Fruit/citrus that could handle wet feet and high heat.

I have a spot in my yard where I would like to have a fruit or citrus tree and I have killed a peach, asian pear, and an apple in that location due to the soil not drying out. The problem I think is not the summer wet feet but the winter wet feet. I've pulled the trees out and dug down and the soil stinks from the organic matter rotting and not getting any oxygen. I've tried to dig down deep enough to hit a sand layer but all I found were a couple of rickshaws and no sand. The spot is located on the west side of the house near a window that gets high reflected blast furnace heat and low humidity and the occasional freeze in the winter time.

I was thinking about a fig tree for this location but wasnt sure if they can handle having wet feet. We also have the problem of Texas Root Rot here in Tucson too.
Anybody have any recommendations?
Thanks,
Ray

Fig trees like water but can become very large. I have a Latarulla and a Petite Nigra near my patio door that have grown far more than the nursery predicted. The shade, though, is wonderful.

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html

Have you considered growing a tree in a large container set on stones?

Yuska

The more shade the better. This spot gets really hot in summer and I need something that will get large enough to shade me and my beer while I'm at my BBQ thats about 7' away from this spot.

I've never had much luck with growing trees/plants in containers and I'd like to be able to plunk something in the ground in this spot. Like a fig. Or... I have been tossing around an idea of placing a low sitting wall near the BBQ at the edge of the concrete around the BBQ and I could add in a raised planter at this spot. I need to discuss this option with my back because its not forgiven me for building the BBQ yet.
Ray

I've also thought about placing a quince in that location because of the flowers in spring but I'm not sure I want to hassle with cooking the fruit in order to being able to eat it.

I think you are out of luck on a fruit tree and most plants for that matter. The smell comes from anaerobic bacteria in the soil due to lack of oxygen. Without oxygen around the roots, plants will die. Under those conditions not much will grow. Have you considered putting in a French drain? If that is not possible or cost more that you care to spend, think about starting a bog or rain garden.

In the third link, scroll down to Plant Right with Lynda Hallinan
http://www.duluthstreams.org/citizen/wet_garden.html
http://www.backyardgardener.com/tree/indexlist11.html
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/410940/525840

If this mess is close to the house, really really consider a French drain or some way to drain the water away from the house before rot or more costly home problems crop up.

Thanks. I'm very aware of what anaerobic bacteria do and smell like. I'm a project manager for building sewage treatment facilities and the processess involved with aerobic and anaerobic digestion. Smells wonderful. LOL

The french drain would be to costly and the water near the house drains into this spot and away from the house so the foundation is fine and I'm well aware of the problem of getting water to close to foundation. I've had to repair more than one building due to that problem.

You mentioned looking for sand and hoping for sand. Have you considered adding --- sand? :)

I'd add and and shredded pine bark and any other stuff to loosen things up.

I think Feldon is on the right track - try tilling in a bunch of sand and then putting a big dump of compost or topsoil over that to raise the area by as much as a foot. The low roots may die but the higher roots will keep the tree alive.

Scott

Rayman:
I threw a Brown Turkey Fig straight into unamended AZ soil and it's easily over 30' now.

Ask someone in FL to send you a mangrove seed (oops, you wanted fruit didn't you). Actually, the fig idea is best. Put enough dirt to raise above the soggy place and hold a small fig tree ON TOP. Then put enough decent soil (not sand) around the little tree to go above the roots by at least an inch. Figs love water but nothing (except mangroves) want their roots underwater. Figs have shallow spreading roots so you may need a 3' or larger dia. circle. You will have to water a fig tree.

If you just want a non-fruit tree there are many trees that grow in swamps. A wax myrtle is evergreen and would work well for shade. Takes pruning well, likes water and won't get to big. Even it does get a little big just prune it back. Nyssa aquatica if you want to go full on swamp tree.

Edit for link.
http://www.floridata.com/ref/M/myrica.cfm

This message was edited Jun 18, 2008 10:41 PM

LOL Thanks folks for all the ideas. I'm laughing at the idea of planting a swamp tree in my little 4'x4' Tucson swamp. A swamp in Tucson? I wish.
Looks like I may have solved the problem by digging a trench across part of the yard and backfilling with sand to help drain the water away from this area.
If the rest of my plants find this trench I'm sure they are going to love the extra water.
Especially on a day like today.
3pm weather data in Tucson has the temp at 105 degrees and the humidity at 4%. Its like living in a convection oven.

I have some ocean front property close to you that I will sale you for about a million dollars that should work fine for every kind of fruit tree, but if you do not want to buy that, fig sould most durable to me, after raising it up a bit maybe like someone said. Take care, Mike

I'm still wondering how you possible have a swampy part in your yard without being directly over a septic tank. LOL. In fact from what I remember of AZ I wonder how you can even have soil that holds water for very long??

The wife has directed the dog and me to use the other side of the yard from now on. We will see if that works. LOL

A couple years back I was doing a rehab job on a runway at a little airport west of Tucson and we had to excavate down to see why the pavement was always failing at that end.
We were doing this work right before monsoon season here which means it hadnt rained for probably a good two months and when the contractor dug down I got a call letting me know water was seeping into the hole. I thought he was joking so I took a trip out there to see for myself. Sure enough, about 2' below the surface, water was seeping out on top of a layer of clay.