On our little farm we have several fruit trees, and among them are an naval orange tree and a meyer lemon tree. I thank the person who planted these because they are great! If I ever have a real farm or any land for that matter, here is my plan. I want to plant a small orchard with about 25 trees. Each would be a different fruit bearing tree. I would put them in seasonal order so that one end of the orchard would be trees that fruit in January. These do exist, persimmon and orange for example. Then the next tree over would be a February tree and so on until you got back to the pomegranate trees in the fall. Then I would have an endless supply of peaches, apricots, plums, figs, and anything else you can think of. Bees would love me. A girl can dream can't she?
Back to realty. Like I said, we have an orange tree and a lemon tree. Usually they produce large, sweet fruit. The lemon tree is in the front yard and produced three or four crops a year! When we moved in complete strangers would walk by and say,"I love your lemons, I always take one, I hope that's okay". I smiled and thought to myself "Those are out lemons, go get your own, shoo, shoo!" But I always said something like, "Oh, help yourself, we have plenty" and mumbled under my breath as they walked on.
Thankfully the orange tree is in the backyard. Every January through April it produces huge, refreshing, sweet oranges. Just as the fruit crop is finishing up, the tree graces us with fragrant blossoms that you can smell from the whole yard. You would be surprised how creative you get when you have an abundance of fruit that you don't want to waste!
Last summer to my surprise our lemon tree was a sad mess. The leaves were small and yellow. The fruit was either nonexistent, or dry and bitter. Our huge meyer lemons, were not living up to the neighbors expectations! We couldn't figure out what was going on. The orange tree seemed to be doing fine. The only difference between their care was that we run the chipper under the orange tree. Anything that is too big or corse for the compost gets chipped, and it happens below the orange tree. The chippings make a nice ground cover, but I guess they were also supplying the tree with nutrients.
Back to realty. Like I said, we have an orange tree and a lemon tree. Usually they produce large, sweet fruit. The lemon tree is in the front yard and produced three or four crops a year! When we moved in complete strangers would walk by and say,"I love your lemons, I always take one, I hope that's okay". I smiled and thought to myself "Those are out lemons, go get your own, shoo, shoo!" But I always said something like, "Oh, help yourself, we have plenty" and mumbled under my breath as they walked on.
Thankfully the orange tree is in the backyard. Every January through April it produces huge, refreshing, sweet oranges. Just as the fruit crop is finishing up, the tree graces us with fragrant blossoms that you can smell from the whole yard. You would be surprised how creative you get when you have an abundance of fruit that you don't want to waste!
Last summer to my surprise our lemon tree was a sad mess. The leaves were small and yellow. The fruit was either nonexistent, or dry and bitter. Our huge meyer lemons, were not living up to the neighbors expectations! We couldn't figure out what was going on. The orange tree seemed to be doing fine. The only difference between their care was that we run the chipper under the orange tree. Anything that is too big or corse for the compost gets chipped, and it happens below the orange tree. The chippings make a nice ground cover, but I guess they were also supplying the tree with nutrients.
After asking around at the local nursery and do some research we did three things. One: we trimmed the lemon tree way back. We had totally been neglecting to trim it. The lemon tree had fruit or blossoms on it all year, and I never had the heart to cut off branches with lemon. Much to my disappointment this was apparently killing the tree.
Two: Citrus trees also get sucklers. They are parts of the tree that grow, but produce no benefits, or fruit. They simply suck nutrients, so get rid of them. Sucklers are usually bright green and grow straight up, not out like most branches. Ours usually grow from the base of the tree, or directly out of a main branch. So we got rid of these.
Two: Citrus trees also get sucklers. They are parts of the tree that grow, but produce no benefits, or fruit. They simply suck nutrients, so get rid of them. Sucklers are usually bright green and grow straight up, not out like most branches. Ours usually grow from the base of the tree, or directly out of a main branch. So we got rid of these.
Three: I bought citrus nutrients sticks from Home Depot. I have been pounding two or three of them in every 4 months. Spread them out around the base of the tree, a few feet from the trunk.
I am happy to say that the lemon tree is making a complete come back. This summer's fruit should be big and delicious again. The oranges on our tree are getting larger and should be ripe in a few weeks! I can't wait for fresh squeezed OJ, it is the cure for winter blues.
I am happy to say that the lemon tree is making a complete come back. This summer's fruit should be big and delicious again. The oranges on our tree are getting larger and should be ripe in a few weeks! I can't wait for fresh squeezed OJ, it is the cure for winter blues.
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