Well, less a relocation than just a new place to grow them. The ones that froze in the big freeze last year have never really come back. It looks like they came back from below the graft so they will never fruit.
Sure enough, all Spring and Summer, not a single flower and the leaves look a bit different than before.
That being said, we felt that ultimately they are in the wrong spot to take care of properly. They are harder to water where they are now and they are harder to keep covered and/or warm in the Winter.
So here in a few weekends, they will be removed and we will repurpose the galvanized metal ring containers elsewhere on the property.
As for new trees, there is a prefect spot for each one in the middle of the rows and in between every two beds of existing trees. That makes room for three more trees in the orchard behind the house.
One more advantage of being behind the house is now we can easily plug in some Christmas lights to put around the the citrus trees if we get another hard freeze this year. We'll still use our frost cloth but now we can easily supplement it with other things to keep the trees alive in a hard freeze.
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| Raised bed orchard |
As it turns out, we still have three unused sets of the steel corners to build the raised beds. Three is all we need. One lime, one orange and one lemon!
I will build the raised beds once the weather cools down but of course won't plant right away. At least the hardest part will be done and all we will need is the soil and the trees.
This time of year, there are 70% off sales at most of the garden centers. We can (hopefully) get the three we need for our area. A Meyer lemon, a Persian lime and a Mandarin orange. We don't need to plant them now as we can keep them alive this Winter by keeping them in town on the balcony until it's time to plant them in raised beds early next year.
There is one more advantage to taking them out from behind the garden, it leaves us space for future building...like a greenhouse perhaps? :-)
Oh what a lovely orchard you will have! I so would enjoy having my own lemon and lime trees but in Illinois, it's not to be.
ReplyDeleteFrom your lips to Mother Nature's ears! ha. Thank you, I hope so. It's right behind the house, it will be a great location if it works out.
DeleteThats such a shame to lose your lovely trees. The metal rings may have been part of your problem, I read that citrus love full sun on the plant and well mulched root area, the metal would have transferred the cold to the roots through the raised soil. It's all a big learning curve when you are gardening, so relocating the new trees will be a good start.
ReplyDeleteA greenhouse sounds like a fabulous idea, such a very useful space to enjoy pottering about and enjoying the warm atmosphere for a quiet cuppa too.
Hmm, never thought about that the transference of cold from the metal. Thanks for that. Well they will be in wood next time, so that should be better. And yes, I've got some greenhouse ideas swirling around. ;-)
DeleteThe secret to successful gardening - flexibility!
ReplyDeleteTHERE you go!!! You got it, I will have to remember that. Might be a great sign in the shed, ha
DeleteThis looks like a very good plan. Having all the fruit trees together and close to the house will make it so much easier to care for them.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's sort of what we thought too. In fact, looking into making the "yard" behind the house as being the edible area (other than the garden of course, ha).
DeleteIn Texas; citrus trees are hard to go and keeping them alive especially when planted in the ground because of the cold and sometimes freezing temperatures. Not saying it can't be done; just hard to keep them alive through the winter unless planted in containers to where they can be brought indoors where it's warmer and getting lots of indirect light.
ReplyDeleteTalk to a nursery person in your area who actually knows something cause I do think there is a lemon tree that will tolerate the Texas weather; a Meyer lemon(which really isn't a true lemon) will have a hard time staying alive during the winter months. Same with your lime and an orange tree