How to look after my lemon tree in summer

Lemon trees are a very important small tree in our home gardens. They should look nice all year round and provide us with good quality fruit.

Lemons suffer in summer time from lack of water. This has three major effects on the tree. Firstly the fruit will be dry and pithy, secondly the leaves will turn yellow and fall off, thirdly it will not grow well and make new flower buds for the following year and there will not be any lemons.

Lemons are surface rooted. Take a quick look under the tree and scrape away some soil and you will see the roots. They will be a light yellowy colour. It does not take much to dry them out. The best and only fix for this is to mulch the soil with good quality compost. Then make sure the soil and compost is kept moist with regular watering. Reapply the compost at regular intervals.

If the leaves are turning yellow and the tree looks weak apply about 500 grams of citrus fertiliser every two months to the soil surface and water it in. Do not dig it in as you will damage the roots.

The other disease you may find on the fruits is a warty surface which is called Citrus verrucosus. This is controlled by a copper based spray and winter spraying of all seasons spraying oil. If the infection is bad remove the fruit and let the tree start again but make sure you use these two sprays.