Growing for success | Zest up your garden by planting new citrus trees

It is an exciting time of the year to see the new varieties arrive and learn about them, their size, growth habits, features and uses. It is also interesting to see the number of trees that we have to offer for the next 12 months, and I hope that I have got the numbers right and don’t run out too soon.

Next week, we have our main delivery of citrus trees arriving and, again, about 12 months’ worth of stock. These trees are ground-grown stock that were dug out of the ground in about March and April this year and potted into 250-millimetre pots, then allowed to settle into their new environment before being released for sale.

The advantage of this is that the end product is a much larger, stronger and more quickly-grown plant than pot-grown plants of the same age. This is an old traditional way of growing citrus trees, and there are only a few growers who have persevered with this method even though the final product is far superior.

The main types of citrus trees that we have grown this way are the more common varieties like lemons, oranges, mandarins, limes and grapefruit, with plants like finger limes being pot-grown and arriving later in the season.

In lemons, we have Eureka lemon in both dwarf and tall-growing varieties, and Meyer lemon in tall only. Eureka lemon is my choice of lemon, producing a main crop over autumn and winter with a smaller crop occasionally over summer. It is a truly-flavoured and traditional-looking lemon. The Meyer lemon is smaller in both tree size and fruit size. Meyer lemons fruit in winter with a rounder and slightly orange-tinged fruit.

In oranges, I feel the best choice for a home garden tree is a Washington naval. It fruits over a long period from May to October. It has good-sized fruit that is seedless, segments nicely and peels easily. It is an excellent eating variety that is available in both dwarf and tall forms.

We also have Valencia orange available, but as a tall tree only. Valencia orange is often called the juicing orange, as it is extremely juicy and seedless with medium-sized fruit that ripens from late winter onwards.

The other variety of orange we stock is Arnold blood orange, which is a smaller-sized tree with smaller fruit. It is a true blood orange that matures with red-blushed flesh, especially in cooler climates.

The most popular variety of mandarin would be emperor mandarin, with its easy-to-peel, loose, thick skin and few seeds. The large fruit ripens from June to July and crops well year-on-year. These will also be available in both dwarf and tall trees.

The next would be imperial mandarin, which has medium-sized fruit and thin skin. It fruits from May through to July and often crops heavy one year and light the next.

In lime trees, we have both Kaffir Malaya limes and Tahitian limes. Now if you are looking for limes for your mojito or margarita, you will be looking for a Tahitian lime, and if you want lime leaves for your curry, you will be looking for the Kaffir Malaya lime. So, if you enjoy sipping your mojito while eating your curry, you will need to buy one of each. How is that for a sales pitch?

Remember, if you are planting a fruit tree in your back garden, it does come with some responsibilities, especially in our fruit-growing region, and citrus trees are no exception. You need to be vigilant of Queensland fruit flies, citrus gall wasps and citrus leaf miners, which attack citrus trees in our area. If you need advice on what is involved in all this, call in, and we can run through what to look for, the best prevention methods and how to best look after your trees.

Now, sit back and enjoy that margarita. Happy gardening!