You Can Have Fresh Fruit All Year : Dwarf Citrus Trees Will Also Solve Landscaping Problems
When Lee and Mary Staton were building their home in Orange County’s Panorama Heights a number of years ago, they wanted a landscape that included fruit trees.
Not just any fruit trees would do. The trees had to be evergreen so they would look nice the year-round. They couldn’t take up too much space because they were to be only a portion of the total landscaping scheme. And it would be nice if they provided at least some fruit on a year-round basis, rather than over a short harvest period.
The fruit trees they eventually chose met all of these requirements, plus they were trees of intense beauty with colorful fruit and fragrant blossoms. The Statons chose dwarf citrus trees. Now don’t let the word dwarf mislead you, most citrus trees sold as dwarfs are actually semi-dwarf trees, which reach a height of seven to 12 feet.
To get the fruit variety they wanted, the Statons selected several varieties of orange trees, and lemon, lime, tangelo, mandarin and grapefruit trees. All of these are now mature and quite productive. In addition to supplying the family with citrus throughout the year, there is a surplus to give to friends and neighbors.
Orange Varieties
The Statons grow three varieties of oranges. These include the Washington navel, the Robertson navel and the Valencia. The Washington has larger fruit and the Robertson bears earlier. The Statons prefer the Washington because it is more vigorous than the Robertson. The Valencia is considered more of a juice orange and the navel more of a fresh eating orange, but they find the flavor of the Valencia equal to the navel.
By planting both navel and Valencia trees, it is possible to have fresh oranges for most of the year. The navels produce from November through March, while the Valencia bears from May through October.
The Statons also grow the Eureka lemon. It bears throughout the year, and they feel that one tree will bear all the lemons the average family requires.
Grapefruit are not supposed to be of very good flavor unless grown in the hot desert regions, but the Statons have found this not to be the case with the Ruby grapefruit variety. It does not obtain the intense pinkish color of fruit grown in desert heat, but it has good sweetness and is comparable to most commercially grown grapefruit.
A Heavy Producer
Ruby is a very heavy producer that bears from February through the summer. The Statons caution not to leave the fruit on the tree for a long period after it has turned yellow or it will become pithy.
The Statons grow the Bearss lime and although it was slow to bear fruit, taking four to five years to come into full production, it has proven very satisfactory. It bears almost year-round, but produces its heaviest crops in the spring.
A tangelo is a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit tree, with long trunks and branches concentrated at the top. The tree should have good skirt branches near the soil line. If the transplant has any fruit on it, pick it off so the tree’s energies will be devoted to foliage production.
The Statons fertilize in February and again in July with a high nitrogen fertilizer such as ammonium nitrate. They caution against fertilizing in late fall; this promotes new tender foliage growth that would be subject to frost damage during the winter. A yearly application of a citrus foliage spray containing the essential micronutrients helps keep the leaves a dark, glossy green color.
The only pruning the Statons do is to shape the trees and to remove dead wood or frost-damaged branches.
Meyer Lemon Productive
In addition to the citrus varieties mentioned above, there is a magnificent selection of other dwarf citrus varieties to be found in Southland nurseries. The Meyer lemon is one of the most ornamental and productive of citrus trees. It produces almost year-round and has a natural dwarfing tree habit. Besides the Owari, there are more than a dozen other mandarin orange varieties available to the home gardener.
More adventuresome gardeners will want to plant one of three exotic blood orange tree varieties found in local nurseries, or perhaps an Oroblanco grapefruit tree, the fruit of which lacks the tartness associated with other grapefruit types.
For those primarily interested in citrus as ornamentals, the citrangequat, limequat, orangequat and calamondin are beautiful small trees for patio or container. They bear colorful fruit that is not delectable but still edible.
Most Southland nurseries have a good selection of dwarf citrus trees. If your local nursery doesn’t have the variety you want, they can order a tree for you from a wholesale grower, such as Ourling Nursery in Fallbrook. Pacific Tree Farms in Chula Vista, a retail and wholesale firm, carries a huge inventory of both common and rare citrus trees.
