Dragon Fruit Planting for a 13X13 area Questions and Advice

[John B]

Good afternoon,

I am looking at planting some of my 7 varieties of DF in the upcoming weeks. More than likely, just constructing the 4X4 posts in their permanent location behind my retaining wall. Please see picture of the small area. I was thinking 4 plants on a 5' post with 2X2X1 raised cedar or redwood planters.

Is this area doable for 4 plants? When I had my DF in pots, I could squeeze more plants in that location but I think I will grow these out larger. How many posts would you place in the area? I will have a growing mango tree as you can see in the picture as well, but I am not concerned with it for a while (if ever).

Also, there is a massive date palm in my neighbors yard that litters the area with nuts and the rats love them, so i am going to add exposed landscape fabric around the raised beds to make cleanup easier. Has anyone added any landscape fabric around their raised beds? I do not want to make the ground too warm as temps can sometimes reach 100 degrees in summer. It is impossible to clean up the nuts with the mulch I currently have there.

Thanks in advance.