How you can grow a citrus tree anywhere 🍋 | Citrus | Gardening Australia

His neighbour recently trimmed back a tree, opening up a previously shaded area to full sunshine. These conditions are perfect for planting citrus, which require heaps of sun. To fit them in along his driveway, Josh will trellis the trees flat against the wall, as he has done with other fruiting trees there already, as they won’t have the space to grow outward.

Josh is planting a Tahitian lime, which has quite large, pale green fruit and is a generous cropper, and a Valencia orange. The Valencia ripens quite late but lasts well on the tree. In a cooler climate you will have more success with Navel varieties, which require a shorter season to ripen.

Before planting, Josh assesses the shape of each tree to find the best position and direction to place them in. He faces the growing branches of the trees away from the wall, with the aim of directing the growth outward along the walls in the future. Additionally, the ‘Tahitian’ lime requires a prune to cut back some of the extra branches and remove any crossing over.

Citrus have shallow, spreading roots so he prepares the hole around 3 times the width of the root ball, so there is plenty of room to backfill with improved soil. Citrus are heavy feeders and need good drainage and fertile soil. Preparing the soil will ensure you will reap rewards from your new tree. Perth’s sandy soils are great for drainage but need a lot of nutrient amendments. Josh adds plenty of compost, which will hold onto moisture nicely, and pelletised chicken manure.

Water the tree in well and cover the soil with a layer of mulch, to retain the moisture. Keep up watering your new tree and you will have plenty of citrus to enjoy in the future in no time.

Featured trees:
ORANGE ‘VALENCIA’ - Citrus cv.
LIME ‘TAHITIAN’ - Citrus cv.

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[lindagardener]

Ohhhh, I thought he was going to talk about growing lemons in a cool climate too 🙃

[alanshrimpton]

Keep the mulch from the trunk. Try telling Mr Blackie stop scattering it about 😀

[Iaminternetty]

I loved your Josh’s House series! Can we get an update on the home?