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Citrus ves you lemo Tree TLC by M i s t y J o h n s , V i ce P re s i d e n t , C o a s t a l G re e n e r y , I n c .
G
etting enough Vitamin C these
sure what espaliering is? Not to worry, we will
harvest during winter and early spring. The
days is big on everyone’s “To Do
talk about that later.
best time to prune a citrus tree is after a
List.” Planting citrus trees to give you instant access to Vitamin C
harvest but before the tree has buds growing. Pruning your citrus tree is important to
is ideal. There is nothing hard or mysterious
maintaining its health and wellbeing. Pruning
How you feed and water a citrus tree is the
about planting and maintaining citrus trees. To
involves removing dead, unhealthy, or poorly
last factor in understanding how to keep a
keep citrus trees healthy and well you
positioned foliage. The purpose for
citrus tree healthy. Citrus trees do not like
simply need to understand the
pruning is to allow for air circulation,
“wet feet. They need good soil drainage
three main considerations for a citrus tree: planting, pruning, and food.
light saturation, increase blossom and fruit quality, tree manageability,
One important
and the
where the soil is moist and not soggy. Newly planted Meyer lemon trees need to be watered deeply once a week, but older Meyer lemon trees need deeper watering every two weeks. Along with water, nutrients made
requirement
availability
especially for citrus trees are important.
for the
of growing
Citrus trees are most ravenous from the
health of
space. If you
time they bloom until they produce fruit.
a citrus tree is
have limited
Feed a young tree once every one to two
the location it is
space, you
months during the growing season and once
planted. Citrus trees
can prune
every two to three months during dormancy.
like a warm climate, so plant the tree where it will get at least five hours of sunlight a day. You also want to plan for the growth of the tree. A mature Mandarin tree can reach up to 25 feet and a Kumquat tree
and train your
Fertilizing can be achieved through the
citrus tree to
leaves or through the ground depending on
grow along a trellis and or up a wall,
the type of citrus tree.
which is otherwise known as espaliering. The time of year
You do not have to be an expert to grow
to prune is determined by
citrus trees! Considering these three
can grow up to 6 feet wide. If space
the harvest of the fruit. For
important provisions required by citrus
is limited, plant Dwarf citrus trees in
example, a Valencia orange
trees will help take the stress out of caring
large pots. Dwarf citrus trees will grow
ripens from March into October,
for your trees and will promote nutritious
to about half the size of regular citrus
but a Tangerine is ready to
and tasty fruit for years to come.
trees, but the size and taste of the fruit will not be altered. If you find that you do not have the space for the width of a citrus
COASTAL GREENERY, INC. has been providing professional landscape maintenance and management
tree, you can always espalier your tree. Not
services for commercial, industrial, county and city, historic, and residential properties in the Golden Isles since 1994. They customize each client’s landscape program to suit their property and budget requirements. Visit coastalgreenery.com or call 912.261.8171 to schedule a consultation.
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