Madeline,

I have a Bearss lemon that has been planted 7 years ago when it was 3-4 ft tall. Two years after planting, it bore 1-2 fruit. When the tree grew to be taller and more bushy, it started to produce a crop of between 50-70 fruit. I didn't count exactly, but it was a lot and that was for the last three consecutive years. So, I'm guessing your lemon tree might need a year or so before it finally kicks off to a full fruit production? By the way what is the variety of your lemon?

As for lime trees, I also have one in the ground and it's a Tahitian persian lime which I planted in 2008 when it was a little over 4 ft tall. For the past years, it bloomed scantily and produced very few fruit. This year, it must have been about
8-9 ft and it has about a dozen fruit. It's also a slow grower compared to my lemon.

As to your question about your patio around your citrus trees, I've heard they like some space around for their roots to breathe. Some years ago, I built some patio blocks around my navel orange and the fruit production dropped the following year.

The other concerns I have with citrus fruit trees right now in general is the citrus greening disease that is attacking a lot of citrus trees in FL. So far, I've seen a decline in all my citrus trees fruit production ... especially the oranges. I've read somewhere that certain lemons and limes are more resistant to the disease, but I don't know which kind.

I don't know if this helps as that is all I know from my own planting experience.

Thanks, Bananafan, for your input!

Your experience gives me hope that between proper fertilization and maybe waiting another year or two, I can begin to have some good fruit production.

My lemon tree is a Lisbon. In not sure about the lime, but I'm guessing its the common Persian/Bearss variety.

I haven't heard of this greening disease. I wonder if it's in Louisiana. Is there anything you can do to prevent it, or to treat your trees once they have it?

Thanks again :-)