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How big are these citrus in your landscape?
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Posted by bobbi_p z8/9 Cypress, TX (My Page) on Sun, Nov 15, 09 at 16:34
| I'm sooooo close to planting behind my arbor I can hardly wait! My vision is for an eventual solid hedge of citrus trees behind it with room to plant in front of them. So I'm trying to guess the "average" mature size of the citrus I have and what spacing I should do. I want to plant them close enough that they will touch significantly when mature.
So, how big's your:
1. Pineapple Orange (which BTW we picked all the fruit off yesterday so I wouldn't break branches planting them, perhaps too soon, but OMG they were soooo sweet anyway!)
2. Meyer Improved Lemon
3. Algerian Tangerine (sold to me as what a Clementine is like)
4. Brown's Select Satsuma
Please let me know how old, how tall, and how wide and if you think they've been restricted by structures or less than optimal locations.
Thanks,
Bobbi |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: How big are these citrus in your landscape?
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| You might have better response from the Citrus Forum. I have a couple of little citrus trees in containers, but won't be planting them out. We're a little too far north for them to be out I think. Cheryl |
RE: How big are these citrus in your landscape?
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| I would plant them at least 4 feet apart remember with time they will be trees, and also this will give you room for you to mow around them. |
RE: How big are these citrus in your landscape?
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the guy down the street had 2 variegated myers prior to Ike, they were around 9' tall. My myers was around 8' tall before AT&T dug it up. I think most citrus are "small" trees, 8-12' maximum, they have a spread smaller than that. The orange trees around the Mexico/Texas border are about 8' with a spread of around 5' in the orchards. I'm not sure if that's the variety. There was a grapefruit tree behind a house I lived in that was tall enough the neighbor could pick grapefruit from the second floor, and it was at least as tall as the house. It was a very, very old tree and was cut down to build a parking lot. :(
Tally HO! |
RE: How big are these citrus in your landscape?
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- Posted by pris 8B TX (My Page) on
Thu, Nov 19, 09 at 10:13
| I would google each of these plant varieties to find out how tall and wide they get. Unless you're planning on keeping them pruned to a specific size your hedge might end up being less than uniform. You should also be able to find out how far apart they need to be to do what you want and how well they take to pruning. |
RE: How big are these citrus in your landscape?
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| You need to check with your extension agent to find our for sure for each variety. I have a satsuma tree, I don't know what type or how old. I get about 300 satsuma each year and if there was another 12' from trunk to trunk it would be too close. My satsuma is wider than it is tall and that works great for me as I have to put on my leg just to pick any that are in the tops. I have seen Meyer Lemon trees get much larger as well as for the orange trees. There is no way you would want a Hedge. |
RE: How big are these citrus in your landscape?
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- Posted by bobbi_p z8/9 Cypress, TX (My Page) on
Fri, Nov 20, 09 at 12:05
| Thanks for the responses everyone. I have Googled each of the varieties without finding mature tree sizes. Most sites describe the various varieties as a "medium tree" or "small tree." As Tally noted, the fruit tree sale/orchard coordinator for the Harris County Master Gardeners (Extension) described the lemons around 10 ft, the oranges "bigger," and then said the tangerine and the Brown's select will be quite petite. My vision IS for a solid hedge, so I'm thinking I'll put the 3 orange trees in the center about 8 feet apart, the lemon on one end peeking out from behind the arbor about 5 feet from the oranges, the tangerine on the opposite end about 4 feet from the orange, and the Brown's Select Satsuma in a different location because the Master Gardener told me it will only have 2-3 upright branches that can be trained with supports. Sounds like it might be good to try an espalier. I think I'll post these plans over on citrus as suggested and see what they have to say! |
RE: How big are these citrus in your landscape?
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Bobbi:
Just pulled out one of my old citrus books. HP Books, by Richard Ray and Lance Walheim. The Pineapple orange should be your largest tree at about 15-20 feet on a standard rootstock half that if on dwarfing rootstock. The (Clementine)Algerian, Myer's Lemon and Satsuma should be in the 10-15 feet range if on standard rootstock and about half that if on dwarfing rootstock. So part of your challenge is do you know what rootstock is under these trees? The Pineapple is the least cold-hardy and Myer's Lemon next then Algerian and the most cold-hardy is the Satsuma which takes to 18 to 22 degrees without much foliage damage.(Fruits are damaged with 28 to 31 degrees) The rest of your citrus will have more damage at higher lows than that. Last year for Cypress according to one wunderground.com weather station located in Cypress it was 26 degrees for the lowest but with a few more under 30 from the looks of it. It was hardly a cold year so expect you will have some damage and die back even to the graft line in a severe winter(at least every 20 years). Hope some of this info is useful for you and I will check back to see if there are other questions you have that I might be able to offer thoughts on. Happy Growing David |
RE: How big are these citrus in your landscape?
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- Posted by bobbi_p z8/9 Cypress, TX (My Page) on
Sat, Nov 21, 09 at 12:37
| Thanks so much David. That's the most specific info I've gotten to date along with a couple of further enlightening responses over on the citrus forum. I'm "pretty sure" they're not on dwarfing rootstock because they weren't labelled as dwarfs at the Master Gardener plant sale I purchased them from (please don't turn me in to Plant Protective Services for keeping them in pots for nearly a year!). When I spoke to the fruit sale coordinator asking his opinion on spacing just last week, the first question he asked was if any were dwarfs. So, I "think" I'm pretty safe in assuming they're on something like trifoliate rootstock. Now, I just need this rain to let up a bit so I can get to measuring and digging! |
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