Video response to Dirt Diva’s question about landscaping & high density planting

[weiss613]

 https://youtu.be/ECcZivpYaws

[FlMikey]

That's pretty cool.  Did you plant all of those by yourself?  Do you hire landscapers to help trimming the trees every year and how long does it take to trim them back?

[weiss613]

Great questions. I’m 71 and retired and I hate gyms and exercising on or with machines. I use my trees to help me live a long and healthy life I hope by giving me great fun exercise that accomplishes something good and makes people happy via the fruit. I myself can tell a great mango from others but I’ll rarely eat one. Besides the physical care there is the mental part for example the planning the purchasing the problem solving like pests and disease etc etc etc. this helps to wake you up looking forwards to fun work and problem solving and it especially helps when your head hits the pillow. All I have to do when stressed out about something is say to myself time to go to sleep think about the beautiful potential of the trees and POW I fall asleep!
So yes I dug the holes and that exercise and the craving for oxygen got me addicted to the digging and planting. Then for 2 years I kept busting my brain with the question of where else can I put a mango tree.
And yes after each mango tree is picked I myself lower it down to 6-7 feet and trim the inside and any branches that are hitting another tree. During that time I fill up my 7 big green garbage cans twice a week and most weeks I’ll borrow 3-4 from good neighbors to fill with the pruned branches. One week I had 13 cans filled. At the end of the summer I had so much one week I had to stack up a pile on the driveway and add to 2 neighbors piles. Right now there is minimal work and it’s pretty easy except for those 2 new areas in the video. And that’s because of the weather and only having to do fertilization and some spraying. But the summer heat is really tough on endurance so now in the cooler weather this older guy goes for pretty fast 4-5 mile walks with the wife. If you don’t take advantage of this cooler weather now to get or raise your endurance up then all that summer pruning will turn one off instead of craving it.
And when I look at the whole picture like I did today it sort of looks like a giant art project that my friends and relatives and neighbors can enjoy aesthetically and in great mango tastings. My fruits of my work is going to them and the food bank. Nothing is sold. It’s an altruistic all around healthy project!! I didn’t check spelling. After reading this I hope I didn’t sound like a bragging idiot but it is borderline sounding. Was just trying to answer your question completely.

[containerman]

wow thats impressive ! how many avocado trees and varieties do you have ?

[weiss613]

I have 15 varieties of avocado on approximately 32 trees and that includes Hass Carmen and the vc801 Catalina Semil 34 Miguel Lula Pollack Simmons Donnie Nishikawa Oro Negro Wilson Propenoe Monroe and Maluma

[containerman]

I have 15 varieties of avocado on approximately 32 trees and that includes Hass Carmen and the vc801 Catalina Semil 34 Miguel Lula Pollack Simmons Donnie Nishikawa Oro Negro Wilson Propenoe Monroe and Maluma

its very impressive. here is my little yard lol.

avocados
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdItGKiVDb4

stonenfruit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlati2GFLTQ

citrus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq_5ba2kBc8

[Mugenia]

Weiss613,

Impressive collection of mangoes you have there. How many varieties of mangoes do you have? Thanks. Regards.

[weiss613]

Mugenia
33 of mostly the newest Zill varieties.
Here is a few
44 Sweet Tarts
26 Orange Sherbet
52 Lemon Zest
26 Cotton Candy
14 Lemon Meringue
12 Pineapple Pleasure
13 Sugar Loaf
8 M-4
5 Orange Essence
6 Buttercream
5 Fruit Punch
4 Peach Cobbler
4 C Cream
4 Pina Colada
4 Keitt
Etc
I love your description of where you live!!!

[weiss613]

Containerman
I tried growing many of your California avocado varieties and they all had problems in Miami. Your collection is the best of the best and I wish we could grow your nectarines too. Have any of your citrus contracted greening. In Miami all citrus gets sick in 5 years from greening so it’s futile. Nothing like having your own Key Lime tree for every glass of soda or water.
Congrats on your beautiful garden and fantastic video.

[containerman]

Containerman
I tried growing many of your California avocado varieties and they all had problems in Miami. Your collection is the best of the best and I wish we could grow your nectarines too. Have any of your citrus contracted greening. In Miami all citrus gets sick in 5 years from greening so it’s futile. Nothing like having your own Key Lime tree for every glass of soda or water.
Congrats on your beautiful garden and fantastic video.

no greening knock on wood. you gave me ideas for my front yard lol. now if I could only talk my wife into letting my take out my Japanese maple trees and put fruit trees in their place

[New_Jungle]

Wow loved it! Thank you soo much for sharing and giving me some ideas on what to do with my small space 😁

[Tropheus76]

Neat, I think my wife would kill me lol. How bad is theft? What are those neat concrete looking rings?

