Citrus trees and shrubs do well in our climate, says gardening columnist JACKIE WARBURTON.

The most popular citrus tree to grow in our region is Meyer lemon that has smooth skin and slightly orange in colour. It’s sweeter and more cold hardy than the Eureka or Lisbon.

Meyer lemons are often used for cooking with fish and seafood, whereas Eureka lemon, with its thin edible rind and strong acidic flavour, is used for marmalades and lemon pies.

The Lisbon lemon is a large-size fruit with large pith and is more textured than the others, mild in flavour and used for baking. This variety is different in that the fruit grows inside the shrubs and is a larger, very thorny tree. When choosing the right lemon for the garden, it might depend on its uses in the kitchen.

If garden space is tight, growing a citrus tree in a pot might be an option. The dwarf variety Lots a Lemon is a smaller Meyer lemon that bears the same size fruit as its parent tree and is perfect for patio or pots in that it grows to 1.5 metres tall.

Lemons are only a small part of the citrus family that grow well in our region and others to try are cumquats and calamondins, which are often mistaken for each other. To tell them apart: cumquats have small rounded fruits and calamondins have small oval-shaped fruit. 

Calamondins can be grown as an effective evergreen shrub with bright orange decorative small fruits in the winter and the fruit ripening from July to October. 

The added bonus for growing calamondins is they can be a small, bushy, evergreen tree that grows to two metres.

They can also be grown in a pot or a topiary with year-round colour. The fruit can be used for marmalades and jams, but is not edible straight from the tree.

All citrus have shallow root systems and need to be covered with mulch or compost to prevent them from drying out. Importantly, consistency in watering will give the best outcome for citrus with less in winter.

The most important job now for all citrus is to spray the bark and leaves with winter oil to smother bronze orange bugs, scale and aphids that are wintering in the tree. 

Doing this several times over winter will break the breeding cycle of these pests, and their populations will be greatly reduced in summer. 

MAINTAINING colour in the garden over winter can be tricky, but a plant that will put on a show is Starry Night (Leptospermum obovatum) with its gorgeous burgundy, purple evergreen foliage.

It’s a great native as an informal screening plant that grows up to three metres tall and has soft foliage and masses of white blooms in spring.

It’s also terrific for attracting bees, butterflies and other insects. It’s considered a honey producing plant and for small birds nesting Ensure there is a dish of water nearby for the wildlife. 

Jottings

• Plant male asparagus crowns with a little lime in the soil. 

• Liquid feed garlic to keep it growing fast and strong. 

• Prune any camellias that have finished flowering. 

• Fertilise azaleas and rhododendrons as they begin to bud. 

jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au