fruit trees on septic drainage line?

 Hello Gardeners,

Could the combined expertise of the group help me?  Due to strong
winds, we lost two large trees growing along our septic seepage line.
The trees were native eucalypts and both fell because their trunks
were filled with a punky fungus (turned the wood to sponge).  We think
that this is probably related to the constant moisture and nutrients
from the septic, so won't be planting natives there again.  We reckon
that fruit trees would be better able to cope with the conditions,
given that a peach tree and a lemon tree are both thriving and have no
sign of rot.

There is room for two fruit trees.
We are near Campbelltown, NSW (southwestern Sydney); the aspect is
north-west and is fairly exposed.
We never get it together enough to properly control for fruit flies,
so we are planning on avoiding things like pome fruit (apples, pears,
quince, nectarines, peaches, apricots, etc).  Likewise, planting
feijoas and quavas would be foolish.  We have enough citrus for the
moment (lemon, two limes and two mandarins), so won't be planting any
more citrus (much to the disgust of the local swamp wallaby).

Any ideas?  Particuarly, anything that is resistant to fruit fly and
which won't poison native wildlife/birds.

Thanks!
Tish

 Tish wrote:

You aren't exactly making it easy for us. No soft fruit, apples,
pears, quinces or citrus. Figs are fruit fly magnets, and besides
their roots can be invasive. You are considering avocados
obviously. Passionfruit would probably do well, although it isn't
actually a tree...

 On 16 Oct 2006 00:29:00 -0700, brucef@eudoramail.com wrote:


I know ... difficult thing to figure out.
So far I'm thinking of non-astringent persimmons and shah-toot
mulberries, but was hoping / wondering if someone out there in usenet
land might know of other options. I've read Glowinski from cover to
cover and found the fruit fly thing the most depressing aspect of the
whole search.

Tish

 

I think you are being a bit OTT there.  Plenty of natives might love those
conditions, even if those particular gum trees don't (and they might just have
been old rather than unhappy with the conditions).  Paperbarks leap to mind,
and bottlebrushes, or rainforest species.  Pop over to Mount Annan and have a
chat with the staff.

If you are really keen on fruit, why not blueberries?  There are some species
that grow to a couple of metres, though it's a bush rather than a tree.  
Perhaps there are other berries that would suit.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

 Thanks very much for your help, y'all.  We'll be planting a mixture of
a couple of smaller fruit trees and "habitat" trees for the local
wildlife.  We'll pick a couple of smaller non-local natives that can
cope with the relatively nutrient-rich, moist soil - possibly
something like Melaleuca squarrosa (one of my favourite bee-attracting
plants that doesn't get too big). As for fruit trees - current
favourites are the non-astringent persimmon, avocado (if I can
establish that it won't harm the local gang-gangs, yellow-tailed black
cockies and king parrots), or the mulberry (as long as it refrains
from invading the septic system!).

Thanks again,
Tish