Avocado Trees

How to choose an avocado variety

If you only plant one tree, Hass is the safe pick: familiar fruit, a long picking season through winter and spring, and reliable cropping on its own in most backyards. Shepard bears early, roughly February to April, with smooth green skin that stays green when ripe. Fuerte follows through autumn and early winter, Reed carries large round fruit over summer, and Bacon is the pick for colder districts. Plant an A type (Hass or Reed) with a B type (Shepard, Fuerte or Bacon) and the overlapping flowering lifts fruit set on both trees, as well as stretching your harvest across most of the year.

Where avocados grow in Australia

Commercial avocados run from far north Queensland to the Tristate region and south west Western Australia, and home gardeners can grow them anywhere in that spread. Subtropical and warm temperate gardens suit every variety here. In cooler areas, Bacon and Fuerte tolerate light frost best once established, but protect any young avocado from frost for its first two winters. The genuine deal breaker is drainage, not temperature: avocados sit shallow rooted and die quickly in waterlogged soil. On clay, plant into a mound 30cm to 40cm high and a metre wide rather than a hole.

Planting and care

Choose full sun with protection from strong wind. Water deeply once or twice a week through the first two summers, and mulch 75mm to 100mm deep to the dripline, kept clear of the trunk, because the feeder roots live in the top 15cm of soil and resent cultivation. Feed in spring and late summer with a balanced fruit tree fertiliser once the tree is actively growing. Expect first fruit in year three or four, with crops building each season after that.

Common questions

Do I need two trees to get fruit?

No. In most Australian gardens a single Hass or Shepard sets a worthwhile crop, because mild overnight temperatures let the flowers overlap enough to self pollinate. A second tree of the opposite flowering type simply means heavier crops.

Can I grow an avocado in a pot?

Only as a short term measure. These are trees of 6m or more that crop best in the ground, so a pot suits a year or two while you prepare a spot, not a permanent home.

How big will my tree get?

Unpruned, 6m to 10m depending on variety. Most home growers prune after harvest to hold their tree at 4m to 5m for easy picking, which avocados take well.

What else should I plant with it?

Avocados slot naturally into a backyard orchard. Browse the full fruit tree collection or add a citrus tree, which enjoys the same full sun, feeding and free draining soil. Everything is delivered Australia wide, with advanced and large stock freighted at cost and a 30 day healthy plant guarantee.