I hear what you're saying, Mike. I understand :-) I'm a Master Gardener. And yes, where I live is pretty much ideal for citrus and avocadoes (which is why I'm surrounded by 100's of acres of both, that haven't been mowed down by subdivisions, that is.) I live in the "land of citrus and avocado orchards". Everyone has a citrus tree in their yard out here, or 2 or 3 or 20 :-) A few will put them in a pot on their patio as a novelty, or if they live in a condo. I live just a few miles south of Fallbrook, California, where they have more avocado orchards than anywhere else in the United States. And, where avocs can grow, so can citrus, their requirements are nearly the same. And, replacing my thinner DG soil with compost isn't really necessary, as long as I do some minor amending when I plant the hole for initial root establishment, and then top dress with compost once a year. We also use mulch here for water retention, so between compost in the well, and 3 to 4" of bark mulch, that's all we need as far as organic soil components. And by limiting the hole to 1/2 amended soil or less, you will prevent the "container-syndrome" you can get, if you replace ALL the native soil with something not native (like 100% potting soil or compost). What it does is allow the soil to hold a wee bit more moisture so the roots can get established, but not so overly attractive that is causes the roots to just want to grow in the hole. It is the recommended method in my specific area of S. California, N. San Diego county for folks on DG. We have many different soil strata here, almost as many as our infamous California microclimates :-) Here's what Dave Wilson recommends for fruit tree planting, and Tom Spellman, their S. California salesman, who is highly respected in S. California, especially for citrus, says about how to plant a fruit tree, see link below. And, every citrus nursery in my area recommends 1/2 amendment to our DG soil as well. So, I feel pretty confident about our planting regime, and have had excellent results with this, living in S. California for 55 years (except the 13 years I spent in N. Indiana and Maryland). Haven't had a single tree become root-bound using this method. And, as far as coffee grounds go, the jury is still out on that. Probably won't hurt anything, but studies still have not supported the benefit of coffee grounds. Here's a good article to read about that, written by Linda Chalker-Scott, Washington State University Exension Urban Horticulturalist. Her CV is longer than my arm, so I feel pretty comfortable with her "myth busters" articles. She is fun to read, and her advice is helpful for us gardening on the West Coast: http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Coffee%20grounds.pdf Here's a peek at most of my citrus. I have most planted up on the top of this north side of my back yard. It's kind of hard to tell by the perspective, but this area holds 13 different citrus trees and 3 different fig trees. The slope now has 6 different pomagranates, as well. In the center is my Meyer Improved lemon, which despite some neglect, has survived, has significantly improved, and is now full of about 100 very ripe and gorgeous lemons: And the backyard continuing south (the abandoned orange orchard is directly behind my back fence in the far background): And a shot of the backyard just to the north of the first photo, where I have a row of around 8 to 10 producing olive trees along the top of the slope: And a closer look at the citrus up on this slope. I am getting ready to re-mulch, as you can see my very active Aussie has worn a "trail" across the top of my slope, as he "patrols" for coyotes. So, we're just going to lay down some flagstone along the path he's created, which is how we walk between the trees anyway. You can see some of my drip lines, as well as the phermone traps for our lovely CLM, which is plaguing us out here in S. California: Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: Dave Wilson Nursery: How to Plant a Tree

Hi Mike, Man I am kicking myself in the pants now. Last winter my Oro produced a bunch of grapefruits, which I knew would drop. I was left with 2 nice sized fruits, and right when they were turning from green to yellow, the dropped off. I assumed that they would not ripen more, so I peeled 1 of the fruits, and "attempted" to eat it. Attempted, because it was under ripe, bitter and sour. I will wait the next time my tree produces. My 'Star Ruby' fruits on the other hand, are turning yellow now. I did read in a book of mine that citrus farmers that live on or close to the equator end up with citrus that are green and not colored in the way we think they would. Very interesting. I remember the last 2 times I was in Florida, the oranges that I was told that were the best, were actually greenish yellow. I also had a few that were brought back from Puerto Rico, and they were also greenish orange. Hopefully I will have some 'Star Ruby' grapefruits to enjoy in a month or so. I will try to get some pics posted when there ripe. My 'Improved Meyer Lemon' tree will be at least another a few months. Maybe January or February? We will see. Andrew

Those dang space issues! My wife feels exactly the same way as your husband. It's probably a good thing for me as otherwise our rather small backyard would become a densely packed citrus grove. Ok, well maybe that's not totally true ... there'd be a few fig trees in the mix as well :). The Myers lemons are great tasting and make awesome lemon bars. Unfortunately, I've have bad luck with my first Myers in a pot, which will likely get replaced soon unless I can figure out how to revive it. It was part of my original murdering before I had a clue about watering, soil, ect. Never really recovered, but this is what brought me to the citrusforum. I've learned a lot though I always will still need to learn more. By the way, if you're ever in the market for a new tree, the gold nugget mandarin from 4 winds growers has really taken off for me. I purchased one about two months ago and planted in the ground and its nearly doubled in size!!! It has a fair number of small fruits too which I'll clip off this year and is supposedly very cold tolerant. I've had the fruit from a farmers market and it tastes great! I'm very excited about this tree. Good luck with your flushing trees! It's always fun to see them come around. Zach

Lol...you are all too funny....Trust me when I tell you, the most painful part of bringing them is when you have to cut them back..ARG...It's a lot easier to keep them tidy and bug free when you cut them back. Too, if you have too much growth on top and not enough sunlight, then they will tend to throw off leaves and branches to compensate for weak roots..Not to fear.. Think ahead of time how at what temps you will store them all, how you can take preventatives measures to avoid pests, how much light you will need to keep them happy, and which ones you know will take the least amount of sunlight to get through winter..Just helping you all think ahead of time while you all continue this citrus fever.. Most people have lots of rooms, but not every tree gets the sunniest spot in the room)