I had MrsG's idea too, but jean's blunt posted motivated me to replace it so I did. (It's a Royal Blenheim, not an exotic variety but a good one :) Thanks for compliment on the trellis/pergola MrsG! It's made from an old redwood deck that was here when I moved in...some better pics:

Thanks -- no hijack at all. I'm interested in any background that can help me understand the context. Our soil is very well drained, almost no clay. It's volcanic sand and gravel, with plenty of windblown alkali dust. That makes it hard to imagine that it would be likely to drown with a drip system. We have drip lines around most of our other fruit trees, and they seem to be doing fine. I was stomping around under the tree today, and I did push into some soft ground that was indicative of gopher burrows. Which leads me to return to my first final question: "Is it too late?"

K good. Thanks everyone for the help. All the apricots that we are able to reach at the moment have these spots it seems to various degrees. So glad they are safe to eat. I really enjoy picking them with my kids and having them anytime I go outside.

monibucky I don't know if they make a fruit picking pole, but what I use is a swimming pool telescoping skimmer pole. I tape a milk jug to the end of it. I cut the top of the jug and make a vie cut to catch the stem. Then when the fruit is in the jug with the stem in the vie you can use the pole to pick it and the fruit falls into the jug. You can just keep on going till the jug is full or your arm gets tired. If the plastic isn't strong enough you can use a vegetable can and do the same thing. I pick all my best apples this way at the top of the tree. I hope this helps some of you out.