Poorly Planted Avocado Tree

I'm rather embarrassed to post this, but the life and health of my baby avocado tree is more important than my face, so here goes...

I purchased a young grafted dwarf avocado tree online (Little Cado variety). It arrived relatively healthy, about 18" tall. I don't know the first thing about avocado trees, but I did purchase some bags of soil amendment specifically for citrus/avocado and asked my gardener to plant it while he was installing a drip irrigation in the same area.

He planted the tree and ran a proper tree drip irrigation to it. The soil where the tree is planted is a very fine, loose and well-draining soil. However it has no nutrient-rich compost in it. It's just more like plain dirt that feels and digs nicely, but doesn't contain anything wonderful. And although I had set aside the bags of soil amendment for him to work into the area before he put the tree in... HE FORGOT! He just plopped the tree in, and ran the drip to it. I didn't realize this until he had already left. By then, I was too nervous to dig it up, replant it, and disturb the already stressed little tree.

Maybe the soil nutrient isn't such a big deal at such a young age? I haven't fertilized it, I thought I would wait until Spring. We're in Southern California, and with very basic care, avocados grow here pretty easily. However I'm wondering if there is something I can do to amend the soil NOW, post-planting, without disturbing the tree too much which is just barely waking up to its new surroundings.

Btw, I do have it shaded (it's still quite warm here). And it is protected from wind. My only concern is the soil conditions it is trying to establish roots in.

Life happens, but luckily it has a way of righting itself.

I would not worry too much about not having the amendments mixed in, but I would recommend getting some compost that can be placed on the surface and worked in gently. Water will help bring nutrients into the root zone and encourage growth in my experience.

Have you mulched the tree with anything?

I have not mulched yet. Given that I didn't know how to tackle this soil issue, I didn't want to mulch until I had worked that out first.

Thanks, good advice! I'll work some compost in the top and water it in well

From your description of the soil your tree was planted in, I suspect it will be fine. As Timothy suggested a top dressing of compost and a thick mulch of organic material (such as wood chips) and occasional deep watering should settle it in well.

If your soil had been badly compacted or solid clay the tree might need a bit more hep, but I suspect all it needs is a little drink of water to help it recover from the move.

Do you know whether it was pot bound at all? If the gardener didn't add the soil amendment, I would be concerned that they didn't tease the roots out into the planting hole either. I must admit I might be inclined to dig it up just to check (and amend the soil at the same time), but you presumably know your gardener, and how kind to plants they are.

It definitely was not root bound. It arrived with its "feet" tightly wrapped in plastic and moistened sufficiently for transport. When I recieved it, I immediately repotted it into a temporary container with good quality potting mix. The root system appeared healthy at the time, and I didn't add any amendments only because I knew it was going into the ground within a few days.

We do have clay soil, but the area the tree was planted is pretty loose and fine. Definitely not compacted at all. It has the feel of very finished compost, it's a little dusty and smells earthy. It's not nutritious, but it's not terrible. I can easily dig in it and it does drain well. I'll definitely do as suggested, work some compost into the top and mulch over.

Thank you all so much for the excellent advice! xo

I once planted a fig tree in a forgotten corner of my yard. We had a terrible winter frost, lots of things fell over, the tree got buried with some rubble. When I went to clean up the area in the spring, I discovered a very healthy happy little fig tree I'd completely forgotten about, buried beneath piles and mounds of branches and leaves. It turned out to be one of the healthiest trees I'd ever grown. Nature is sometimes more resilient than we give it credit for