Coral tree question

I live in Malibu and we have a beautiful huge Coral tree.  My husband is worried about it in the drought but I understand it is drought resistant ? should we worry and water it once a week or just sit tight?

Also I planted mature trees about four months ago.  The fig trees are doing great ? the avocados not as good, but three look like they are in a death spiral ? apple, persimmons and peach.  How can I tell they are dead or should be removed ? none have leaves but branches do not break off.

Thanks Andy!  Susan

Hi
Thanks for the email.
Heres my best answer.

To answer your question re the Coral Tree

Yes they are drought resistant under normal conditions. That would be that usually during a drought the trees and those with especially deep roots tap into the underground water that lies deep below the surface. This is under normal conditions but todays conditions are any thing but normal since us humans are pumping out ground water with very little coming in to replace it. The result is that any ground water left is very very deep and very very hard to get at by anything.

See?

If you have not been deep watering this tree and have so far relied on what watering at top soil level it has been getting say from your nearby lawn or other plants that you are watering, then you are setting yourself up for a condition known as hard pan.

I have discussed this before and what you should do about it.
I am sure if you went online to the SurfsideNews.com website that you should be able to pull up the article. However if you cannot then here is where my article is located at http://invisiblegardener.me/2014/02/03/406/

Basically what happens is that here in Malibu and most of Southern California, we have clay soil and what happens when you water clay then bake it? You get the picture. If the soil gets hot enough then it will become hard and will not let water down from above into the roots nor will it let air nor any nutrients and the tree will die.

What I see happening here and with almost everyone everywhere is that folks are watering almost daily and for only a short period of time like 10 minutes. While it is great for those surface roots at top near the soil surface, it does nothing to get water down deep enough to at least stop the soil from baking and prevent hard pan while providing enough moisture to keep the trees deeper roots system alive during this period.

Coral trees have very deep roots and usually they tap into ?underground rivers?. Malibu has many of these underground rivers and it fortunate enough to have lots of underground water however with the ocean?s raising sea levels, along with the underground water levels falling thru our use, the sea water is intruding more and more into this water supply making it eventually unusable by any tree. So it depends on how far in you live and if your water level is still high enough as for how long it will be before salt water gets to it.

I would start deep watering it with a drip system. Provide 1 hour at least at 2 gallon per hour drip, once a week. Place at least 5 to 10 drip heads per tree.

Your Fruit trees need help I would say.

Andy Lopez
Invisible Gardener
Any questions? Email me andy@invisiblegardener.com