Avocado Trees Need the Rain

There are three old avocado trees in the Laguna Garden that are most likely left over from an old orchard that was there in the early 20th century. They are Fuentes and they are the best avocados you will ever taste. As is typical with avocados, some years we get hundreds of them and other years a handful.

Avocado trees are very sensitive to salt build up in the soil and with drought years it shows in the leaves. They get characteristic brown tips. Because we have been in a drought for a few years now the trees look especially bad this year. Leaching with water from the sprinklers helps some, but because we have hard water it is not a replacement for good old rain water. The good news is that it has been raining for the past few days and in a few weeks when the trees bloom and the new leaves emerge, most of these tired old leaves will fall to the ground to provide a thick layer of mulch and hopefully the trees will have a better year next year. (And yes, we all have beautiful skin!)