Can you post a photo and tell us what is "very close"?

You can do what you propose; but the success rate for trees that size is not good. Ground to ground the same day, if you get as big a rootball as you can, is better. Remember, if the tree is 3 feet wide, the rootball is slightly bigger than that. If it were mine, instead of moving two trees, I would just move one (the center tree).

Alternatively, depending on the size and spacing, you could simply hedgerow them; but it would be marginal at best given the species you have. The Bearss is a larger tree and hedging it would seriously limit its production. At any rate, you did say you planted them to be a screen. Sometimes, when you are up to your ass in alligators, it is hard to remember your mission was to drain the swamp.
My wife wanted me to plant a live screen fence to hide her solar dryer (clothes line); so I planted 3 Meyers and hedged them; the mission is accomplished and the "fence" produces a lot of Meyer lemons.

I agree with John - post up photos. Give us some perspective in the photo so we can see how close is "too close". Citrus planted close together to create a screen is frequently done. I would also discourage you from digging them up at this point. That's pretty big. I agree with John - hedgerow them, and trim up any branches that are pushing into the other tree next to it, if one is sort of "taking over". Bearss has a natural tendency to grow sideways, so prune away if you need to. I wouldn't worry about curbing its production - it is an intensely productive tree, and it will eventually sprout new limbs with new fruit. Bearss is not a large tree here. It will stay about the same size as Meyer lemons do. They both tend to be somewhat bush-like (Meyer a bit more than Bearss). Gold Nugget is also a very heavy bearer, so I wouldn't worry too much. Dancy will be your larger tree, but it can be very dense, a great choice for a hedge. Just prune it as needed. It tends to alternate bear, so don't think the pruning causes it to stop bearing - that is its natural tendency. So, give us some photos, and we can better tell you what to do.

Patty S.

Thanks Patty and John - here is a picture of what I planted. I honestly don't know what I was thinking - I've planted citrus before and I know how large they (can) grow. I just really wanted to hide that water tank...now I feel somewhat abusive to the trees.

The Yuzu is OK, I think the Key Lime may have to be dealt with, but it's still; pretty small (slow grower for me) and can be moved ground-to-ground. It's the three in a row that are trouble. Thanks again - hope there is some kind of decent solution!

*bump* any suggestions?

Pardon me for jumping in to a knowledgable group here but I like the way your trees look as they are and it looks like they will provide the screen you wanted in a few more years of growth. I can't resist suggesting maybe the quickest solution is to paint flowers or something on your water tank :>) Seriously, boxing in the water tank with some additional fence material would also look very nice.

Seems like some pretty good advice has already been given; whether you choose to take it or look for more suggestions is your decision.

I'm tending to agree with Johnorange. It looks OK but not ideal.

There were probably better choices in the beginning but the "fixes" seem to not be better. Hindsight is always great, isn't it? I know I want a "do over" on just about every project. It is going to be quite some time before the Bears covers the view of the tank. Why not let the Dancy continue being a standard and trim the Gold Nugget to be a Standard also. Let them meet in the middle and trim the Bears to fill in the area under and between the two. Kind of like this: T o T

Bears Dwarf is likely to tend to stay short and wide anyway. Kept small it will probably still make lots of fruit and it doesn't need as much sun as the others to make good fruit. The two taller side trees could be trimmed to have a bit more tree behind and the Bears trimmed to have a bit more tree in front.

Would have been nice to have the Dancy in the middle and have it be: o T o
a standard in the middle with a dwarf on each side.

This post was edited by GregBradley on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 15:23

@johnmerr - my brother, please have another glass of your modest Chilean Sauvignon Blanc!

Along with your excellent and much appreciated advice, you wrote "Can you post a photo...?"

Patty generously followed-up with her own excellent and much-appreciated advice and added "So, give us some photos, and we can better tell you what to do."

So that's what I did :)

I hope, as you both guessed, that the pictures might help you fine-tune your advice - I surely wasn't dismissing your advice as unhelpful...quite the contrary.

You two (along with others) are huge assets to the citrus forum and I am grateful you share your abundant experience and knowledge so freely.

Actually, I don't think it's so bad, serge. I would just keep things trimmed as you need to. Close your eyes as you prune away branches with fruit :-) And Greg is right, they all will produce plenty of fruit, just keep them pruned so you can walk around the area, and you have set up a nice hedge-like effect. We all have "do overs" we'd like in our yard. Heck, my entire 1 acre is a big "do over", lol! Some of that is doable, other areas, just not worth it, so I make do with what I've got. I think it actually looks pretty nice. And, it's all very happy and well tended, that's another great thing.

Patty S.

Serge,

Thanks for the advice about the Sauvignon Blanc; I had forgotten I still have about a third of a bottle.

I think the reason we didn't give you more advice after you posted the photos is because the advice we had already given you was correct.

If you ultimately decide to move something, do it ground to ground the same day, not ground to container; and your odds of success will be better.

..."At any rate, you did say you planted them to be a screen. Sometimes, when you are up to your ass in alligators, it is hard to remember your mission was to drain the swamp."

And, I hope you remembered my personal goal to become an internationally certified curmudgeon.

This post was edited by Johnmerr on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 19:30