Lemon

Picking fresh, juicy lemons from your garden is one of life’s great pleasures. MARIANNE CANNON explains how to grow a healthy tree

Lemon trees are as attractive as they are productive, with glossy leaves, masses of scented white spring flowers and beautiful yellow fruit. They serve as a decorative feature in the garden while producing lots of fruit for citrusy recipes and refreshing G&Ts. Every garden should have one, and they’re easy to grow when you know the basics.

Grafted trees are the best way to go. These are clones of reliable varieties grafted onto vigorous, disease-resistant rootstock. You can also grow a lemon tree from seed, but you have to wait many years for fruit, which may be sparse and poor quality, or juicy and plentiful – you won’t know until it finally bears lemons.

getting started

The first step to successfully growing a lemon tree is to choose a cultivar that suits your location. Large gardens can accommodate the taller Lisbon, which reaches 8m high by 4m wide, or Eureka at 4m high by 3m wide. If you have a smaller garden, your best options are Meyer, which grows about 3m high by 2m wide, or a dwarf form of Lisbon or Eureka. To make the best use of a small space, consider growing an espaliered lemon tree against a fence or wall.

Choose a well-drained site, as lemon trees fail when they get wet feet. Make sure your tree is in a spot that receives at least six hours of direct sun per day.

Soil preparation is paramount. When preparing the planting hole, dig in lots of compost and well-rotted manure.

The ideal soil pH for lemons is 6–7. It’s worth testing the soil, because a reading outside this range can lead to nutrient deficiencies and other problems, such as a lack of vigour. Add lime to the soil to raise the pH, or sulfur to lower it.

care & maintenance

In the first year after planting, give your lemon tree a good watering twice a week when conditions are warm and dry. After it has settled in and is growing strongly, a deep soak once a week is enough.

For the first two years, remove all the fruit as it appears, so the tree’s energy is focused on growing a strong frame to support masses of fruit when it matures.

Cut back vigorous water shoots so they don’t take over, and regularly tip-prune the remaining shoots while the tree is young. This encourages more terminal growth and keeps the tree compact, ultimately giving you more fruit to enjoy.

Maintain a 7cm layer of mulch around the tree, keeping it away from the trunk to avoid collar rot. Mulch helps to conserve moisture and reduce weed competition. This is especially important if your lemon tree is amid lawn – it will grow much better without competition from hungry turf.

Lemons are heavy feeders and need regular fertilising in the warmer months to produce lots of fruit. Feed every two months or so, from spring to the end of autumn. Specially formulated citrus fertilisers are ideal, but organic fertilisers such as blood and bone and pelletised chicken manure are good, too. Alternating these gives your lemon tree a varied diet.

When applying fertiliser, pull back the mulch beneath the canopy, and water the ground first. Sprinkle the fertiliser around the base of the tree, water it in well, then put the mulch back in place.