Things I Wish I'd Known, Number 48,137

It's almost October, but I've still got flood tolerance on my mind, as I look out the window at another torrential downpour. The trees that haven't been damaged continue to grow like crazy, like this oh-so-happy black sapote that even fought off the Sri Lankan weevils this year. Overall, I'm on the very lucky side of the ledger with just the tipsy papayas and Geffie-by-the-swale as the ailing fruiters, and a few been-nice-knowin'-ya ornamentals gone for good.

There's actually one other case of notable fruit tree damage--- the white sapotes. Bonnie the Bonita Springs and Suebelle the Suebelle shed their leaves even before Hermine passed our way. They are leafing back now, but it's looking like non-fatal flood intolerance could be the reason they have languished for several years, while neighboring mangos and lychees found their bearings, then exploded with growth.

A couple of days ago I visited Wayne Clifton to add a couple of his newest offerings to my tree collection. The grafting guru confirmed my impression that white sapotes don't take wet soil well at all.

My newer white sapotes, the Smathers and Younghans, haven't been bothered, and the difference is that they are on mounds. When I first started planting fruit trees four years ago, I put them at ground level “so that they can get more water.” In my mind, a tree was “a thing that needs water”, not a marvelously adaptive living organism whose roots will go seek out water and whatever else they need.

The words of more experienced growers--- and a few hard life lessons--- taught me that flood-tolerant or not, it's wise to plant most any fruit tree on some kind of mound. With each wet summer, I've become more diligent about planting my trees up where they can keep at least some of their roots out of the subterranean summer lake.

At the local landscape supply store, they know me by name. Every planting starts with a lot of added topsoil, spaded into the native sand to make sure there's no sharp boundary that the tree might mistake for a barrier. A dozen bags can cost as much as the tree itself, but it's a worthwhile investment if you can possibly afford it. Top dress with compost and other tasty soil amendments, then mulch heavily everywhere except near the trunk to protect the mound from erosion and enrich the soil as the years go by.

Even better, when starting a new grove, is to enlist someone who has a Bobcat to reconfigure your terrain into long mounds with deep swales between them. This is the approach in a lot of professional groves. You can walk through a nice example in the mango production areas at Steve Cucura's Fruitscapes Nursery and Fruit Stand on Pine Island.

Now I know.