Leaf residue can carry potential disease pathogens from one season to the next.
The best short term solution to solve it is to apply Soil Primer to have the residue be rapidly digested and broken down.
The midterm solution is to cover the naked soil and provide the existing biology a food source so they can thrive and accomplish the job on their own. Stop the continuous herbicide applications.
This picture was taken in the dormant season, but I don’t need to see these trees during the growing season to know they are immune-compromised, susceptible to insects, susceptible to diseases, and biennial bearing. I can know this to be the case because it obvious this soil is not capable of delivering the nutrition the crop needs to be healthy and high yielding.
