Citrus – Low Maintenance Eye Catchers

Citrus are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the taste. This family of sub-tropical evergreens with lush glossy leaves and fragrant white flowers are perfectly suited to the West’s warm days and cool nights, requiring very little maintenance. They can be planted in groves or individually, in pots, as hedges or along walkways. Standard citrus reach 15-20 feet in height and are as wide as they are tall. At about half the size, dwarf varieties still produce the same full-size fruit in a much more manageable size. These edible ornamentals cn be grown indoors, outdoors, in containers or in the ground. Citrus in shrub form offers a new artistic potential to showcase the fruit using the espalier technique or pruned into hedges. Unlike most other fruit trees, citrus don’t require regular pruning although hand pruning opens up the trees to allow more sunlight into the center.