[Seanny]

Beautiful property!

If you make those rings thicker and deeper they'll help your trees from tipping over during a hurricane.

[weiss613]

The rings. On most trees there is an inner plastic ring. These are edging pieces from Home Depot that you attach to each other. The outer rings are poured concrete. The inner rings are mainly for when the trees are young. The outer rings were to keep the gardener from hitting the trees with the weed wacker.
Both rings are for more efficient watering and fertilization. When one waters their trees without especially the inner circle very little of the water goes straight down into the earth but when you have that circle and the bottom of the plastic is inserted into the earth a little bit then the water and liquid fertilizer goes straight down into the ground near the rootball. You can water or fertilize 100 young trees perfectly in a very short time this way. In the next few days I’ll make a short video of my fertilization technique. Over the years I use this technique to “push” my young trees to grow. This technique never causes burning and 100% of the liquid complete fertilizer is utilized. You can fertilize every week or bi weekly or monthly just simply by changing the concentration. And I push the young trees hard till they’ve been in the ground for 3 full years. And any fruit on those trees before the complete end of year 3 is picked off when tiny and thrown on the ground so that all energy goes into the wood so the tree can get big and strong for year 4 production.
So I’ll make the video soon and put it here.

[weiss613]

The rings. On most trees there is an inner plastic ring. These are edging pieces from Home Depot that you attach to each other. The outer rings are poured concrete. The inner rings are mainly for when the trees are young. The outer rings were to keep the gardener from hitting the trees with the weed wacker.
Both rings are for more efficient watering and fertilization. When one waters their trees without especially the inner circle very little of the water goes straight down into the earth but when you have that circle and the bottom of the plastic is inserted into the earth a little bit then the water and liquid fertilizer goes straight down into the ground near the rootball. You can water or fertilize 100 young trees perfectly in a very short time this way. In the next few days I’ll make a short video of my fertilization technique. Over the years I use this technique to “push” my young trees to grow. This technique never causes burning and 100% of the liquid complete fertilizer is utilized. You can fertilize every week or bi weekly or monthly just simply by changing the concentration. And I push the young trees hard till they’ve been in the ground for 3 full years. And any fruit on those trees before the complete end of year 3 is picked off when tiny and thrown on the ground so that all energy goes into the wood so the tree can get big and strong for year 4 production.
So I’ll make the video soon and put it here. I use a 9-3-6 complete fertilizer with all the micros.

[Jagmanjoe]

The rings. On most trees there is an inner plastic ring. These are edging pieces from Home Depot that you attach to each other. The outer rings are poured concrete. The inner rings are mainly for when the trees are young. The outer rings were to keep the gardener from hitting the trees with the weed wacker.
Both rings are for more efficient watering and fertilization. When one waters their trees without especially the inner circle very little of the water goes straight down into the earth but when you have that circle and the bottom of the plastic is inserted into the earth a little bit then the water and liquid fertilizer goes straight down into the ground near the rootball. You can water or fertilize 100 young trees perfectly in a very short time this way. In the next few days I’ll make a short video of my fertilization technique. Over the years I use this technique to “push” my young trees to grow. This technique never causes burning and 100% of the liquid complete fertilizer is utilized. You can fertilize every week or bi weekly or monthly just simply by changing the concentration. And I push the young trees hard till they’ve been in the ground for 3 full years. And any fruit on those trees before the complete end of year 3 is picked off when tiny and thrown on the ground so that all energy goes into the wood so the tree can get big and strong for year 4 production.
So I’ll make the video soon and put it here. I use a 9-3-6 complete fertilizer with all the micros.

Your setup and dedication are very impressive, Weiss.  With our last home, we had the concrete borders installed and while they looked impressive from a distance, the concrete border installer didn't do a very good job as, even with the expansion joints, the concrete was cracking and separating within weeks.  I worked for several years to get those trees growing and it was a slow process.  Then a year ago we moved to the Lakeland, FL area just as those 6 trees were full of panicles.

Now as I am wondering if I will live long enough to really enjoy the fruits of my labors at our home here, I have planted 12 varieties of mangos along with several other tropical fruit trees and plants.  Accordingly, I am extremely interested in seeing how you are pushing your amazing looking tropical paradise.  To that end, I am anxiously awaiting seeing your upcoming video.

