Question
Hi Kenneth,
I'm very new to gardening. The soil around my property is rocky, the "top soil", which is approx. to the depth of a spade blade, this seems clayish,(so I've been told). When dry the water forms little globs on top of the soil and just runs away from the stem of the plants.
I've fruit trees, like lemons & oranges, but they have'nt grown more than 1'-2' above the ground, bore no fruit over a period of 5yrs.
The Mulberry tree shoots plenty of small branches and looks untrimmed and over grown, but no fruit. It's proberly over 18yrs. old. I too have numberious non-fruit trees & shrubs.
The area where these plants & trees are is approx. 10 - 12sq.feet. There is also a lawn in this area.
Have I too many plants? What should I do? Which plants must go? What must I do to my soil? How can I improve my soil?
So many questions! Hopefully, you will be able to improve the "life" and growth of my plants, especially the fruit trees.
If you require more information, please, don't hesitate to contact me.
Thanks, Lin

Answer
The lawn/garden area sounds incredibly small for one which has several fruit trees growing. 10-12 sq feet is an area of 2x5 foot, 3x4 feet, or similar. Are you use of that size ? (e.g. a two foot wide by 5 foot long area ??) this sounds really small. You you mean 10 x 12 feet (120 sq feet)??

The trees may not grow well in the clay soil and to get them to bare fruit you probably need to fertilize regularily, given planty of sun. If they are crowded so they are shading each other, or touching each other, I would remove them. I would keep one tree in a yard this size (if the size is indeed correct). No more.

Best way to improve the soil is to dig it out to a dept of 1 foot and mix with plenty of compost. If you can not get compost free, check a landscaper or your county recycling center. Finally, you can buy them in one cubic foot bags at garden centers/home improvement centers.

Use a 2-3" layer of compost over the clay, and mix the clay/compost together to a dept of 8-12". The compost will loosen the soil, improve water penetration and allow roots to grow deep. Adding compost to your yard is the best single ting you can do.

Also, after you plant your garden bed, mulch on top of the soil by spreading a 2-3" layer of shredded hardwood mulch, ceader mulch, straw, etc. This mulch help conserve moisture and keep the soil underneath loose and nice. Mulching is very important.

Fertilizing comes much later.

Kenneth