Mounding:
Do not mound the soil around tree(s), which is like growing your tree in a raised bed. While this may be fine for vegetables and certain other row crops it is not good for lychee tree(s): The root systems of air layered lychee trees are typically shallow and spreading, not much deeper that the height of the planting mound.
More tips on fruit trees
Mounding decreases the area through which lychee roots can grow and spread, it increases the exposed soil surface area that is subject to water loss and it exposes a cross section of the root zone to direct invasion by pathogens, such as fungi, nematodes and root damaging weevil.
Fertilizer:
Use organic fertilizers that contain compost extracts, seaweed or kelp. Avoid using artificial fertilizers (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) that will kill many of the essential organisms in the soil ecosystem of your lychee tree. NPK fertilizers, if misapplied (which is very easy) can burn your lychee tree(s) roots and cause soil particle aggregation, which, over time, negatively affects water drainage and impedes the microenvironments where essential soil food web organisms thrive. Fertilizer by products such as nitrates, sulfates and phosphates cause ground water contamination and regional environmental degradation and should not be used if there are alternatives.
My fascination with fruit trees and what I learn along the way.
