watering fruit trees

Russell Hall said:
Yes mulch will give a healthy moist environment for the tree with worms and desirable bugs. I'm going to try some dagy wool as mulch and see how it goes.
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Bit dependent upon soil. Our Perth deep sands are an issue. Mulch reduces evaporation but the sands still drain to near-dryness. Drippers provide a narrow vertical tube of wetness that drains quickly. Mulch absorbs lots of water and keeps the soil dry unless low sprinklers are run for long enough to wet it up enough for moisture to drain from it into the even better-drained sand. And citrus roots are shallow. Of course none of this is relevant to heavy clay soils...... I've found the only solution for our orange tree is to over-water several times a week.
 
DoubleChevron said:
Oh ... when I say digging holes for the tree with a post hole digger .... I mean something liek this:

View attachment 209991

I would probably need a small excavator or backhoe to dig the ground unless I do it right now while its slop
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Yes, your equipment is wonderful but not so appropriate for a quarter acre block in suburbia.
😁
 
JohnW said:
Bit dependent upon soil. Our Perth deep sands are an issue. Mulch reduces evaporation but the sands still drain to near-dryness. Drippers provide a narrow vertical tube of wetness that drains quickly. Mulch absorbs lots of water and keeps the soil dry unless low sprinklers are run for long enough to wet it up enough for moisture to drain from it into the even better-drained sand. And citrus roots are shallow. Of course none of this is relevant to heavy clay soils...... I've found the only solution for our orange tree is to over-water several times a week.
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That's where you need to get lots of humus down into the soil (as opposed to hummus, that's better served with flatbread).
 
Russell Hall said:
There is an old mulberry on a selection we bought. Not very large but it's survived decades through droughts without attention. So I treat it with respect. Never a mulberry, the birds like them green.
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The house I grew up in had an old and completely neglected mulberry in the backyard and we occasionally got magnificent fruit that the birds missed.

I've tried to train my dad to water plantings deeply for the first summer then mostly let the trees deal with the weather themselves. I suspect he's overwatering. It's not a commercial plantation that must generate produce.
 
JohnW said:
Bit dependent upon soil. Our Perth deep sands are an issue. Mulch reduces evaporation but the sands still drain to near-dryness. Drippers provide a narrow vertical tube of wetness that drains quickly. Mulch absorbs lots of water and keeps the soil dry unless low sprinklers are run for long enough to wet it up enough for moisture to drain from it into the even better-drained sand. And citrus roots are shallow. Of course none of this is relevant to heavy clay soils...... I've found the only solution for our orange tree is to over-water several times a week.
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How deep are the sands? We have some deep sands that red gums don't like but stringybarks do. A clay and humus mix might do well. Our lemon has always struggled but after forty years finally has its roots somewhere it likes.
 
Russell Hall said:
How deep are the sands? We have some deep sands that red gums don't like but stringybarks do. A clay and humus mix might do well. Our lemon has always struggled but after forty years finally has its roots somewhere it likes.
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About 1,000 metres. Our water table is about 55 metres down too.

Locally comfortable natives are the way to go but unless you water you can only have a few plants and loose sand everywhere. People do have European gardens but boy they use some water!
 
Yes, sand that deep is a problem. All the nutrients will be heading south. In sand areas of SA where the depth is only a metre or so they have a technigue of deep ripping to bring clay to the surface to mix with the sand. Lots of organic matter would help. Your neighbours may not like it if you have a truckload of manure dumped on the front lawn. Sinking a bore to 55 metres would cost.
 
Perhaps an Olla system? I use them in my (admittedly suburban) garden because I am a truly neglectful gardener. Here is a link to which I have no affiliation whatsoever but it has a very good description. There are plenty of other websites and videos.
 
Tickets said:
Perhaps an Olla system? I use them in my (admittedly suburban) garden because I am a truly neglectful gardener. Here is a link to which I have no affiliation whatsoever but it has a very good description. There are plenty of other websites and videos.
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I’d forgotten about slow weeping unglazed pottery. Just keep it corked so you don’t get mosquitoes.
😉
 
shibuichi said:
Yes, your equipment is wonderful but not so appropriate for a quarter acre block in suburbia.
😁
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The neighbours said that about my new lawn mower. I think they're just a teeny bit jealous if you ask me.😉

20220913_102055.jpg
 
Russell Hall said:
Yes, sand that deep is a problem. All the nutrients will be heading south. In sand areas of SA where the depth is only a metre or so they have a technigue of deep ripping to bring clay to the surface to mix with the sand. Lots of organic matter would help. Your neighbours may not like it if you have a truckload of manure dumped on the front lawn. Sinking a bore to 55 metres would cost.
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Yes to all that. We have a bore, which came with the house. The good news about leaching is that our bore water has enough nutrients to keep our smallish grassed area green on a sand hill with no fertiliser - we capture the leachate from our upstream, lawn-fertilising neighbours!! Mostly, I just grow natives - big crop of quandongs this month.
 
Dealing with irrigation around trees can be tricky, especially with mowers in the mix. Your plan sounds solid with the deep ripper and post hole digger. Have you thought about using sturdy protective sleeves for the irrigation tubes? Maybe something like thick PVC pipe or even metal conduit could shield them from mower mishaps.
 
This subject must be one of the best I’ve read on this forum. Unfortunately I missed it back in September 2022. All great contributions from all over the country especially from Fordman with his photos of Hyden in WA, where many interesting mallee type eucalypts can be found apparently but not on this wheat farm I suggest.

Great to see that contributors are not only well versed at “irrigating” cars (water pumps, radiators etc) but trees and shrubs generally as well.
 
Mulch is wonderful, for all the reasons given above

One thing to add might be to think of the brown self regulating low pressure watering hoses which give a standard flow.

They are designed to be used UNDER the mulch and not on top

Need a bit of thought about pressure limiters any air bleed valves at high points, but once working they are good value

They may not be the answer for areas of mulch desperately off by expanses of lawn unless feed pipes buried

The other way I have protected drippers from idiots with mowers( me ) is to have feed pipes buried and a ring of drippers in tins or bits of pvc pipe velow the surface, which also gives semi deep watering

Good luxk

Andrew
 
I used the brown leaky hoses to establish future large trees and shrubs years ago. It's all under the mulch and if I had grass it would be under that. It's still there, but no longer needed as the planting is mature.. It was originally near the surface, but there is now a layer of black composted leaf mould 5 or 6 inches deep over the area.
 
Laimatix said:
Dealing with irrigation around trees can be tricky, especially with mowers in the mix. Your plan sounds solid with the deep ripper and post hole digger. Have you thought about using sturdy protective sleeves for the irrigation tubes? Maybe something like thick PVC pipe or even metal conduit could shield them from mower mishaps.
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Plus, consider planting some camphor trees around; their shade and aroma could make your fruit tree oasis even more inviting!
 
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