The back garden Lemon Tree

Everybody loves the idea of the back yard citrus, of picking your own lemons or limes.

Whether you have a large garden, courtyard or balcony the intentions are always the same; however citrus need a little more than initial good intentions. As a cropping plant, if you want the output you must do the input.

As well as a nutrient rich, free draining soil, citrus need plenty of light and water. But that’s not all, as with many cultivated plants, citrus have been developed for their crop, not for their abilities to resist, what we would classify here, as pests and diseases. Citrus demand watchfulness and, it sometimes it seems, constant actions to prevent or control pests.

From Leafminer to Gall Wasps to White Flies to Scale to Stink Bugs to Mealy bugs, the list goes on and on and that’s just the critters! Don’t get disheartened, this is gardening, get in there and prune and spray.

Eureka Lemon is possibly the most common citrus in Sydney and if you are new to gardening then it’s a good citrus to start with. If planted in a good sunny position, with plenty of feed and water, you will also find it relatively robust so if a bad outbreak of one or more pests occurs they will bounce back with a little assistance.