After a visit to Sorrento Italy in April of 2000, we were immediately smitten with all the wonderful lemon trees adorning the Italian coastline. All throughout Amalfi and Sorrento we saw gorgeous scenes of Sorrento lemon trees in terra cotta pots adorning house fronts, store fronts and cobblestone alley ways.
We knew right there and then we wanted something equally picturesque in our backyard. So, we planted a lemon tree in a container!
We really wanted to bring back a Sorrento lemon tree to the USA, but because we didn’t feel like smuggling anything into the country, we opted for the next best option possible – a Eureka lemon tree. This Eureka is studded with fruit and it’s extremely happy with it’s home in the urn shaped container. In winter, when the cool weather beckons the fruit to ripen, the lemon tree is an absolutely gorgeous scene to the garden.
This little lemon tree is our reminder of our trip to Italy and we’re happy to have it on our garden family.
Growing this lemon tree has a few challenges because the heat of the Summer season can quickly dry out the pot. Especially in the rustic looking terra cotta pots. We’ve since transplanted it into the glazed pot seen in these photos and it helps retain the moisture much better. It takes consistent watering in hot days to make sure that the tree stays hydrated and happy. Unfortunately there were a few occasions when we forgot to water our little lemon and the fruits became soft and dehydrated.
To keep it consistently watered, we added a drip irrigation line to the pot. Now the lemon tree is in full fruiting cycle again because it’s getting the consistent water it needs to stay healthy. Another added step we’ve found to help keep in the hydration is to mulch the top of the pot. We use about 2″ of leaves from out ficus hedge for the mulch, adding a fresh layer every time we trim the hedge (@ twice a year.)
A word of warning on pot selection: if you ever think you may transplant out of the pot you are choosing, do not get a pot which tapers in at the rim like the one our Eureka lemon tree is in. It will be very difficult to take the plant out without damaging its roots. Luckily this pot is large enough to be our Eureka’s permanent home.
We’re submitting this post to Fern’s Container Gardening Blog Carnival on her blog, Life on the Balcony. Fern’s great blog highlights gardening tips and advice for small gardens, particularly patio gardening for apartment and condo dwellers. Her wonderful site is a must read for all types of gardeners because no matter how big one’s garden is, one always has something growing in a container!
So if you have edible vegetables or fruit growing in a container, share your story, tips or advice to Fern’s Container gardening blog carnival! We’d love to see all your beautiful container bounty! (although we’re very aware that half the country is under snow and ice, but at least join us in celebrating those who do have warm sun!)
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Great choice of pot! The combination of the rustic pot and the beautiful tree is really stunning. It’s amazing that a relatively small tree can produce so much fruit!
I agree that the choice of pot is great, the very structured urn shaped pot against the informal branching of the lemon tree. Did you use dwarf stock or just a regular size tree?
Also, thanks for the great tip to add a layer of mulch to containers. My little potted kumquat tree will be forever grateful to you!
This was one of our original trees we bought when we had a tiny back patio, so it is only dwarf stock. We love the lemons off of it so much that we’ve added a second Eureka (this one’s a standard) and created a planter for it.
After we started mulching all of our citrus in planters or pots with cuttings from our hedges, we’ve noticed they all have been much happier. Since so much of their root structure stays shallow, they really benefit from the added protection and moisture. Hopefully your kumquat will be exploding with fruit this year!
Beautiful tree. Mine is just a baby fresh from the nursery, but sure enough it flowered first month and has one sad little lemon clinging on, and is busy flowering again.
But do you do something special during the winter? How come the plant oesn’t die during the winter?
Bogdan- we live in Southern California and our winters are very mild. Citrus trees do very very well in our area. We’re very fortunate!
What a beatiful tree! It looks great in that spot in your yard. My mom has a dwarf Meyer lemon that she planted in a pot and keeps inside year round. She lives in Colorado and enjoys lemons in the winter when it’s snowy and cold outside.
The tree is so lovely! What size pot are you using? (approx height)
It is probably a little over 2′ heigh.
I had my lemon tree in the pot forever and it won’t grow! It’s not dead, it’s just doesn’t do anything. More water?
There are a lot of factors which could cause it. Not enough water, it’s gotten root bound in the pot (pot size has limited it’s growth to what you have now), the soil in the pot doesn’t agree with your tree, not enough sun… I’d start by watering it consistently for a time and add about 2″ of mulch on top of the roots. See if the tree starts to get revitalized. If not maybe move it to a different spot where the sun exposure improves or maybe repotting.
Todd
My dad used to grow lemon and orange trees in wine keg (halves). I miss the sight and smell. I live in an apartment and don’t have any outside area but I want to share this post with my friends on my blog. Houston, where I live, is a great place for container gardening. I might just try growing one in front of my window. Who knows. I really haven’t lost much if it doesn’t grow. Thanks for the reminder about container gardening and bring back sweet thoughts of my dad.
We love using the halved wine barrels for pots. Our sideyard “nursery” is filled with them giving our seedlings their beginnings. Thanks for sharing the memories.
T & D
I love the smell of the lemon trees. Check out http://www.citrusfruittrees.net…Lots of great info.
I’m looking at planting some fruit trees in container this fall. How old was the lemon tree when you bought it? And how long before it bore fruit? I also noticed on your website that you have peach trees. Did those bear fruit in the first year or does it take some time before they develop? I’d love any insight you have on this. I love your website! Keep the great blogs and photos coming!
We’ve purchased several lemon trees over the years (2 Eureka, 1 Meyer). All were in 5 gal. containers and they were all producing fruit from the beginning. The peach trees fruit, but only our white peach has put out any tasty fruit over the last couple years. We are still trying to figure out one of the garden’s original trees (a peach) which developed nice fruit the first year we move in, then nothing very tasty in all of the following years. So Cal isn’t the best area for peach trees but you can still get some nice fruit each year.
Good luck gardening and thanks for the compliments!
T & D