I think you are leaning in a good direction. Go for it.

Matt, it really does sound like a great plan to me. I started this vision some years back and now have many different citrus planted along my fence line too. They're about 6-8 ft apart from each other. I do not have any idea if the spacing was correctly done as I have yet to see how they will turn out when they're fully grown. Most of my citrus are in the infant-juvenile stage ranging between 2-15 ft (the tallest being the Duncan Grapefruit).

With regards to your question of sweet oranges and mandarins, I've tasted what I have that I would consider pretty sweet and pleasant tasting and I'll list them in the order I prefer their taste:

Oranges:
* Variegated Rhode Red Orange
* Blood Orange
* Navel Orange
* Valencia Orange

I really enjoy looking at the cut sections of the Blood Orange. I've changed its name to Petrified Ruby as it's quite gross to think of eating something that resembles blood lol ... I know it's silly.

Mandarins:
* Honey Murcott
* Satsuma

I also have Pineapple Orange, Dancy Tangerine, Red Navel Orange .. which I haven't tasted their fruit yet as they're still relatively young.

Of course taste is a personal thing .. and one has to really taste it to know what their taste buds prefer. I haven't tasted Cara Cara Navel, Gold nugget Mandarin and Midnight Valencia or Kishu Mandarin yet, but I'm sure the others who have them will share more about these varieties with you.

I hope you'll be able to get some real nice tasting citrus to plant soon.

Thanks for the info bannafan, I'll take a look at different blood orange varieties (assuming there are more than one). I can't find anything on the Variegated Rhode Red Orange, however there seems to be a Rhode Red Valencia listed on UCR's website - do you know if that's the same one?

Thanks again,
-Matt

Yes, Matt. It is a Rhode Red Valencia. I wasn't remembering the name correctly--sorry about that.

I do hope you'll plan as soon as you've decided. One thing about planting trees, it's never too late to start now and it is always good to start as soon as you can because they all take time to grow. Looking back, I'm always glad I did plant them. Sometimes though when I planted something that didn't work out well, I kind of regret it, so it's sure a good thing to read lots of reviews before you plant them. Recently, we've decided to take down our Duncan Grapefruit which is now 15ft tall. It isn't producing good tasting fruit. Compared to the red variety, it seems they're always the better tasting ones.

I'll try to post pix of some of my plants when I get a chance to. When you get a chance to plant yours, it would be nice if you could show your pix later too. All the best in your new planting project!

You might reconsider the spacing. It will be challenging to maintain the individual shrubs/trees as close as 4 feet apart.

Matt, I would suggest either a Moro or the Red Smith Valencia, if you'd like something a little different. Would fit nicely with your Cara Cara, which is a great and very pretty navel orange, and the Gold Nugget mandarin is an excellent choice. 4 feet apart will give you a hedge effect, and would suggest you get your trees on C35, to keep the size down if you want them that close. Mine are that close in places, but those that are this close are either on Cuban Shaddock or C35, for size control. I live just west of you, and any of the varieties you are considering or I've suggested will excel for you. If you need help locating the trees, just ask me, I'll let you know where you can go to find them here in our area.

Patty S.

I agree with Jean, if you're going to plant full sized trees, such as the cara cara, they need a lot of space. Orange trees here are 20'+ tall and very wide. The cara cara is delicious, a grocery store here has them, and I found a nutrition profile online and they are much better than other oranges in that respect. I can't find that page again, unfortunately, or I'd link it here. They are pinkish and don't taste like other naval oranges, and I like them better. I had to search long and hard for a tree, but finally got one.

The mandarins stay small, and they would be better along the fence than larger trees. Mandarins and clementines will get probably 8-10' tall over time, much smaller than oranges. That spacing would be appropriate for them, though.

I just got an Algerian mandarin, which has a long harvest period, maybe until June, which is much longer than the other ones.

And something else to think about. One cara cara, or any other orange, will produce more than you can eat. If you get several along the fence, you'll eventually be overwhelmed. And the trees get so large that it's impossible to harvest most of the oranges unless you have one of those really tall ladders with extension. I see them all the time, all the lower fruit have been harvested, but the middle and top of the trees are still loaded with fruit.

This is probably true for all citrus. I have 2 kumquats that are still pretty small, about 4' tall, and they are already producing more than I can use. I have a Rio Red grapefruit, and they grow very fast, and this year mine is loaded with fruit, and it is nowhere near being a mature tree. This one has a heavy load every other year, I found out. Lemons are the same way, my lemon has 200+ lemons every year.

Try Clausen Nursery. They are close to you and the prices are good. http://www.clausennursery.com/

Yes, Clausen's. That was exactly where I was going to recommend. They're great guys, trees are very reasonably priced and very healthy. Not sure they're got the Red Smith Valencia, though. They do have Cara Cara and Gold Nugget. I know Four Winds Growers has the Red Smith Valencia, and their trees are on Cuban Shaddock which stays very small.

Patty S.

FYI, Clausens is out of 15 gallon Cara Cara Navels and Golden Nugget Mandarins. They do have 5 Gallon trees.

Anyone have any input on 15Gal vs 5Gal? I may be able to order 15 Gallon Trees from my local nursery, but they run somewhere around $70.

5 gallons is a pretty good size. I just got a cara cara in a 2 gallon pot an it will take a long time to get big.