Whenever I look around nurseries and see lemon trees I am reminded that the number planted in Tasmanian gardens must be staggering.
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They are a versatile and attractive addition to any garden so their popularity should not surprise.
But do all these lemon trees survive?
Do they flourish and for how long?
Do they all produce satisfactory crops of good quality fruit and how many fail to thrive because of pests, disease or poor management?
These are some of the main problems I would like to highlight in an effort to help gardeners grow a healthy, good fruit-bearing tree that will be an asset in the garden for many years to come.
No doubt, many trees fail to thrive and survive after one or two seasons.
Sometimes it could be that they were old trees when delivered to the nursery and have suffered from transplant shock, whereas young trees have small root systems that suffer less damage while being dug up and thus establish readily.
Older trees will often have fruit on them while younger trees tend to have thinner and greener trunks and no fruit.
Growing conditions are very important as lemons ideally prefer a sunny, sheltered position in well-drained soil with a pH of around 6-7.
If you plant a lemon tree with a dry rootball, this may increase the chance of failure because a lack of moisture may result in the loss of many feeder roots.
Soak the tree in a tub of water with a little seaweed extract for about a day prior to planting.
Once planted, water in thoroughly to exclude any air pockets which can prove fatal to citrus trees.
Take care not to cover the bud union with soil because this is the part of the trunk collar rot will attack.
Newly-planted lemon trees do not need any fertiliser because it can be damaging to the young roots, however, as new shoots appear a fertiliser containing nitrogen, sold as citrus food, can be applied to thoroughly dampened soil.
Mature trees can be fed in early spring, summer and autumn with a citrus-specific fertiliser.
Some lemon trees may suffer from nitrogen, magnesium or iron deficiencies but if your tree is healthy and gets the required amount of water and fertiliser there should be no problem.
Lemon trees produce many shallow fibrous feeder roots just below the soil surface, with larger roots penetrating deeper into the ground to steady the tree as it grows as well as seeking out water and food.
Be careful not to dig around the tree.
Lemon trees carry a lot of leaves and require consistent, deep watering, once or twice a week during the hot months to make up for the moisture loss due to transpiration and to keep their fibrous roots from drying out.
A good mulch spread well away from the trunk will help to retain the moisture level in the soil.
Split fruit is usually a sign of inconsistent watering or if the tree has become stressed between waterings.
The first pruning should be to remove the top half of the foliage at planting time.
The next pruning will not be necessary for a few years then you can remove weak, diseased or crossing stems and any congested branches to open up the canopy to let the sun in and aid air circulation.
Lemon trees are not bothered by many pests except for scale insects and their sooty mould.
Scales are easily controlled by spraying with white oil but only on a cloudy day or in the evening as the leaves of citrus trees are easily burnt if full sun should fall onto a film of white oil.
The most common varieties grown are Eureka, Lisbon, Meyer and Lemonade with dwarf varieties available for containers.