Well, I suspect that your tree has managed to survive because you're in Arizona, and dry enough that the trunk has not developed rot. Yes, it is a big deal having a tree hit constantly by sprinklers. They simply do not like to have their trunks constantly wet, as it can cause rot (Phytothphora) to set in. So, re-routing your sprinklers is a good idea. If you're phasing out the grass, then that shouldn't be so much an issue I would think. For you in your area and weather, I would suggest an organic mulch (compost and bark mulch) to help retain water, and to add organic materials back into your soil. Photos would help us a lot to get idea of what you're talking about, and what you're trying to do :-)

Patty S.

Thanks Patty. I will post some pics this weekend.

I forgot that I already had some pics:
The yard (it's about 70 feet across, and the orange tree is in the southwest corner). The green dots are where the new trees are:
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Along rear (north) wall.
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Could you water once a week. My brother used to do that. He lived west of phoenix in downtown metropolitan Waddell just beneath the white tank mountains. That was all he needed for his grass and sycamore tree. This would allow your tree to dry. My question is would white paint do the job That I don't know.

Beautiful lay out.

ehits, you've made this super easy for yourself (very, very nicely planted, btw, I should save your photos for newbies to in-ground citrus planting). Here's what I would suggest to you: Strip out your bermuda from your cinder block wall out to the edge of the water wells. Move your lawn sprinkler system to the new edge of the lawn, and just make sure they only water the lawn, and don't circle behind themselves, and hit your trees. Put each tree on two mico-sprinklers, set each one at the trunk 180 degrees apart from each other, pointing outward, to spray out towards the edge of your wells. Run your trees on a separate station, so you can time the watering to suit the trees (and not the lawn).
You could even run a bender board or some sort of border between the grass and the strip of planting area to keep the grass from migrating back into this little bed. Mulch under the trees out to the cinder block wall by laying down weed cloth, then some nice bark mulch. If you see what your neighbor has done directly behind you, this is what I'm talking about. Honestly, if your trees are on dwarfing or semi-dwarfing rootstock, you could stagger an additional tree between the ones you currently have planted, just a new row a little closer to the cinder block wall, and have a very lovely citrus screen along that back wall.

Patty S.

ehits I think Patty haws a great idea

How about getting rid of most of the grass ,and planting more citrus and dwarf avocados. Perhaps a papaya or pitaya . I know if I lived in your place there would be no grass. I tell people.
If you really know grass---You'll have no grass.

Steve

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say there is enough room for an avocado, and "dwarf" is a relative term with regard to avocados :-) But certainly an additional citrus between and slightly behind each of your citrus tree would fit. Papayas would probably not survive the winters there, they struggle in my area, 6 miles from the ocean (I've killed two so far). Pitaya would grow, Sapote, certain more cold tolerant mangos, guavas, pineapple guavas all would work and fit.

Patty S.

Nice looking trees. In AZ I would surely paint the trunks to protect them from sunburn until the canopy is large enough to shade them. Cheapest white latex paint; thin 1 to 1 with water and paint them every Spring.

Thanks for the compliments! These are my first plantings! Greenfield Nursery offers great tips and instruction sheets and they walk you through it before you leave. Also, the orange tree is dwarf (must be?), grapefruit is semi-dwarf (2nd one from the east) and the other 2 are full size. That bush thing is my perennial ficus tree :-). It dies about ever winter but sometimes it lasts two. It will come out, and nearby will be an Anna or golden Dorsett apple tree...or the mangoes suggested sound fun...I thought avocados were a huge pain??

Steve, I can't get away with once a week watering if I want the grass to be thick and healthy. It needs one inch every 3 days in the summer. My dogs, wife and I all love the grass and it really lowers the night time temps in the backyard so I plan to keep it. I think Waddell is a county town with flood irrigation so that might be why your brother's worked out so well.

Patty, feel free to use those pics! I thought about rocks instead of mulch but I dont like how much they heat the soil (and it makes cleaning up after dogs a pain) I will look more into the mulch and its maintenance/replacement. I am still concerned about the growing wells as years pass...I may set up my sprinklers so they will miss the trees, but they will likely have some decent overspray into the wells at some point...do you think this will matter? I am excited to look into those more exotic fruits...I thought it would get too cold or dry for them. We also plan to put some raised beds in the negative spaces or maybe some hibiscus bushes...

Johnmerr, thanks for that advice. for the next couple years, the trees will have cardboard around the trunks (hard to see in the pics). The nursery told me not to paint them for at least a couple years (not sure why).

Any more advice on irrigating around the orange tree in the SW corner? I would like to keep some grass in that area too.

Thank you,

eric

I agree, Eric, NO rocks - too hot in your area. Bark mulch will do several things for you - moderate soils temps summer and winter, it will naturally break down and provide more organic matter for your trees, and for us in the West, with our thinner soils, that's a plus (just know you may need more N in your fertilizer, since it will cause more utilization of N as the brown matter breaks down), Avocados aren't really a pain, but if your temps are such that you could have some serious cold dips, then you may have survival issues. Avocados, even "dwarf" or compact varieties can get big. You could consider 'Holiday' and 'Reed', though, with some pruning. I would re-do the sprinklers so that you have 180 and 90 heads at the edge of the bed, facing away from your trees. You are fortunate that you have low relative humidity, and any overspray currently will probably dry fast enough to prevent foot rot, but still, I wouldn't risk it. Micro-sprinklers in the wells, and lawn sprinklers pointed away from the trees set up on different auto sprinkler stations are your best set up. You've made a nice little investment in your citrus trees, so taking that small extra step in setting up the watering will really pay off for you in the long run. Yes, mulch is very easy to keep clean if you have dogs, too. If you have a rare fruit growers chapter in your area, check with them to see what other exotics will survive in your area. Definitely PIneapple Guava should do fine, plus they are very, very pretty bushes with beautiful flowers. Regular guavas also should survive your area. And of course, more citrus.