As you all know, JD and I got the keys to the new property this week.  Between meeting with contractors and starting to prune the overgrown mess that is there, we had the opportunity to speak with the previous owner who happens to work as a landscape designer in her husband's Nursery.  I asked her about the soil and she assured me that it is decomposed granite.  Period!  High Alkaline!  It's loose and can send you down the hill on a joy ride if you slip on it!!

I know some fruits and trees need soil amendments, but she told me the existing citrus, apples, plums, apricots, peaches, persimmons all do well.  She was excited about the vineyard, and assured me, it will do well too.  Wine grape vines love bad soil.  Like the coffee bean!  The best beans come from poor soil where the vine struggles to live.

There is irrigation throughout all 1.4 acres, so that's the good news!  Bad news is we will have to spend a fortune on gopher baskets to protect newly planted trees from the continuous root pruning that happens by the gophers throughout all 1.4 acres!!

Anyone know where I can get a deal on huge gopher baskets?  We'll need at least a hundred!

If you have experience with decomposed granite and any fruits, I'd love to hear that too!

Suzi

http://gopherbasket.com/wirebaskets.html
http://gopherbasket.com/

OK so that was a sweet retired couple with a cute video!  I did check the links and you can get (24) 15 gallon for $139.44.  I expect we will need 4-8 times that many for the figs, grapevines, olives, etc....  BUT, better than losing a tree to gophers!!

I see your wish list Tony!  How about finding someone close in a rural area with land, and ask for a mutual agreement.  You plant trees, and he shares figs!  I'd do it, but you are too far away :-(

Suzi
Go NINERS!

Thanks for the offer Suzi.
But I do have some land around here its valley stream state park and its HUGE with lots of trails going to the highways and behind houses etc you could get lost in there im going to plant some stuff in there I just dont know about the sun ? getting to them I have to scope it out during the summer I also have a bird watch/refuge its basically a sump I dont know if you know what that is but its very common on long island its basically where all the rain water drains to if it gets really heavy but I think they don't use this one any more and they made a place for people to go and just relax they have chairs and benches and tables etc they take donations so I think in going to go there and plant some as well but I would love to have them all at my finger tips.

One word....Rodenator....look up on the net.  There is a video of it in action.  Get rid of the gophers quickly.  JD will have a blast...(pun intended).

Alan1631, well aware of the rodenator.  There are huge issues with it.  What if you blow up your neighbors house?   This is not good.  I think Rafed will come up with something...

Hello.  Are you saying legally i can't plant a fig tree?

I could have fun with one of those HungryJack, hey honey look at those flowers over there they are blooming as she walks closer "Click "

I re-read, and missunderstood.  Your comments were for Tonysac.  I always heard the best coffee beans come from high in the rocky mountains where they struggle.  If that's wrong about beans, I just learned something!  Our best vineyard grapes, love poor soil.  They put the energy into the fruit to reproduce themselves.  Witholding water as the fruit develops is a way to get sweeter fruit and that makes better wine.

We plan to have a huge compost pile for ammending soil.  There is a drip system there, and the previous owner said her water bill (nursery/landscaper) was average $70.00 per month, so we could live with double that.

The rodenator videos are always shown on flat land with no rocks. 



There is a company that has one in the area, and their minimum fee is $450, but they have to come out and check the land first.  There are so many rocks on our hill (visualize rocks raining down everywhere), the potential legal issues would probably outweigh any benefit to ridding the land of gophers and they would tunnel right back from the neighbor's property, so I think baskets might be the only answer.
Suzi

A Hungryjack I hear ya but for 13k in taxes and being in a incorporated village no street parking at night no putting 6ft fence in my own yard they can go scratch im gonna plant stuff all over the neighborhood and I wont say you didn't warn me :) but I will be careful where I pant them I might even plant them on the side of some of the parkways so I can see them while driving.

Suzi you are right about poor soil gives the best wines here is some videos to enjoy. Look the soil on video 3 just rocks not much soil.

I enjoyed the videos Eden!  I'm pretty sure figs like poor soil too because in the Mediterranean, they grow between cracks in rocks and buildings.  They do have invasive root systems, and could probably lift a rock if they got big enough!!  Grapes also have serious roots, and will go really deep searching for water. 

Thanks for the videos!
Suzi