Use your lemon: the smart choice for small gardens

Potted citrus is a good option when space is limited.

Lemons can do well in pots. Picture: Getty Images.

The Aussie back yard with its rangy lemon tree has shrunk. Luckily, so too has the lemon tree. Today it’s just as likely to be a Tahitian lime in a chic balcony pot or a trio of dwarf citrus along a courtyard wall. Where space is limited, potted citrus is the solution.

Cumquat tree.

Citrus are popular for lots of reasons. They’re attractive evergreen trees with glossy foliage, the white blossoms smell divine and the fruit are both decorative and useful. They crop over a long period – the classic ‘Eureka’ lemon bears fruit most of the year – and harvesting is not that critical; fruit can stay on the tree for weeks, even months. The trees are long lived and adapt readily to life in a container simply by staying smaller. You can also buy most citrus grafted on to a dwarfing rootstock, which gives you full-size fruit on a tree half the normal size.

Fingerlime.

Citrus grow anywhere in Australia if you choose the right varieties and position. Their origins are Australasia and Asia, with six species native to Australia. The diverse citrus fruits we grow today are hybrids of tangled ancestry; breeders are constantly adding new varieties.

Top pick for a potted lemon is ‘Eureka’, which is nearly thornless; choose a dwarf one for smaller pots. In cold areas, grow ‘Meyer’, a small, bushy tree that also bears fruit most of the year – they’re round, thin-skinned and sweeter than other lemons. Dwarf forms ‘Lots A Lemons’ and ‘Pipsqueak’ fruit prolifically.

Makrut (kaffir) lime

Tahitian limes grow superbly in containers whether on dwarfing rootstock or not. Native finger limes are the chefs’ darlings, grown for their pearls of pulp called “citrus caviar” in green, pink, yellow or red. Unfortunately, they’re rather straggly and thorny shrubs. The hybrid ‘Blood Lime’ is a cross between a mandarin and a red finger lime. Makrut (formerly kaffir) lime, grown for its double-lobed, aromatic leaves, also has thorns.

Cumquats and calamondins are the ultimate decorative pot plant, holding their bauble-like orange fruit through winter against dense, glossy foliage. They’re often grown as lollipop “standards” that add a touch of formality. The tart fruit is used for marmalade or liqueurs but the variety ‘Nagami’, whose oval fruits have sweet skin, are eaten whole. Chinotto is a bitter orange with tiny leaves and fruit of ping-pong ball size, used in the Italian drink of the same name.

Calamondins.

New plants should be potted into one-size-larger pots, but for good fruit production after a few years they’ll need a pot at least 50cm across, preferably more.

Pots need a few 2cm-wide drainage holes; cover them with flyscreen wire to stop the potting mix spilling through. As always, use top quality potting mix, not the cheap stuff. Choose your sunniest spot (except for finger limes, which like part shade) with shelter from winds.

Citrus are not low maintenance but they do reward effort. Don’t let them dry out – a mulch of lucerne or sugar cane helps retain moisture. Limes in particular are very sensitive at the critical period when the little fruits are forming. Too dry and they’ll shed the whole crop, leaving you sad and fruitless.

Feed citrus with a little citrus fertiliser (they love ones based on pelletised chook manure) every month except in mid-winter, watering well before and after.

And yes, citrus get lots of pests but the good news is that a regular spray with PestOil or Eco-Oil will fix most of them.

TO DO NOW

Build up your succulent collection by detaching pups at the base or pull off whole leaves. Leave in a dry spot for a week to form callus tissue, then plant in a sandy, open mix.

Fertilise indoor moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) with half-strength fertiliser as the drop in temperatures stimulates flowering.

Clean out congested clumps of kangaroo paws. Cut old flower stalks and leaves or shear off the whole clump. Feed with a native plant fertiliser.

If frangipani leaves start to show yellow fungal rust spots, spray with triforine or a copper fungicide, but severe attacks can’t be controlled. Collect and destroy fallen leaves.

Q&A

Last year I germinated a couple of sprouting broccoli plants from seed. They grew in a large pot and looked magnificent but never showed signs of broccoli. Should I try again?

Lynda, Perth

It’s a good time to try, as this is a winter crop in most areas. Sprouting broccoli has more, smaller heads that are slower to form but produce for longer, and are also more heat tolerant. Broccoli needs enriched soil and regular fertiliser – try a soluble one for flowers and fruit, applied fortnightly.

My bromeliad’s flower is turning brown. Should I cut it off or let it die naturally?

Tina Faulk, Canberra

Cutting it off at the base helps direct energy into producing the “pups” or new plants at the base. Individual bromeliad plants die slowly over a year or two after flowering, while the pups grow as replacements.

Each year recently, some of my 12-year-old pittosporum hedge has died. The plants run beside a west-facing metal fence in pretty poor soil, but being 4m tall you’d think they would be tougher.

Greg Keep, Adelaide

Pittosporums used for hedging are fast-growing and short-lived. Regular pruning extends their life, but unpruned trees may start to decline after 10 years. They come from New Zealand so our heat can be stressful. If each died suddenly, this is a classic symptom of phytophthora root rot, to which they are prone. They can sustain low levels of infection, then suddenly fail under stress. There’s no cure but building soil organic matter levels and spraying foliage with Yates Anti-Rot will help.

Two Trees quilted double hammock.

Send your questions to: [e-mail] or Helen Young, PO Box 3098, Willoughby North, NSW 2068. The best question for May wins a Two Trees quilted double hammock worth $99 (twotreeshammocks.com.au). April’s winner is Lou Ewins of Moruya for her question about planning a less fire-prone garden.