I am designing an ornamental area on my property where I want to use a number of citrus varieties as visual screens. The design is circular in nature and I'd like to have the trees just touching each other in a loose hedge when they reach their full growth. This requires having a general idea of how wide they'll likely end up being so as to get their spacing right. I'll also want to put those that are likely to be taller on the north side so as to not shade the others more than can be helped.

The varieties that I have on hand so far are Swingle citrumelo, Carrizo citrange, and Rubideaux and Texas trifoliata. If I don't find a place I like better for them I might also add a calamondin and Ambersweet orange, but the plan (still rather vague) as it stands now is to fill any remaining spaces with other more or less inedible citrus varieties that strike my fancy as I can find them.

What I have laid out on the ground so far is a ten foot spacing between the trees. When they reach their full maturity I'll prune them in a hedge like way inside and outside so they'll fill in and create the visual screen that I want. I'll let them grow vertically as they will. Is this too close together? Should I got to a twelve foot spacing? I'm using a 20x20 spacing in my orchard, but I'm expecting to have mowing room between the trees there.

.....Alan.

I had the same general idea you had to use citrus as a privacy hedge. All but one of mine are on poncirus rootstock and I planted them even closer than you did: a nearly 100 foot long row with 8 foot spacing. My climate is probably going to produce a slower growth rate than yours, and I'm counting on the inevitable winter damage to stem-tips during extreme winter cold. (My winter minimums over the past few years range from 15 to 19 F)

-Tim

I said that as a sop for those folks who insist that those varieties can be rendered edible. I met one man who said his family made marmalade from the local wild growing trifoliata. I can't imagine what it tasted like...

Seeing as how this came back to the top again does anyone want to take a stab at the mature size of these varieties?

I'm still planning on using a ten foot spacing barring better information.

.....Alan.

Citrumelo and Carrizo citrange make rather large trees. I have seen Citrumelo almost as large as grapefruit trees. 10 ft spacing is only giving the trees 5 ft on either side which will probably be very cramped over time.

Allen,

I agree with Lazz that 10' spacing is too normally close except maybe for a naturally small citrus such as Satsuma or Kumquat on Flying Dragon. Even then it is close for most purposes.


That said, in on the property behind my nursery there is a row of Calamondins (there is also one seedling grapefruit and a tangerine in the row). The trees were planted 6' or 7' apart, if that far. I would guess they are 15 years old, maybe a little older. They now form a solid hedge around 25' high. (That is a 6' fence.) The calamondins are healthy and very ornmental when the fruit is colored, which is from November until June most years.

If you look carefully, you can pick out the grapefruit by it's darker leaves and fruit.

I have also seen Nagamia Kumquat planted to form a hedge in both Florida and Louisiana, but it seems like they were spaced abouth 10" apart, maybe more.


Ned

Ned,

that hedge in your picture is what I had in mind. From what I can find it seems ten feet may be a bit close. I think I'll go to twelve and see how it works with the Carizo, Swingle, and similar on the north side and the pure trifoliates on the south.

Anyone else try hedging like this?

.....Alan.