With respect to border areas to contain fertilizer feeding and keeping grass and weeds out, I came across a product online that is working extremely well for me.  It is called Grassbarrier and is a strong yet flexible plastic border that is 10" wide and relatively easy to cut.  I use a framers square to keep my cuts straight and make repeated passes with a razor knife until it is cut through.  While this method is slower than using a saw, it leaves a nice and clean cut edge.  I bury mine approximately 5" to 6" below the surface which still allows a good 4" to 5" to remain above the surface to contain mulch around the trees.  With the extra depth, it also acts as a great deterrent to grass and weeds creeping into the area.  It has been holding up well to both the robotic mowers bumping it and the weedeater string hitting it as I maintain the property.

Thanks again for sharing your postings and videos.  I find them truly inspiring.

[weiss613]

Jagmanjoe. Thank you for your interesting story and mango love. I’d like to address the grass and weeds. The most disruptive and annoying and damaging thing for my mango trees has been weed and grass killer. For too many years I struggled with the damages that weed and grass killer was doing to my trees without even knowing it. I thought the damages were other things like fungus or too much water or too little water or hose water as opposed to rain water and several other mistaken diagnosis. The 2 new sections you saw in the video have a 20 year woven weed and grass cloth under that mulch that lets water pass through. It’s covered with mulch to make it last longer and because the surface is uneven. This I feel is the answer to the weed and grass problem. Weeds and grass will still come up inside the circles directly from the bottom even with a good edge and mulch. Also whenever grass is cut stuff gets blown and seeded. Especially if a blower is used.
As far as missing out on your beautiful old house mango bounty maybe look at it like this. Relish the process and be thrilled that you now have this new work of art to create and have the privilege to work on. Now you’ve got new dreams and new reasons to get up in the morning and new healthy life giving work to enjoy.  To say nothing of the fun mental challenges of keeping your new “children” beautiful and healthy with all the new challenges. I look at it like this that I’ll stay as healthy as I keep me trees by the obsession and hard work yet I have no feelings towards my trees. If I have to sell my house I would not miss my trees I would have to have another piece of land to work on. But I do love making other’s eyes light up with their first bite of each new Zill Mango variety and many older greats too. As a retired older guy I live the process to help me live. And the most amazing thing is that from May to September I might eat 1 whole mango! Video coming.  PS I’ve been lucky as my concrete circles are solid AND most importantly each tree is labeled directly by writing on the concrete circles with special long lasting markers. Anyone can pass every one of my trees and instantly see ST, LZ, OS, LM, OE, SL V, JP, PC etc etc. and each tree is marked next to its name with a big green dot if it’s over 3 years in the ground and the fruit will be ready to eat that coming season.

[containerman]

The rings. On most trees there is an inner plastic ring. These are edging pieces from Home Depot that you attach to each other. The outer rings are poured concrete. The inner rings are mainly for when the trees are young. The outer rings were to keep the gardener from hitting the trees with the weed wacker.
Both rings are for more efficient watering and fertilization. When one waters their trees without especially the inner circle very little of the water goes straight down into the earth but when you have that circle and the bottom of the plastic is inserted into the earth a little bit then the water and liquid fertilizer goes straight down into the ground near the rootball. You can water or fertilize 100 young trees perfectly in a very short time this way. In the next few days I’ll make a short video of my fertilization technique. Over the years I use this technique to “push” my young trees to grow. This technique never causes burning and 100% of the liquid complete fertilizer is utilized. You can fertilize every week or bi weekly or monthly just simply by changing the concentration. And I push the young trees hard till they’ve been in the ground for 3 full years. And any fruit on those trees before the complete end of year 3 is picked off when tiny and thrown on the ground so that all energy goes into the wood so the tree can get big and strong for year 4 production.
So I’ll make the video soon and put it here. I use a 9-3-6 complete fertilizer with all the micros.

So the 4 year mark includes avocados as well as mangos ?

[weiss613]

For me all fruit trees even Blueberry bushes have to be in the ground a complete 3 years by date to let fruit develop. Eg plant tree July 25, 2015 and in early July up to July 24, 2018 there is fruit on the tree I would not even eat it.
Right now I have such a predicament with 2 M-4’s. Their anniversaries are July 21 and 25 this coming summer. I’m not sure if they’ll still be OK and not over ripe on July 21 and 25 this summer so I didn’t prune the tree after last season and I’m not taking the fruit off if it gets fruit. So if the fruit stays on somehow and is healthy looking and not destroyed by squirrels great and if not I won’t eat it before. But that’s just crazy me!

[John B]

My jaw dropped when I saw your property. Very nice! I will need some time to compose myself before asking some questions!