It feels like a rainforest under there, where these trees have been growing for over a century. In the early 1900s, Huntington, the railroad magnate, had these trees grown from seed and grafted by the hundreds in what became known as the first commercial avocado orchard in California. Some survived the “Great Freeze” of 1913. A handful have survived human and disease and pest threats to remain standing today near what is now the parking area of “The Huntington” in San Marino, near Pasadena.
I wanted to see what the oldest avocado trees in California looked like, felt like.
The trees had a few fruit up high, really high, easily fifty feet up. The trunks were burled and black and some were near six feet in diameter. Their weeping, wandering branches often came down to touch the leaf litter on the floor of the orchard only to rise up again.
And the old beauties still flower with full force.
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Please help i want to now how old is my avo tree on my farm in south africa
Hi Jan,
Can you measure the circumference of the trunk? I’ll do my best to estimate its age, but I’m not aware of a way to do so with precision.
You might also research the history of your farm for helpful information. Even try searching at avocadosource.com
Do you know if it’s a grafted variety or a seedling?
Hello,
I grew up in Whittier where many of the homes had old trees on the property. We always had a hooked picker hanging from a branch, ready for when we wanted avocados. Everyone had them on their trees. I have looked everywhere for this kind of picker. It did not have a basket, but was easy to get in between the branches to get the avocados. I do not want the pickers with the orange basket. Do you have any idea where this ‘vintage’ picker can be purchased
Hi Lydia,
I love the old trees throughout Whittier. A college friend grew up there with a giant Fuerte shading her house.
I don’t actually know the hooked picker you’re referring to, unfortunately. Did it yank the fruit off, or did it have an edge or scissors to sever the stem?
Maybe one of the newer avocado pickers can be used to get the style of tool you want. (The baskets are bulky and irritate me too.) Have a look at this one that doesn’t use a rope: https://www.loboproductsinc.com/product/fruit-picker-head-bag-mex-avocado-picker/
And have a look at this one that uses a rope: https://www.loboproductsinc.com/product/fruit-picker-head/
They come with bags to catch the avocados, but you could always cut those off if you wanted.
My bacon avocado tree is 40 feet tall and I can’t harvest most of the fruit without climbing. Can I top it and bring it down 15 feet or so? I thought I did 2 years ago but it’s still to tall. Problem I have is all the animals that rely on it for food, Skunks, Possum, Cats Racoons.. etc. and my dog has been skunked 4 times.
I’m guessing 70 years old like the house,
Hi Steve,
Yes, you can bring such a tree down to 15 feet, or even lower. This past March I brought a tall seedling avocado tree in my mom’s yard down to about 10 feet from about 30 feet. About five years prior, I’d brought the tree down to about 15 feet from 30 feet.
See some more about pruning avocados in these posts:
https://gregalder.com/yardposts/pruning-avocado-trees/
https://gregalder.com/yardposts/pruning-avocado-trees-to-keep-them-small/
I’m curious what variety of trees these are. I’d love to check them out sometime.
Hi Matt,
I am too. Those trees I photographed above don’t have labels and the fruit was all so high that I couldn’t identify any. I’m hoping to visit again soon and I’ll try to find someone who knows.
Hi Greg,
You could try using a binoculars. That is what I do.
Why didn’t I think of that? Thanks for the idea, Soon.
Greg,
Thanks for this awesome article. I live on El Mirador Drive in Pasadena, home of the famous El Mirador grove planted around 1920. My 3 trees are about 15 – 30 feet tall, but my neighbor has a 40 foot tree which still produces hundreds of massive fuertes every year. Our trees haven’t been properly maintained and I brought them back during Covid after much water, fertilizing, and using a home made air spader to loosen the compacted soil (it worked like a charm). Your articles are so valuable. Do you have have any recommended reading other than Avocado Production by Gary Bender?
Thanks,
Peter
Wow, Peter. You live on such a historic piece of avocado land. Good to hear that you value your trees and that the trees are improving.
Other recommended avocado reading includes:
Frank Koch’s “Avocado Growers Handbook”: http://www.avocadosource.com/books/Koch.1983.book.pdf
California Avocado Society Yearbooks: https://www.avocadosource.com/CAS_Yearbooks/CAS_Yearbooks.htm
Ben Faber’s avocado blog posts at Topics in Subtropics: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Topics/
Hello, Greg–
Thank you for your research.
Do you know if there was an avocado grove planted in the early 1900’s south of Huntington Drive, between Del Mar Av. and San Gabriel Bl.?
There are a couple trees in that neighborhood of “venerable age.” They certainly pre-date the building of the houses there in the 1940s. We think they are Fuerte.
What might your educated guess be about the history of those trees?
Hi Claire,
That’s possible. There were many avocado groves in the area back then, and I read that Huntington’s property was originally three times as large as it is today.
I’ve been planning a Pasadena and Altadena trip for a while. Hope to do it next month, and I can try to visit those trees. Report back to you.