Avocados are not "same hole" trees like stone fruits. Think of them as the "SUV's of the garden", lol! Even more "compact" avocados are only relatively compact (as opposed to ginormous non-compact avocado varieties). They need their own space. A slope is ideal, as they don't like to sit in standing water, but DO need lots of water, even more than citrus. Backfilling a hole just creates a "bathtub" effect in clay soil. The current line of thinking with trees is NOT to amend the hole, but to top dress with compost and other soil amendments. With clay you would want to plant on a mound to help facilitate drainage. You're going to want to monitor your soil moisture about 18" down to make sure you're not creating a water logged environment. I would try to move the the Reed, but warning - avocados do not at all like their roots disturbed, so this very well may spell the demise of the Reed, as may also upset the Gem. Always leave their fallen leaves underneath as this is something the feeder roots like and actually require. Drip emitters are fine, just make sure they do give a good soaking, and the well should be dug out to at least the drip line (edge of the canopy) where the feeder roots reside, just make sure that you're not creating too wet an environment for them. Drip emitters come in varying gph outputs, so you can get a very large volume of water to a tree with drip emitters. I have two per avocado, and have actually had to dial them down a bit. And your trees are still pretty young to bear fruit, not to worry. It can take up to 5 years for an avocado to become established enough to bear fruit. I have a Lamb Haas that is full of fruit in it's second year with me, which was shocking. All my other avos are still barren. Who suggested to you to plant these two trees in the same hole, anyway? Patty S.

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies. I kept reading whatever I could find and also wrote to the gentleman who sold me the tree. It seems the neem oil is most likely the culprit. I burned the leaves with too much attention. I've thought it would be harmless to use the little bit of oil/soap I had left in the sprayer on the tree. I mix it up to battle whatever it is that is eating my lettuces. From now on I'll mix less or dump the leftover. We have an irrigation system that goes off 2x week and I normally get out and hose water many of the plants and shrubs another two or three times a week. Everything is so new.Five months ago the yard was only grass. We put in a paver patio and the lawn guy had some trouble riding his mower between the back side of the patio and the new cyclone fence we had installed in Dec.. I turned it into a rock garden with a solar fountain, firecracker plants, a bit of ginger, snow on the mountain and some MandeVino. and passion fruit vines. On either side of the patio I planted several serissa and Mexican Heather shrubs plus a Jatropha on each side. I saved a space on each back corner to plant a palm tree but haven't decided what type I want yet. We built two 10'x4' raised beds for our veggie gardens. I made one corner of the yard a large patch for corn and watermelon.I have a small fence around the perimeter to keep the dogs out. We also put in a lychee tree, mango, black mission fig,and a meyer lemon/key lime cocktail tree, in addition to the avocado. I also planted a bottle brush but it appears to be dead. The soil is actually quite good here at the new house. This whole area is sand and it looks like they've laid several layers of topsoil and sod, so the top 12' is dark and rich. When I plant, I dig huge holes and mix in some black kow compost and potting soil. The raised beds were filled with peat moss, vermiculite, topsoil, and composted manures. My next mission is to dig a 25' bed about two feet wide along the back of the house which is currently bare. I can see where the lawn man beats the stucco to death with the weed whacker, so I've decided to make it into another bed. I'm going to plant things that grow tall in there like okra, icicle radishes and sunflowers - found some sweet potatoes that I'm going to toss in there as well. All of this has been done since January. I'm currently trying to teach myself planting times and how to keep the soil rich and fertile while eliminating pests as naturally as possible. I write mini novels so thanks for hanging in here. Maybe soon I will post some before and after pics of the work we've done on the yard thus far. Like I mentioned, I'm brand new to gardening. I wanted to do this at our old house but a mile from the ocean made for very salty air and like I said, they filled in the yard with crushed cement. It was nearly impossible to dig through it and the few things that I tried to plant died immediately. I just didn't have the time, energy or money to tear it all out and start with new soil and salt resistant plants, Anyway, thanks again. I will leave the avocado tree alone and hope that it develops new growth. I'm sure I'll be around asking lots of questions. I like to learn from people who enjoy the same interests, especially when they share stories of both their failures and successes. I learn from other people's mistakes as well as my own and enjoy celebrating the success of others,. Ciao for now!

GSD's are known for a few things. A sensitive stomach, having a hard head and allergies, all sorts of them, (food, air born, you name it). They are without a doubt my favorite dog, very guarding, loyal, and basically a "one person dog". It is nothing unusual for puppies to experience what you describe. Their little systems are developing, just like that of a two legged infant. That said, pups need to be monitored carefully for at least the first 5-6 months. What might seem "normal" for a puppy, can rapidly turn into a real mess, literally and figuratively. Make sure you keep your vet informed about what is going on. Research everything that happens to your pup and what vets prescribes and says. Consider making a daily chart of the dogs habits so you can have something to refer to if you run into issues you need to deal with (you will, trust me). There are lots of people who have different opinions about what to feed their dogs. What you experienced may have been part of the problem, maybe not. Who really knows. Given that you are starting to have issues with the ears and stomach, I would just not take a chance and switch to a hypo allergic food (I think venison and potato is best). This is a top quality food you can get only by prescription. Ive used it for 17 years with great success. My old girl who was Lab/Shepard had a corn allergy, it took care of that and Im convinced helped her to live to be 14, even though she had at least three other very serious health issues. I now have two dogs on it, one because of a wheat allergy, the other a Shepard/Hound has the same thing plus a history of UTI that has been under control since September 07 (thank you Sirius God Dog). You mention poop eating and supervision. Your pup should have every second supervision, with a leash when not crated, until she has: Teething and chewing under control, and is house trained, with no accidents for 9 months (aside from illness). Without having these very basic behavior issues under control, she is just not ready for unsupervised freedom. Good luck! SG

Avo trees tend to produce every other year. With the off year giving way less. dont give up. Although at 70 it might be on its last legs.