how to grow a tree

Question

I bought a house with a front yard , there’s only one tree there. I try to plant some fruit trees, such as grapefruit, avocado, orange and even some flower ,they all die within three months. As my yard has very strong sun but I already water it every evening or even add some more new soil. Can you tell me what’s the best way to plant a new tree? Or which tree is more suitable for me? Please advice. Thank you and have a nice day.

Answer 1

The trees you mention are good choices for your area, they should do well with good soil and water management.

Planting technique is important, the way you carefully handle the tree as you remove it from the container so the root ball does not break up. Don’t pull on the stem, cut and remove the container without breaking the root ball, handle the soil root ball and place it in the pre-prepared planting hole. Also important is the quality of the backfill soil, and immediate deep water to saturate and settle the entire backfill soil.
https://www.treesaregood.org/treeowner/plantingatree

Use a good quality planting soil to mix 50/50 with your native soil backfill. Some published articles recommend against this, but I have found it a very successful practice for getting trees off to a good start.
https://www.domyown.com/dr-earth-home-grown-organic-potting-soil-p-9497.html
Mulch the soil surface surrounding the tree with the same material.

Water the tree daily for a week or 10 days after planting, then you can back off to 2 or 3 times per week through the hot summer and fall there in El Monte-Baldwin Park area.

Daily water will be too much for established citrus and avocado, they are susceptible to root rot and crown rot if they stay wet and cannot dry out a little between waterings.

After your trees start to put out some new growth in a month or two, you will know that the root systems are starting to establish and take up water and nutrients. At that time you can fertilize, preferably with a slow release organic fertilizer product like this:
https://www.domyown.com/dr-earth-organic-all-purpose-fertilizer-p-9485.html