lemon trees

[Kelly4]

Hello all

Finally, we're about to buy a house!!!! So, since all the really important stuff is in the hands of the lawyers, I'm left pondering some more trivial issues...

There's a lemon tree in middle of the patio. The patio's not that big but the position of the tree (and whether we keep it or not) affects the proyecto. We really would rather not chop down the tree...the leaves smell fantastic. Any advice on whether there's a way to keep a lemon tree from growing out of control OR actually cutting it back to keep it smallish without looking all stumpy? It's quite big at the moment. We can build around it but we really can't afford for it to get any bigger.

Alternatively, if we really do need to get rid of it, is there any way that it can be transplanted? A friend in the village has got a big garden and we'd feel much better about pulling it up if it went to a good home!

Any advice?

Cheers,

Kelly

[patricia]

I have one on my patio so I cannot allow it to grow too big what I do is prune it. I do that each winter, that keeps it from growing too big.

[Grouser]

Depends how old and well established it is as to whether you can transplant it. If its's a well established tree it won't take kindly to being moved. If you must do it, the winter is the best time. Water it very well before you move it and after you have transplanted it. Don't leave the roots exposed when it's out of the ground. Wrap it in wet sacking or similar and get it back in the ground ASAP. Otherwise the pruning route is favourite. You may be glad of its shade in the summer.

[daneinspain]

Im no tree expert but surely if you dig it out with a big chunk of soil around it and wrap all that in a cloth to keep the soil and it together (wet) then transplant it immediately to the new site and water it in with fertiliser on the bottom, making sure the soil is the same ph and type as the tree needs. Surely if we can do heart transplants nowadays surely moving a tree is possible

[Grouser]

Quite true daneinspain, but no matter how careful you are, if it is a tree of any size it will sustain root damage. If it is an old, well established tree it may well not have the resilience to recover from the shock.

[keddyboy]

We had a large lemon tree which was badly damaged by a bobcat digger machine. It was an old established tree and we considered getting rid of it but decided to give it a chance. We pruned it hard and this year despie being ravaged by man it is a neat, small tree with about 50 lemons thereon. My advice is keep it small irrespective of age and it will be a feature on your patio.