Kem Ormond’s garden: Citrus tree care – how to grow lemons and limes in your backyard

Kem Ormond says a house is not a home without a lemon tree. Photo / Pexels, Marian Florinel Condruz

Kem Ormond is a features writer for The Country. She’s also a keen gardener. This week, she’s preparing for a good citrus crop to harvest.

I am so pleased to report I have limes on my rather new lime tree, so I will no longer have to beg the lovely neighbour down the road for any.

I have this saying I always tend to use, “A house is not a home without a lemon tree”, and I passionately believe that.

No matter what house I have lived in over my life, I always made sure it had a lemon tree; otherwise, I purchased one, even if it had to grow in a pot.

I have a wonderful lemon tree in my present home that explodes with fruit.

I also have a newly planted lime tree, a kaffir lime for my Asian dishes, a mandarin, and an early and late fruiting orange.

While I don’t have a grapefruit tree, I do have a friend with one, so I do a bit of food trading for any grapefruit I may need.

Once citrus finds a spot they are happy with, then they thrive.

Climate and location

Lemon, grapefruit and limes are particularly productive in a wide range of regions, especially if grown in full sun.

Oranges and mandarins sometimes need a favourable microclimate to produce well, so a nice, sheltered corner is more to their liking.

You need to think about where you are going to plant your citrus and its eventual size.

After about 15 years, it can be 5m for a grapefruit, down to 2-3m for a mandarin on a dwarf rootstock.

If they are grown in a large pot, they will be less vigorous.

Soil and planting

Citrus trees will only survive light frosts, so they aren’t suited to all temperate zones.

However, there are options for growing them in frost-prone areas, such as under eaves, or in pots that can be moved under cover for winter.

When I plant a new citrus in a slightly frost-prone area, I will build a cover with four battens and frost cloth just until it reaches a good height.

If you are planting a general lime tree, remember it has thorns, so plant it somewhere where you won’t bump into it or scratch yourself squeezing past it.

If you are planting a finger lime, you will need a suit of armour to harvest any fruit from them. Oh, but if you do, what a delight.

Citrus trees have a shallow fibrous root system. They prefer a light soil or silt loam.

They do not like having grass or vigorous plants growing closely around them, and also do not like root disturbance, such as hoeing or forking the garden.

They like to be left alone, apart from being fertilised.

I use a citrus fertiliser but they are happy with a general fertiliser as well.

Sprinkle the fertiliser around the drip line, the outer circumference of the foliage, not around the trunk of the bush.

Why does my citrus tree turn yellow?

This has to be one of the most commonly asked questions, and we all will find at some time that our citrus leaves turn yellow.

The reason being citrus are prone to magnesium deficiency, which shows as a yellowing between the veins of older leaves.

The answer is to check your pantry for some Epsom salts or check out a magnesium-rich fertiliser, which can prevent this.

Watering, drainage and pruning

Citrus prefer a fertile soil with good drainage, especially in winter.

If you have some nice, rich topsoil, put some in your newly dug hole before planting.

The resulting raised bed will be moisture-retentive, yet well-aerated all year round.

It is important not to let your citrus dry out over summer, so adding mulch around your citrus tree is important, but remember to keep it away from the trunk.

I like to keep my citrus well-pruned, especially the lime, as it seems to be vigorous.

I like to keep them at easy-picking height and my preference is to have them slightly rounded.

If you have only room for one citrus tree, I would plant a lemon.

Then you can have lemon on your fish, lemon slice, lemon cake, or lemon cordial.

As the saying goes, “When life gives you lemons... make a gin and tonic”.

Perfect!