I viewed the raised beds as a way to get some of the roots high enough for the plant to breathe. I didn’t think it would be the primary soil/support for the plant. That area of our yard is against a fence. The low spot pretty much encompasses our neighbors backyard. Draining it is not very feasible. I think water is just a fact that anything I grow would need to deal with pretty much. This year it was a few days of heavy rains, but we’ve had worse. It can also flood during hurricanes which would be much more water and nowhere for any of it to go. Any solution that removes water would eventually be overrun.
@fruitnut
I had used 4’x4’x4" cedar boards and a mix of soil and compost for the original beds. They did sink. I’ll use soil instead of compost this time and pack them better to keep the tree higher.
The Lapins cherry looks to have perished from this mistake. I did have a few rootstocks growing that I hoped to learn to graft on, so I’ll look to replace it with one of those. I’ll dig up what I can of that soil too.
@JesusisLordandChrist
I have a peach not far away that hasn’t had any issued. I knew cherries were sensitive. I can try and do the same with the peach I have. It seems to have really established well so far and I haven’t seen any water issues with it yet.
I’m not sure if Figs have similar issues? I have/had two paw-paw trees that never really took off, and a fig right by them. That area also gets wet and would flood when the tides get exceptionally high. I was thinking of putting other figs there in place of the paw-paws.
@Royal_Hautbois
I think draining the issue away is not a great solution here for two reasons. First I’d be draining my neighbor’s backyard to fix this (I’m sure they’d much appreciate that) and I believe the cost would be well more than it’s worth. Second even with putting in good drainage there are simply times that there is too much water. Our property is on water and when it rains too much or the tide gets too high there’s nowhere to go. If a simple raised bed isn’t good enough I’m more interested in just planting something that does work instead. The orange tree there has been doing great for years. I just wish HLB didn’t exist.