Citrus Leaf Miners

Question from Dave: Thank you very much for writing your books – I read and refer to them every week. I’m trying to shift from conventional to organic gardening. All of my citrus trees have citrus leaf miner – some worse than others....

Pre-Compost or Trench Composting

Question from Sharon: I’m here on the central coast of CA and we have citrus trees, pomegranate, and fig in our yard. No official compost pile yet, but what about grinding up citrus rinds and fava bean pods, etc. with the lawn mower, and burying...

Right Mulch for Beach Plants

Question from Jokhanah: I am caring for a parking strip planted with grasses, Russian Sage, Lavender and the like. It is near the beach and needs a mulch to keep down the weeds — bark doesn’t seem right — too “forresty”. Saw...

Fruit Trees

Question from Kevin: I need info on why my citrus trees are struggling so much. Again, I have 4 year old dwarf citrus trees, 2 meyer lemon, 2 kid glove tangerines, 1 george washington and 1 satsumie tangerine. I took your advise and moved my mulch...

Soils that Shed Water

Question from Barbara: I recently read in one of your updates that you too have (or had) hydrophobic soil – the kind that water runs right off of.  How do you solve this problem? If I actively mix water into the top layer of soil by stirring...

Blood Meal and Citrus Trees

Question from Kevin: I would like to know how much blood meal I should put under my citrus trees, even the ones that are flowering? Answer from Pat: It sounds to me as if you have been killing your trees with kindness—I mean the ones that are not doing...

Best Home Grown Plums, Apricots, and Nectarines in Southern California

Question from Jon: We had a gorgeous old plum tree in our back yard.  It had produced really great juicy plums for 1 season, but unfortunately the tree was very old and was not well cared for by the previous owner, so we had to remove it a few months...

Restore Health to Old Macadamia Tree

Question from Bruce: Just bought a property near Grafton It has a well established macadamia About 20 feet high,loads of fruit The tree is looking a bit pale and i would like to take the top out and give it afeed. Iran a citrus orchard for 5 years,could...

Killing Lawn to Replace with Trees and Mulch

Question from Trinidad: I need to kill approsimately 2,000 square feet of old lawn and weeds. Since it is a large area, is my only choice to use Round Up? Please send your suggestions. After lawn is gone, the area will be designed with trees and planters....

Pat Talks About Her Garden

Comment from Nina: “…I would also like to add that my daughter, husband, and I visited your garden about 20 years ago when she was working at Weidner’s. I received your book “Pat Welsh’s Southern California Gardening A Month-to-Month...

Grafting Avocado Trees

Question from Melody: I am writing to get some information on grafting fruit trees. We have 5 or 6 old avocado trees that don’t produce fruit and I am thinking maybe grafting would work to have them bare fruit again. If this is in fact a way...

Horse Manure Compost

Question from Dave: I have a very reliable and steady source of horse manure (1 quarter horse, 1 draft horse and 1 shetland pony) and an equally reliable source of pine needles. Using the old compost addage “something green and something brown”...

Fruit Drop from Avocado Tree

Question from Deborah: My bacon avacado tree has been droping fruit off the tree the last couple of weeks, and (does not) ripen until nov., the beginning of dec. I don’t know what the problem is. Thought maybe you could help? Answer from Pat: Summer...

Fruit Tree Nutrients

Question from Tom: I have planted many varieties of citrus and stone fruits in my yard within the last year. They are all low chill selections and should do well in the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego where I live. I am comfortable with pruning and...