All citrus like a warm, sunny site, sheltered from cold wind. They require lots of moisture and fertiliser, so when planting citrus, place half a bag of Magic Mulch (which is the ‘fines’ of Spagham moss with seaweed fertiliser added) to hole first, then the bush on top. This will hold a lot of moisture and food right next to the rootball, reducing the frequency of watering and it will produce larger, juicy fruit.


Citrus bushes grow to approx. 1.8 to 2m high and wide but can be kept smaller by growing them in a container or bonsai bag, or by keeping them pruned. Some varieties are available on dwarf rootstock, so they would grow to around 1.2 to 1.5m high and wide.


All citrus flowers are white and strongly fragrant.


The Meyer lemon is the cold hardiest of all the lemons and is easy to grow.


Yen Ben is a smaller lemon but has a good sharp acidic lemon flavour.

Lemonade lemon is the opposite, with a soft flavour that some people eat as you would an orange.

Lisbon has large fruit with thick skin and high juice content. It crops heavily through autumn and winter.

Tangelo Seminole is a cross between grapefruit and mandarin. The fruit is flatish with a soft reddish orange colour when ripe. The flesh is sweet, tangy and very juicy.

Encore mandarin, a very popular one, is one of a few to bear fruit over summer. Medium size, thin skinned fruit with excellent flavour, very sweet and juicy, and easy peel. Seedless unless cross pollinated by other citrus. The fruit holds well on the tree.