grafted on semi-dwarf stock, while semi-dwarf are earlier than regular sized trees. When they first start to bear, there will probably be very little fruit on the tree. It takes a bit for the tree to grow and mature enough to bear lots of fruit.
There are some fruits that have male and female trees, but most are not. Where the problem comes in is that many fruit trees are not self-pollinating. Some are, but these usually (not always but usually) produce better if there is a different variety around. It is not a male-female thing, just for some reason they want a different variety for pollination. For example, a Granny Smith apple is not self-pollinating. You need another variety of apple (Crabapples work too for apples) that blooms at the same time to pollinate a Granny Smith. Looking at my Stark Brothers catalogue, you can find a very few varieties of apples that are self-pollinated, but you really have to look hard. A Methley plum is self-pollinating but will usually bear quite a bit better if another variety of plum tree is around to pollinate it. I also have a Santa Rosa plum planted so they can pollinate each other.
Peaches cannot pollinate pear trees. They have to be the same type of fruit to cross-pollinate.
Most fruit trees cannot be grown successfully from seed, even if they self-pollinate. There are so many different genes in play that you cannot tell what kinds of fruit you will get. For example, if you grow apples from seeds, you will probably get a small gnarly, twisted apple that is totally worthless. It is pure luck if you get a decent apple (all our different apple varieties did start this way) but the odds are tremendous you will not like what you get. Most fruit trees are grafted onto a rootstock. That becomes important to know when you plant the tree. The graft union has to remain above ground where the tree cannot root above that graft and you have to prune off any branches that come out below that graft union.
Nut trees normally take quite a bit longer to bear than than fruit trees. It varies quite a bit by type of nut tree, but going by memory, it takes a pecan tree somewhere around 12 to 15 years to start bearing and probably 20 years to bear well. That's going to vary by your growing conditions.
I can't help you on selling those pecan trees. They are almost certainly nut grown, not grafted, although they do sell grafted pecan trees. They should make good nut trees and I would certainly keep some for myself.
I've probably made it sound more complicated than it really is. It is really not that hard if you start out with some of the basics and do your research before you jump in. Good luck on the journey.
