Time catches up with historic lemon tree

GREYTOWN'S iconic 100-year-old lemon tree in Main Street has died, hanging on to the bitter end as it lost its fight with borer.
It has borne the fruit that saved lives, added taste to many fish and chip meals, adorned the cottage grounds for a host of different shops and even had buildings and businesses name themselves after it.
But three months ago, after "a heroic battle" according to its latest owner, Gerry Rotman, it failed to produce any lemons or even any new shoots from the base and died of natural causes ? borer, the scourge of the lemon tree.
The tree couldn't have been in better hands in its old age. Mr Rotman is a qualified horticulturalist working in the Martinborough vineyards and formerly a parks superintendent in Carterton.
"I just love trees and it was heartbreaking to see it die on us," he said.
When buying the property 18 months ago he carefully pruned off the deadwood from the old tree and was hoping to propagate any shoots that developed this spring.
But the borer was well and truly eating into the limbs and Mr Rotman said it quietly died. He left it standing for some time but recently cleared it away. All that remains is the heritage sign proclaiming the lemons were used to calm many fevers during the 1918 flu epidemic.
The tree was so prolific that year that boxes of lemons were sent to the sick soldiers at the Featherston prisoner of war camp.
It's thought the tree was one of two seedlings bought from Lebanon in 1908 with the Bouzaid family, which has several descendants still living in Wairarapa.
Before the clothing firm Bouzaid and Ballaben came into being in Greytown, the Bouzaid family ran a large dairy/tearooms on the Main Street site where the lemon tree stood.
Former South Wairarapa mayor John Garrity remembers the homemade ice cream well. "As a lad it was the place to go. It was an upmarket place, ahead of its time."
Harry Garmonsway bought the tearooms and continued it as a milk bar as did Stewart and Daphne Guilford who ran a popular tearooms and milkbar.
Many in Wairarapa will remember the Central Dairy and then the Tui Glen vegetable shop. The premises then became a veterinary supplies for a while until Mr Rotman bought it in 2003 and major upgrading has resulted in three businesses now working from the old building. The computer services firm advertises its premises from Lemon Tree Cottage.
Margie Oakey, 85, remembers when there were two lemon trees and everyone knew the building as lemon tree cottage. She also remembers the lemons themselves. "They were lovely and not many days would go by without me having one."