Lemon Tree

Here are my notes from twelve months of growing Lemon Tree: Spring: winter pruning while the tree is dormant. This was the moment that confirmed the whole venture. I focused on thinning fruitlets in early summer to improve individual fruit size during this period which set up the rest of the year. …

Lemon Tree is clearly a great plant — I can see that from other people's results. Mine has been decent but not spectacular, and I think I know why. I underestimated the importance of thinning fruitlets in early summer to improve individual fruit size in the early stages and paid for it. biennial be…

My first attempt at Lemon Tree failed — codling moth larvae in fruit at harvest got hold of it and I didn't know what I was looking at until it was too late. I left it alone for a year before trying again. The second attempt, with proper attention to formative pruning in the first three years to bu…

I'm a busy person and can't give every plant the attention the books recommend. Here's what I've learned about the minimum viable care for Lemon Tree. thinning fruitlets in early summer to improve individual fruit size is genuinely non-negotiable — skip this and the plant declines noticeably. Every…

As a complete beginner I was nervous about starting with Lemon Tree. It turned out to be more forgiving than I expected, as long as I paid attention to mulching around the base to retain moisture and suppress weeds. I grow mine in an orchard with mixed varieties for cross-pollination which is worki…

I'd had Lemon Tree for about eight months with acceptable but unremarkable results. Then I started really paying attention to mulching around the base to retain moisture and suppress weeds and the difference over the next two months was dramatic. blossom spectacle in spring before any other ornamen…

I planted Lemon Tree primarily for ornamental reasons. What I didn't anticipate was the wildlife it would attract. harvest of home-grown fruit with exceptional fresh flavour seems to be particularly appealing to bees and butterflies during the main growing period. I grow it in a large half-barrel c…

I planted Lemon Tree at entirely the wrong point in the growing calendar and spent the first few months wondering what I'd done wrong. biennial bearing producing a heavy crop every other year didn't help matters. Once I understood formative pruning in the first three years to build good structure th…

The first few months with Lemon Tree were underwhelming. Almost no visible growth and I questioned my decision repeatedly. Then something shifted — I think getting thinning fruitlets in early summer to improve individual fruit size right was the turning point. blossom spectacle in spring before any…