Citrus trees: orange, lemon, tangerine, grapefruit or lime?

Citrus trees are some of the most popular fruit trees grown in warm winter climates. And why not? Citrus fruits are tasty, a high source of vitamin C, can be squeezed for juices, are used in cooking, make great snacks and even look great as garnishes. The trees grow from small dwarf sizes to small shade trees. They have handsome evergreen leaves and pretty white flowers that fill the air with perfume. Citrus trees are decorative and can be used in many ways in landscape design. Dwarf varieties can also be planted in small gardens as well as large pots.

Use citrus trees near windows and doors, patios or balconies or wherever the sweet fragrance of citrus blossoms will permeate the air

One question might be which citrus tree is best to plant, orange, lemon, tangerine, grapefruit or lime? There are some things to consider when you decide on what kind of citrus tree to plant in your garden – or in a pot to spice up your patio or balcony.

If you live in an area where there are no frosts, you can grow almost any of the citrus fruits. Give them full sun, rich, well-drained soil and occasional deep watering that will penetrate to the bottom of the root system. If your nighttime winter temperatures dip under freezing, choose your citrus by how hardy the type is. The most frost tolerant citrus plants are the kumquats. Most tangerine varieties are quite cold tolerant. Lemons bear colder temperatures than oranges and the least frost tolerant citrus trees are the limes and grapefruits.

If winter cold is not an issue for you and you can’t decide between the different citrus trees, you might want to spend a little extra for a ‘citrus salad’ tree; a single stemmed tree with grafted branches from several different varieties. This way you can grow three to five different types of fruit all on one tree. Or if you have a good sized property, you could grow all different varieties and create your own fruit orchard.

 

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