If you have a sheltered, warm spot in your garden, such as an east-facing wall or fence that gets at least five hours sun a day, consider growing a lemon tree.
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They’re not only a source of valuable fruits, but also make lovely small ornamental trees with their bright green foliage and fragrant white blossoms.
The most commonly grown, successful varieties for our region are Lisbon, Meyer and Eureka.
The Lisbon, originating in Portugal, is a tall, upright growing, small tree with vicious thorns. This variety is best suited to warmer areas and bears most of its crop in winter. The fruit has a finely textured skin and very juicy flesh.
The Meyer lemon, native to China and named after Frank Meyer who discovered it growing in the gardens there, is a tall but quite compact grower with great ornamental value due to its dark green leaves and bright orange/yellow, thin-skinned, fruit in winter.
The fruit is slightly acid and doesn’t keep very well once picked. Grows well in pots.
The most cold-tolerant is the almost-thornless Eureka with a spreading and open growth habit. An early maturing variety, the young trees can often bear fruit in their third year after planting.
Eureka produces a heavy summer crop although it can have some fruit all year round. The flesh is slightly course but it keeps well in storage if handled carefully.
Lemons are the most complicated of trees when it comes to diagnosing the cause of a problem.
An example is the case of when a lemon tree which has been growing well and bearing good crops of fruit, suddenly begins to lose vigour, gets yellow leaves and drops its fruit soon after flowering.
What is the cause?
Is the soil too wet or too dry? Has it had too much or too little fertiliser or perhaps an imbalance of nutrients?
Is it old age?
Has an oil-based spray been used too strongly or applied at the wrong time or when the temperature was too high or the soil too dry?
Is it heavily infested with scale insects or could it be collar rot, root borers or infected with a virus?
Ask any two gardeners and you’ll more than likely get three totally different answers as to the reason.
But don’t give up hope - purchase good quality trees from a nursery and take proper care of them, and most of these problems can be avoided.
A mature lemon tree can have 450-500 grams of a fertiliser, specific to citrus, each year. Apply two-thirds of this amount in late winter or early spring and the balance in late summer.
When applying fertiliser, sprinkle it around the drip line and not near the trunk and always water the trees well before and after applying it.
If you want to grow citrus trees in containers there are some excellent grafted dwarf varieties available. Potted citrus need extra fertiliser and plenty of water in spring and summer.
DIARY
May 16: The Australian Plant Society meets at the Max Fry Hall on Gorge Rd, Trevallyn, Launceston at 7.30pm. For Information on APS visit www.apstasnorth.org
May 17: The Launceston Horticultural Society meets at the Windmill Hill Hall, High Street, Launceston at 8pm. Visitors welcome.
May 18: The Launceston Orchid Society will meet at Newnham Uniting Church Hall, George Town Road, Launceston at 7pm.
June 4: North-West Lilium Society annual bulb sale at Latrobe Memorial Hall from 11am to 1pm.
Daily: The Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden, 55 Breffay Road, Romaine, Burnie is open from 9am to 5pm.